Falling in Love; with Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science

In this provocative collection of essays from the 1880s, Grant Allen mounts a spirited defense of romantic love against Victorian rationalists who dismissed it as a "foolish" distraction from sensible mate selection. Drawing on evolutionary theory, Allen argues that love is not an artificial social construct but a crucial biological instinct designed to guide humans toward healthy partners and ensure species survival. He takes on Sir George Campbell and others who believed marriage should be based purely on rational calculation, humorously demonstrating that our emotional impulses toward physical attraction and desire actually serve the species' efficiency. The essays blend scientific observation with witty commentary on human desire, creating an intriguing early exploration of what we now call evolutionary psychology. For readers curious about the intellectual origins of debates surrounding love, science, and human mating, this collection offers a fascinating window into Victorian thinking about the biology of attraction.