I believe that Thomas
Malthus had the greatest influence over Charles Darwin’s development of the
theory of Natural Selection. In An Essay on the Principle of Population
, Malthus wrote “Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence
increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers
will shew the immensity of the first power in comparison of the second. By that
law of our nature which makes food necessary to the life of man, the effects of
these two unequal powers must be kept equal.” (http://communitybooks.ebooklibrary.org/members/blackmask_online/popu.pdf,
)
Malthus’ essay on population control being driven by availability
of resources and ability to acquire them is the foundation of “survival of the
fittest” . In particular, his point that
resources are limited. As our book points out, after Darwin read
Malthus’ essay he was able to explain how new species came about. Malthus shed light on the fact that
populations grew faster than resources could accommodate and this led Darwin to
reflect upon the nonhuman population, which seems to be naturally regulated by
supply of limited resources and ability to acquire them. This, in turn led him to consider the
constant struggle for survival that must occur as a result of this phenomenon,
and that struggle is the very essence of natural selection because it is the
impetus for being or becoming the fittest, or having the greatest reproductive
success. I believe that Darwin probably
would have gotten to this eventuality without Malthus, but it possibly would
have taken longer and, because Alfred Russell Wallace was nipping at Darwin’s
heals in discovering and publishing the keys to evolution, had it not been for
Malthus we may have all learned Wallace’s Theory of Evolution.
It took Charles Darwin over 20 years to publish On the Origin of Species. When it came
to the origin of mankind, the prevailing belief of the day was a literal
translation of the creation story in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Darwin, who had actually studied theology at
Cambridge, was at risk of losing his position in society, and even within some
circles of the scientific community by publishing his findings which were at
such odds with the majority opinion of the day.
Fortunately, with science on his side, he had the courage to go against
the norm, and in doing so forever changed the ‘norm’ with regard to
evolutionary theory.
Tracy, I especially like that you included the idea that Darwin probably would have eventually found Malthus's finding from another source but that it would have had a negative effect on the reception of his work. It shows how essential and important Malthus's work was to Darwin and science in general.
ReplyDeleteTracy, I completely agree with you! Although, yes, Darwin probably would have come to this another way, one can't deny the impact of Malthus' thought. Population growth combined with limited resources of course does lead to competition which leads to natural selection.
ReplyDeleteI wrote mine on Wallace. However, after reading a few other blogs on Malthus, I must say it makes it tough to decide who had more influence on Darwin. I think they may be pretty equal! Nice job and you used a lot of proof to back up your beliefs. Population growth along with limited resources does lead to natural selection through competition and without Malthus, Darwin may not have come to that conclusion.
ReplyDeleteVery good post. Good background on Malthus and you did well connecting his work with Darwin's. It can be difficult to show, step-by-step, how Darwin took Malthus' work and helped it shape his own, but you made it very clear.
ReplyDeleteYes, perhaps Darwin would have completed his work without Malthus, but you are correct that it could very well have been Wallace (who also read Malthus' work) that made the connection first if Darwin hadn't been familiar with Malthus' concepts.
Good discussion on the church's influence. Well done.