Descent of Woman

Elaine Morgan OBE, FRSL, was born in 1920, and after studying at Oxford University, worked as a television writer. In 1972, she published The Descent of Woman suggesting that human evolution had an aquatic origin. This idea was attacked at first by scientists but the book became an international bestseller. In the decades since, Morgan's aquatic ape hypothesis has gained widespread support. Her book on the theory, The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, is also published by Souvenir Press. She died in 2013.

One of the key feminist texts