1. Initially, I thought Charles Lyell would be the person I thought most influenced Charlse Darwin to develop his theory of natural selection, but as I read more about each person ont he list, I decided that Alfred Russel Wallace may have the most influence on Darwin. Alfred Russel Wallace was not just a naturalist, he was also a biologist. I definitely think Alfred Russel Wallace was a positive influence to Darwin.
2. According to the book Introduction to Physical Anthropology, Darwin and Wallace reached to the conclusion of natural selection about the same time. Wallace, along with Darwin, concluded that if the sources are limited there must be competition for food, therefore; it means that the best fit organism will survive. Wallace spent a long period of time in the Amazon to study the factors of evolution. Though he did not reach a conclusion about evolution while in the Amazon, he continued his journey to "the Malay Archipelago." While exploring that region, Wallace managed to collect 125,660 specimens, even discovering thousands of species not known yet to the science world at that time.
(http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/index1.htm)
(http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/index1.htm)
3. Wallace believed that population of the species is limited to the resources available, and with limited sources there is always the need for competition for food. There are two bullet point ideas that coincide with Wallace's findings. "Resources are limited. Our planet has a limit of much it can hold and produce. There will not be enough resources available for all organisms to reproduce as many offspring as they can." Not having enough resources mean there are only limited amount of food and water. With limited sources, comes the competition for food, water and living space which goes into the point of who is most fit to survive.
4. I believe that Darwin could have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence of Wallace, but I absolutely trust that without Wallace, all of Darwin's findings would have taken twice as long as it did with the influence of Wallace. Darwin had other great influences, but Wallace seems to have the closest ideas and findings Darwin had discovered.
5. During Darwin's time, the church was a very powerful political influence. The church affected Darwin's publication of his findings and as a result he feared that his peers will not accept his theories about how life is created. As a result of his doubt, it took Darwin 23 years to publish On the Origins of Species.
Hi Glen,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your post, I could tell you put a lot of thought in to who you felt influenced Darwin the most. Although, I chose Thomas Malthus as the person I felt influenced Darwin the most. I think you showed some excellent examples as to why you felt Alfred Russell Wallace had a big influence on Darwin. I agree with what you said about the church’s views affecting Darwin’s publication. It's a shame it took that long for him to make his ideas public.
- Kelly Morales-Barry
I agree that Wallace probably had a lot of influence on Darwins theory as well. They were developing their theories around the same time and i think Wallance gave Darwin an extra push to get his book published so Wallace wouldnt get all of the credit for these ideas. good job!
ReplyDeletePretty much I thought Charles Darwin was a man made from himself until I read the textbook. Erasmus Dariwn, his uncle, played a pivotal role in shaping his Anthropological tendencies even though there were other influences along his path.You have done a thorough job of tracking this great Anthropological sage's path, well done!
ReplyDeleteDarwin DID develop his own theory without Wallace. Both of them came up with the idea independently of each other. But you are correct that Wallace was instrumental in getting Darwin to publish his work. They actually ended up publishing the research jointly, though of course Darwin is credited for the work because of "The Origin of Species", which drew more of the public eye than the scientific papers.
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