Originally published in 1965 and written by one of the world's leading experts in animal behaviour, this book was written just as the impact of DNA on biology, genetics ethology and biophysics was being felt. The book reviews these developments and analyses the affect they have on our view of our own nature and of ethical and moral sense. It is particularly concerned with the impact of DNA and genetics on philosophic thought.

W. H. Thorpe was a Fello of Jesus College Cambridge

1. The Nature of Life and the Idea of Creation 2. Evolution, Information Theory and the emergence of Novelty 3. Animal and Human Nature 4. Animal Societies and the Development of Ethics 5. The Scientific Outlook and Some Moral Concepts