Thomas Malthus published the Principle of Population in
1797. In his book he warned the English population that policies designed to
help the poor would fail because of the pressures of population growth. This
book made Darwin question the pressures of population and it occurred to him
that animals and plants should be experiencing the same problem if Malthus
facts were true. I think that Malthus influenced Darwin in a positive way
because it lead him to question the facts and helped him eventually come up with
the theory of evolution.
Thomas Malthus had in my opinion the most influence on the
starting point of Darwin’s work. Malthus book got him questioning the potential
of reproducing exponentially, which started Darwin’s theory. Darwin was no doubt a very smart man and
could have probably developed the theory of evolution with out the influence of
Malthus book. But it was Malthus book that got him questioning reproduction and
it lead him to developing his work. The
church also influenced Darwin but in a negative way. He was a very well known
and respected man and he felt that his theories could have negative outcomes
because of who he was and because of the influence of the church on the
community.
