The Descent Of Man And Selection In Relation To Sex

Darwin's book, "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex," was initially met with resistance due to the controversial topic of human evolution from apes. However, by 1871, Darwin believed that his fellow scientists would be more open-minded to his arguments. The book focuses on sexual selection and the role of secondary sexual characteristics in the evolution of various species, and was received without the public outrage that Darwin had anticipated.

In his introduction, Darwin reveals that for many years he had no intention of publishing his notes on this topic, 'as I thought that I should thus only add to the prejudices against my views'. By 1871, he felt that his fellow scientists would show a greater openness of mind to his arguments, even when taken to their logical conclusion and applied to the descent of man from the apes - the aspect of his theory which had been so widely mocked since the notorious question asked by Bishop Wilberforce at the Oxford debate of 1860: was it through his grandmother or his grandfather that Thomas Huxley, Darwin's champion, considered himself descended from a monkey? However, the book's focus on the area of sexual selection and the evolutionary importance of secondary sexual characteristics across the animal kingdom meant that the book was received without the public outrage that Darwin had feared.

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