Elaine Morgan (writer)

:For the Welsh singer, see Elaine Morgan

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Elaine Morgan is a Welsh feminist writer, best known for her television work. She is also the author of several books about the aquatic ape theory, among them The Descent of Woman, The Aquatic Ape, The Scars of Evolution and The Descent of the Child. Writer of several screenplays and at least one other book (Falling Apart), Morgan is generally described as more of a popularizer of science than a scientist.

Related Topics:
Welsh - Feminist - Television - Aquatic ape theory - Screenplay - Science

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Morgan first became drawn into subject when reading popularizers of the savannah hypothesis of human evolution such as Desmond Morris. She described her reaction as one of irritation because the explanations were entirely male centered. For instance if humans lost their hair because they needed to sweat while chasing game on the savannah that did not explain why women should also lose their hair as, according to the savannah hypothesis, they would be looking after the children. On rereading Desmond Morris's the Naked Ape she encountered a reference to a hypothesis that humans had for a time gone through a water phase, the so-called aquatic ape hypothesis. She contacted Morris on this and he pointed her to Alister Hardy. Her first book The Descent of Woman (1972) was originally planned to pave the way for Hardy's more academic book, but Hardy was never to publish his book. In her later books she tried to write on more scientific basis or more po-faced as she herself described it. As an outsider and a non-scientist she has encountered hostility from academics. Many of her books seem to be written as much to counter the many arguments put forth against the Aquatic Ape Theory as to advance its merits.

Related Topics:
Desmond Morris - Aquatic ape hypothesis - Alister Hardy - 1972

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Morgan's later books on the aquatic ape hypothesis are:

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• The Aquatic Ape, 1982, Stein & Day Pub, ISBN 0-285-62509-8
• The Scars of Evolution, 1990, Souvenir Press, ISBN 0-285-62996-4
• The Descent of the Child, 1995, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-195-09895-1
• The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, 1997, Souvenir Press, ISBN 0-285-63377-5