the part of religion that evolution was discredited by science. Now that men of science were
finally favorites of the church (just two centuries ago scientists such as Galileo were unfavorably
perceived by the church), it seemed foolish to give up this hard won peace for just another
evolutionary hypothesis.
Sexual Selection
Although Darwin discussed sexual selection in the Origin, the majority of the book (and hence
the primary importance) was devoted to natural selection. However, sexual selection played a far
more important role in Darwin’s The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
(henceforth referred to as the Descent), which was published on February 24, 1871. In the
Descent, sexual selection assumed an equal if not greater than role for the origin of species. For
Darwin sexual selection was not simply a subcategory of natural selection, but rather an alternative or complementary mechanism of evolution. In addition, sexual selection, to a larger extent than natural selection, shifts the focus of attention to one of the most significant and least appreciated aspects of Darwin’s theory: the location of the struggle for existence lies primarily within species rather than between species. It is therefore inaccurate, from this point on, to refer to Darwin’s theory as simply evolution by natural selection (Darwin himself called the theory the principle of evolution).
The primary reason why Darwin abandoned natural selection in favor of sexual selection was the fact that natural selection could not properly explain either the evolution of man from the
animals or the differences between the sexes and races. The problem is that natural selection
assumes that only beneficial changes get preserved in future generations, whereas in reality the
races of man differ from each other and from their nearest allies amongst the animals , in certain
characters which are of no service to them in their ordinary habits of life. By contrast, sexual
selection does not have to be useful for the purpose of adaptation to the environment, and it may
actually work against natural selection. Therefore, Darwin now argued that any features which are not adaptive to the individual, and thus could not have been acquired through the process of
natural selection, must have been acquired through sexual selection.
The Reaction to the Descent
When the Descent was published in 1871 it became an immediate best-seller. The initial 2500
copies were sold almost instantaneously, and an additional 5000 copies were sold by the end of
the year. The book was exceedingly controversial at the time, dealing with perhaps the most
provocative evolutionary topic of all, the origin of man. In the book Darwin suggested that man
differed from animals in degree and not kind, and than proceeded to conclude that man descended
from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits. Surprisingly, the reaction to
the book was not as violent as one might have expected it to be, from Darwin’s previous
experience with the Origin. For instance, Hooker, who at that time found evolution discussed
everywhere relates the following: I dined out three times last weak, and at every table heard
evolution talked of as an accepted fact, and the descent of man with calmness. However, the
picture painted by Hooker is rather deceptive, as the portrayed amiability was often a matter of
tone rather than of substance. People may not have been outraged, but neither were they placated.
Most of the critics choose to ridicule Darwin’s ideas rather than attack them head on. For
example, a typical response, published in the Athenaeum, went along the lines of: No man will
ever develop religion out of a dog or Christianity out of a cat. Nevertheless, criticism was mostly tempered with praise. A good example of this is provided in the Edinburgh Review which
carefully balanced displeasure with tribute: Mr. Darwin appears to us to be not more
remarkable for the acuteness and ingenuity of his powers of observation of natural phenomena,
than he is for the want of logical power and sound reasoning on philosophical questions.
Therefore, while despised by some and adored by others Darwin’s ideas were quickly permeating into the fabric of society.
Darwin left us a legacy which is greater than just the sum of his scientific work. Not only did
his theory of evolution illuminate our past, but also the present and the future were now possible
to interpret in Darwinian terms. Probably more so than any other scientific theory, Darwin’s
theory of evolution, lends itself to various social interpretations known as social Darwinism.
From the radical left to the radical right, Darwin’s theory has been adopted by such people as
Marx and Hitler, each of whom saw in it evidence for their own ideology. Alongside the likes
of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton, Darwin has rightly earned his place in history as one of
the giants of the scientific revolution.