Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. Eccl.8:17
"The last months of releasing his 1859 book caused Darwin intense
anxiety due to his major doubts about publishing his work. The manuscript was sent by the publisher to two readers for their assessment.
anxiety due to his major doubts about publishing his work. The manuscript was sent by the publisher to two readers for their assessment.
One simply stated that Origin “does not prove the theory which it expounds.... it is like asking the jury for a verdict without putting witnesses in the box”.
The publisher, John Murray “considered the theory as absurd as contemplating a fruitful union between a poker and a rabbit”. Then came the rewriting of Origin, and marking mistakes in the proofs, which caused Darwin “bad vomiting” and “great prostration of mind and body ... which half killed him”.
CMI