It is my opinion that Thomas
Malthus had the greatest impact on Charles Darwin’s findings and publication
regarding the natural selection. This is largely due to an essay Malthus
published, An Essay on the Principle of
Population. In this essay Malthus argued that advances in the size of the
human population could have drastic impacts and consequences in some areas due
to lack of available resources, and due to some populations taking resources
from other inhabited areas. Thereby, removing the availability of these resources
from other populations and decreasing fertility while increasing mortality
rates in the areas without proper resources such as clean water. “Malthus argued that population growth doomed
any efforts to improve the lot of the poor. Extra money would allow the poor to
have more children, only hastening the nation’s appointment with famine.“ (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_07)
Darwin was greatly influenced by
the finding of Malthus, yet Darwin applied the ideas Malthus provided to the populations
of all living beings on this Earth, instead of just humans. Malthus argument that
resources available greatly affected population is a key aspect of the process
of natural selection. Lack of resources causes creatures to adapt to the lack
of resources over time, or perish. In
conclusion, it is my belief that Darwin would not have reached his conclusion
regarding On the Origin of Species
without reading the observations of Malthus.
The findings of Malthus helped
Darwin considerably, yet other factors worked against Darwin as he honed his
theory of Natural Selection. Darwin was
a faithful Christian man, yet he knew that his theories would go against the
church. Therefore, Darwin delayed the release of his findings until he had
taken meticulous care of his evidence supporting Natural Selection and explained
it fully in his book On the Origin of
Species.
