Malthus' Ideas>Darwin's Ideas>Natural Selection Theory

1.      Select one of the five individuals listed above who you would argue had the most influence over Darwin’s development of his theory of Natural selection. This could be a positive or a negative influence.

I believe that Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) had the most influence over Darwin’s development of this theory of Natural selection. Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population, which talked about human population growth. Malthus believed that “in nature, animal populations increase in numbers when resources are plentiful and/or there aren’t many predators. This tendency for populations to increase in size is constantly being held in check by the availability of resources…” (34). Darwin added on to this hypothesis and applied Malthus’ principle too all organisms, in turn creating his theory of Natural selection.

2.      Briefly (but completely) describe the contribution this individual made to the scientific community. You must provide one link to an online source of information besides your textbook. No Wikipedia sources! ( 10 pts)

Thomas Malthus influenced both Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in their discoveries of natural selection. He wrote a journal explaining the principle of population and its effects on human evolution.

“Malthus' most well-known work 'An Essay on the Principle of Population' was published in 1798, although he was the author of many pamphlets and other longer tracts including 'An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent' (1815) and 'Principles of Political Economy' (1820). He argued that increases in population would eventually diminish the ability of the world to feed itself and based this conclusion on the thesis that populations expand in such a way as to overtake the development of sufficient land for crops” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/malthus_thomas.shtml).

Even though Malthus influenced Darwin and Wallace in their ideas about Natural Selection, he was often criticized for his ideas and hypothesis’. Malthus’ ideas began to get recognized again more toward the 20^th century.

3.      From the bullet point list above (under “How does evolution work?”), identify the point (or points) most directly affected by this individual’s work and thoroughly explain how this point was influenced by your selected individual. Again, this could be a positive effect, meaning Darwin built upon the knowledge this information provided, or a negative effect, meaning that Darwin demonstrated that this individual’s idea(s) were incorrect and the mechanism of natural selection was an alternative explanation. (10 pts)

Thomas Malthus’s work mostly focused on human population rather than organisms or animals, however, the main idea from the bullet points is similar to Malthus’ ideas. The second bullet point on the list says “What is preventing organisms from reproducing at their potential? Something is keeping those rabbits from producing all those bunnies. Baby rabbits are costly to the parent to produce. The parent needs time, shelter, food, water and protection from predators. These needs are called “resources”.” Malthus pointed out that animal population increases when resources are plentiful in his journal An Essay on the Principle of Population. Other bullet points on the list such as: Resources are limited, Who gets better access to these limited resources?, and If the environment changes, the traits that are helpful or adaptive to that environment are intertwined with Malthus’ (second) bullet point in regards to resources and reproducing, but they don’t directly relate to Malthus’ ideas and theories. Like I stated in earlier answers Malthus was a main influence in helping Darwin come up with his theory of Natural Selection and Malthus’ main idea was that population can increase if resources were available; just like the bullet points state.

4. Could Darwin have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence and ideas of this individual? Explain. (10 pts)

Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection is an extended more in-depth idea of Malthus’ principles; so no I don’t think that Darwin could have developed his theory of Natural Selection without the influence of Malthus’ work. In reality, I am sure that Darwin could have come up with the similar ideas throughout time, but since Malthus already created his theories, it just benefited Darwin in his discoveries.

5.      How did the attitude of the church affect Darwin and his eventual publication of his book On the Origin of Species? (10pts)

Darwin waited a long time before he published his beliefs, hypothesis, and theories on evolution. He had multiple opportunities to publish his book On the Origin of Species, but he was always hesitant because he was afraid that he would be shunned for his beliefs, since they didn’t follow the churches ideas. The church believed in creationism, while Darwin believed in evolution. The church played a large part in society so when Darwin, as well as other scientists, came out with their theories on evolution; they were looked down upon.

Krystal Morrice

February 7th 2013