* The theory had a negative effect on social life because Darwin stating that we had evolved from apes was such a ludicrous idea at the time that he was afraid that the public would denounce his work as heresy. * So he only hinted of the principle of natural selection. * Now he knew he had discovered a great truth. And he felt he had to tell the world. But he withheld the truth, for, it seemed …showed first 75 words of 654 total…

…showed last 75 words of 654 total…wrote a book. * Darwin's theory of evolution was, self-evidently, profoundly influenced by the social ideas prevalent in 19th-century Europe. * To put it another way, his theory was profoundly influenced by the entire socio-cultural fabric of a developing society. * Hence, Darwinism has not simply been confined within the bounds of a theory of biological evolution; it proved a major challenge to social ideas, too, becoming a philosophy that powerfully shaped the central elements of modern culture.