Charles Darwin's Influencers by Alexandra Jones
Thomas Malthus' writings, An Essay on the Principle of Population, brought up that although animal populations consistently increase in numbers, the supply of food and water seem to stay roughly the same. Malthus was in fact unconcerned with changes in species, but focused on the "limits to human population growth" (31). He not only shed light on these issues, but he also thought of some solutions. He believed "populations needed to stay within appropriate limits by either raising the death rate or lowering the birth rate."
"Even though Malthus was not a scientist, he was an economist and understood populations and their growth or decline. Charles Darwin was fascinated by the idea that the human population was growing faster than food production could sustain."The points most directly affected by Malthus' work are: All organisms have the potential of reproducing exponentially; Malthus realized some animals (offspring included) had to die off or there would not be enough food, etc. for all of them. Resources are limited; part of Malthus' work included, populations grew faster than food supplies could sustain. Who gets better access to these limited resources; this brings up the idea of competition, it is not a matter of random but of who is stronger, faster etc.
I believe Malthus' influence on Darwin was a crucial part of what helped lead him to the idea of natural selection. This is due to the fact that the idea of competition was first brought up by Malthus.
"...when population size is limited by resource availability, there is constant competition...Competition among individuals is the ultimate key to understanding natural selection" (32).The attitude of the church caused Darwin to be leery about publishing his work, knowing he would receive backlash. Any thought of evolution was viewed as going against Christianity and the Church. In addition, "He was deeply troubled that his wife, Emma, saw his ideas as running counter to her strong religious convictions" (37). These worries led the publication of his book On the Origin of Species to take longer.
Sources:
http://evolution.about.com/od/Darwin/tp/People-Who-Influenced-Charles-Darwin.htm
http://evolution.about.com/od/scientists/p/Thomas-Malthus.htm
http://evolution.about.com/od/Darwin/tp/People-Who-Influenced-Charles-Darwin.htm
http://evolution.about.com/od/scientists/p/Thomas-Malthus.htm
Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteYou've made excellent points as to why Thomas Malthus was the inspiration to Darwin's theory of Natural Selection. When you shifted the focus of overpopulation and resource availability to competition and strength, it really brought the connection between Malthus and Darwin that much closer. You also inserted a quote that really summed it up for me,
"...when population size is limited by resource availability, there is constant competition...Competition among individuals is the ultimate key to understanding natural selection"
Great research and work!
Very good post. All points covered and supported well and it was well-written.
ReplyDeleteGood selection and explanation on the choice of bullet points and you walked the reader through Darwin's likely thought process with Malthus' work.
I am willing to consider that Darwin might not have developed his theory without Malthus, something I am less likely to consider with other scientists (Lyell is another possibility). Even Darwin wrote about the "lightbulb" moment he seemed to have after reading Malthus:
"...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".
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html
Great final discussion. Yes, Darwin wasn't just concerned about himself but also his family and the impact his publication would have on them.
Well done.
Wow! What a great first post! I thought that your post was very informative and detailed which kept my interest. It is fascinating that Malthus was less concerned about the change in species and more focused on the limits to human population growth because in my opinion it offers an explanation and solution to natural selection.
ReplyDeletethank you
ReplyDelete