 Ruse credited Murphy with having "a deep and sensitive knowledge of the appropriate areas of science", being "able to write clearly and distinctly about difficult issues, so that one can follow without any trouble the sorts of points that he wants to make", and providing good discussions of the work of researchers such as LeVay.He wrote that the book made his own work "" (1988) outdated.He agreed with Murphy's defense of inquiry into the origins of sexual orientation.