Elaine Morgan
Aquatic ape theorist
Elaine Morgan, armed with an arsenal of television writing credits and feminist credentials, spent her life on a mission to prove humans evolved in water.
Why you should listen
Television writer and scientific theorist Elaine Morgan may have been known for penning the popular British TV series Dr. Finlay's Casebook, but for decades the Welsh feminist writer championed human evolutionary theories using aquatic species. She wrote six books about the aquatic ape theory, derived from ancient Greek philosophies about human evolution.
Taking a less male-centric approach to evolutionary theory, Morgan's adventure was chronicled in the 1998 BBC documentary The Aquatic Ape. She was an award-winning television writer (she won two BAFTAs and Writers' Guild honors) for Campion, How Green Was My Valley and Testament of Youth. Morgan died in July 2013 at age 92.
What others say
For my money, she is more scientific than Genesis, more up-to-date than Darwin, more fun than Ardrey, and she writes better than Desmond Morris.
Elaine Morgan’s TED Talk
More news and ideas from Elaine Morgan
In Brief
Jim Yong Kim steps down from the World Bank and other news from the TED community
January 15, 2019
2019 is starting off big for the TED community — below, some highlights. Jim Yong Kim resigns from the World Bank. In an unexpected move, Jim Yong Kim announced that he will be stepping down from his position as President of the World Bank by the end of the month. According to The New York […]
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TED News in Brief: Remembering Elaine Morgan, the potential of a solar-powered plane, and more
July 18, 2013
Writer Elaine Morgan has died at age 92. Perhaps best known for her book The Descent of Woman, at TEDGlobal 2009 she made her case for the “aquatic ape hypothesis” — an admittedly non-standard idea about human origins. Earlier this year, in The Guardian, Erika Milam offered a compelling new take on Morgan’s place in […]
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The week in comments
August 1, 2009
It reads like everyone was inspired by the talks this week (including two more released from TEDGlobal 2009), which feature philosopher Alain de Botton on success, scientist Elaine Morgan on aquatic apes and artist/software engineer Golan Levin on his interactive art. Lets get to the comments: On Elaine Morgan’s talk: We evolved from aquatic apes: […]
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