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.
I appreciate how you are trying to draw connections between Malthus' work and Darwin's in that first paragraph, but a little more clarity is needed. What do you mean by population pressures? What differences did Malthus note in how natural and human populations reproduce in response to limited resources?
ReplyDelete"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."
I agree that the concept of exponential growth was important, though Darwin wasn't questioning it as much as he was understanding the implications in natural populations.
Are there any other bullet points that you could apply to Malthus?
While I recognize that all scientists have the potential of influencing the work of other scientists, I rarely consider any to be indispensable to other's research, which is what this question is asking here. But in the case of Malthus, his idea of limit resources limiting reproductive potential in a non-random way really was key to Darwin's theory. Even Darwin seems to say this in his writings:
"... it at once struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The results of this would be the formation of a new species. Here, then I had at last got a theory by which to work".
Charles Darwin, from his autobiography. (1876)
This is from your cited source, by the way.
More specifics on how the church could have impacted Darwin negatively? Darwin delayed publishing for more than 20 years. Why? What possible repercussions concerned him? Was he only concerned for himself or for others as well?
Additional note: These blog posts are essentially papers and need to be treated as such. Expand upon your ideas and answer questions clearly and completely. Don't assume knowledge on the part of your reader. Other students are reading this. Teach them what you know.