Historical Influence on Darwin

1.

Thomas Malthus

2.

I think the English Economist, Thomas Malthus had the most influence on Darwin’s theory of natural selection. According to the website, evolution.berkeley.edu, Malthus believed that human population is growing rapidly and availability of resources plays a major role in population growth.

3.

All organisms have the potential of reproducing exponentially :

Just like Darwin used the example about rabbits and their reproduction, Malthus talked about flies and exponentially reproduction. According to evolution.burkely.edu website, Malthus points out that the availability of resources could be one of the reasons why we are not knee deep in flies.
Another point most directly affected by Malthus is about limited availability of resources. Malthus argued that if a family earned more money, then they would have had more children. Likewise, Darwin believed that if rabbits had more food, water and safe shelter then they would have reproduced more offspring.
According to evolution.burkeley.edu website, Malthus looked at humans as group of individuals who were subject to the same basic laws of behavior. I think this is what influenced Darwin to say that individuals do not involve, populations do.

4.

I’m not sure if Darwin could have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence and ideas of Thomas Malthus.

Malthus is the first one who raised the question about population growth and the influence of resources in human or non-human reproduction. I think Malthus’s view on human population plants the seeds for Darwin’s curiosity to the theory of natural selection. However, Malthus was an Economist and he wasn’t interested in evolution at all. In my opinion, if Malthus had looked at population growth from an evolutionist’s point of view, he might have had the same conclusion and findings as Darwin did.

5.

When Darwin wrote a short summary of the Natural Selection, he didn’t think he had enough evidence to support his argument and as a result of that he decided to publish it at a later time. Darwin’s friends and family were concerned about threats associated by his evolutionary ideas and this might be another reason why he decided to publish it at a later time.



Resource:

(http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/history_07)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

Image
Definition Pertussis (Whooping Cough) is an acute disease of the respiratory tract. Found in children younger than 5 years, especially in children age 2-3 years. Cause Pertussis is caused by gram-negative Bordetella Pertussis. Clinical Overview These symptoms occur 1-2 weeks after contact with the infected person and preceded by an incubation period of 7-14 days. Typically, the disease lasts for 6 weeks or more. That is why the disease is called cough hundred days. On his way, pertussis includes several stages, namely: Kataralis which marked the onset of a mild cough, especially at night, accompanied by mild fever and runny nose. This stage lasts 1-2 weeks. In the catarrhal stage indistinguishable from that caused by a viral respiratory infection Second is the spasmodic stage lasts 2-4 weeks. Symptoms, cough more often, people with sweat, and blood vessels in the face of wide-neck. Long coughing attack usually ends with a distinctive high-pitched sound (whooping caugh) and accompanied ...
Read more

Hemothorax

Image
Hemotorax is the presence of blood in the pleural cavity. Pathophysiology and Etiology Sharp trauma or blunt trauma. This can occur when blunt trauma can cause fractures of the ribs, resulting in a torn intercostal blood vessels and also cause a tear in the lung tissue. A torn aortic aneurysm Complications due to drug administration on pulmonary infarction antikoagulansia In patients with abnormalities of "hemorrhagic diathese". Complications in thoracic surgery. Clinical Symptoms Symptoms and complaints hemothorax depending on the weight and severity of trauma. Patients may complain of shortness of breath, chest pain, until the shock and anemia. Diagnosis 1. Anamnesa : A history of trauma to the chest, or after surgery. 2. Physical examination Found such signs in the pleural effusion . At the hospital hemitoraks reduced movement. Hemithorax percussion on the sick and faint sounds on auscultation, breath sounds audible reduced or disappear altogether. 3. Chest X-ray photo...
Read more

Cough - Definition and Mechanisms

Image
Cough Cough is a symptom of the most common disease in which the prevalence was found in about 15% in children and 20% in adults. One out of ten patients who visited the doctor's office each year has a chief complaint of cough. Coughing can cause bad feelings, sleep disorders, affecting daily activities and reduce quality of life. Cough is a complex physiological reflex that protects the lung from mechanical trauma, chemical and temperature. Coughing is also a natural defense mechanism of lung airway to keep it clean and open to the street: Prevent the entry of foreign objects into the respiratory tract. Remove foreign objects or abnormal secretions from the respiratory tract. Coughing becomes physiologically when perceived as a nuisance. Such a cough is often a sign of a disease within or outside the lungs and sometimes are the early symptoms of a disease. Cough may be very significant on the transmission of disease through the air (air-borne infection). Cough is one of the sympto...
Read more