Influence on Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Thomas Malthus had the most influence on Charles Darwin; Malthus was the first to venture into the thought of natural selection. When Charles Darwin discovered the stepping-stone to the idea of natural selection now known as Malthusianism, it made him think more about how different organisms could survive in any given environment. Although Malthus only thought natural selection was among the human race Darwin took it one step further and believed natural selection applied to any living organism.
The biggest impact I think Malthus made on the scientific community was putting Darwin onto natural selection. Most of Malthus' findings were based more on the economy and how the growing amount of people their were the less food there was. So I think him opening the door to Darwin's findings on natural selection was most definitely his largest impact.
- Resources are limited.
- Organisms with better access to resources will be more successful in their reproductive efforts.
- Who gets better access to these limited resources?
These points speak all about exactly what Malthus was a publishing in his journals. They all talk about needing resources to survive and without resources its harder and pointless to reproduce. Also people in better situations who can provide the resources to be stable enough to reproduce.
Could Darwin have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence of Thomas Malthus? I'm sure he could. Darwin made the idea far larger than that of Malthus, Malthus just gave him a faster nudge in the right direction. Although I'm sure it wouldn't have taken him long on his own.
As for the Churches attitude about his findings they made him hide it from the public for a few years. He had only told a few people in his small circle. The church didn't want things out to make others question or stray from the words of God. The church almost always would shy away from rebellious thoughts and scientific beliefs.
