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The idea of the population growing faster than the production of food that Thomas Malthus proposed really intrigued Charles Darwin. Malthus influenced Darwin's idea of "survival of the fittest" and helped inspire his Theory of Natural Selection. Thomas Malthus was very influential to Charles Darwin because his idea of over population would be a key study in Darwin's study of the "Galapagos Finches".
Below are a few links that will further describe Thomas
Malthus and his influence on Charles Darwin's studies.
How does Evolution work?
The point that was most directly affected by Thomas Malthus's work :
The point that was most directly affected by Thomas Malthus's work :
- Resources are limited.
- This point is pretty self-explanatory in the sense of why it would be affected by Malthus's work. Since he was an economist, he understood the concept of population and how it would grow and decline. He believed that the larger the population, the more scarce the food supply will be. He stated that poor families should not be the ones to have big families because they cannot provide due to "limited resources". It makes perfect sense, and we see this now today in the world. The cause for a number of deaths such as, starvation and disease would eventually level-out the over population at this period of time and it was all because of "limited resources". This idea had a very positive effect on Charles Darwin's studies.
Could Darwin have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence and ideas of Thomas Malthus?
- The answer is yes. Charles Darwin developed his studies and theories from other people, not just Thomas Malthus. Even though Malthus was a huge contributor to the influence of Darwin's theory of natural selection, it wasn't the catalyst that started it all. Darwin would have developed his theories without help from the ones who influenced his studies, but some provided evidence to give him a helping hand.
How did the attitude of the church affect Darwin and his eventual publication of his book On The Origin of Species?
- The attitude of the church towards Charles Darwin was affect positively and negatively. Some of the people of the church actually believed in what Darwin had to say. However there were other people of the church who thought his ideas were going against God and were wrong and unethical. So to say the church affected Darwin would be debatable because although he did have some against his studies, he also had believers in what he was doing.
I really liked your post! It had so much creativity and information. It also answered the questions very thoroughly. I think I might use pictures next time too. I did give my response more of an essay feel to it and not a bloggy feel (which is much more fun.) Anyways I wrote about the same influence Thomas Malthus and I agree that Malthus did help the most in resources are limited because that was one of Malthus key points. And it was interesting to see your point of view about Darwin's ability to come up with his theory without Malthus help. And it made me wonder what do you think was the catalyst that started it all?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed going through your blog. Very informative, creative, and visual! I didn't know that Malthus was the first to suggest theories about man's population limits.. If he saw our world today he may be in shock!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, great job on the post formatting! Keeps the eye interested and makes the post easy to follow. Well done, particularly with the images.
ReplyDeleteGood background on Malthus work. I agree with your choice of point "Resources are limited" but was that the only point that applied to Malthus? How about "organism have the potential of reproducing exponentially"?
I see how your choice of points applies to Darwin's work, but can you explain the next step? How did Darwin take that information from Malthus and use it to shape his theory of evolution by natural selection? What is the connection between "resources are limited" to "nature acts as the selecting force"?
With regard to whether or not Darwin could have developed his theory without Malthus, the question didn't ask if Malthus was the only person who influenced Darwin, but just how much influence Malthus had over Darwin? No question, Darwin was influenced by many, but how important was Malthus? I hesitate to give any person so much importance over another person's work, but in the case of Malthus (and perhaps Lyell), it may be true that Darwin would have been lost without reading Malthus. It was the connection between exponential reproductive growth, limited resources, and helping Darwin ask the question "who survives and why" that led to Darwin answering "those who fit best in the environment because nature is the selecting force". If that question was never asked, there would be no theory of natural selection.
The final question asks about Darwin's decision to publish, not what happened after he published. Darwin delayed publishing for more than 20 years. Why? What concerns did he have for himself and others that might have caused him to postpone until Wallace threatened to steal the idea from him..
I wrote about Malthus too, and I found his studies on opinions on human population pretty fascinating, if a little scary.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think the church had a lot to do with Darwin not publishing his findings sooner. The teachings of the church and the Bible were what influenced naturalistic teachings in Great Britain at the time. Darwin was afraid of the controversy that might ensue if he decided to contradict those teachings. Even though some people did believe in his theory at the time, he was still hesitant, and wanted more evidence to back it up.
Great post. I really liked the graphics and layout of the post. I actually choose Lyell for my post but I was really contemplating Malthus as the greater influence. I must agree with L.Rodriguez, in that with out the works of Malthus' and Lyell, Darwin would be lost.
ReplyDeleteHi Josh,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I too felt that Malthus was one of Darwin's biggest influences in shaping his theory of natural selection. I felt that Malthus was really thinking about the future of the planet he lived on and realized that without enough resources, the population would not survive, and if survived, would suffer. I appreciated how you pointed out that his theory is actually something we still live by today in society. Those who cannot provide financial, should not be reproducing humans.