Thomas Malthus, Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution

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Thomas Malthus and Charles Lyell were two figures who influenced Darwin's theories. Malthus was an influence through his book on the population principle. Darwin had a parallel thinking in the concept of individual struggle in natural selection. Lyell's influence on Darwin was from his book "Principles". Darwin agreed with Lyell's uniformitarian theories, and the uniformitarian understanding helped Darwin explain the elements of natural selection. Malthus believed that starvation would always be a part of human life because he thought that population would increase at a greater rate than food supply. In his book, "Essay on the Principle of Population", he discussed eliminating help for the poor. He thought this would be a natural way of getting rid of poverty and stopping the poor from reproducing more poor people. Malthus also explained that competition was best for all in human societies and man would always have to struggle to feed himself and his family. Another way Malthus viewed the population principle was as something brought on by God as a way to prevent man ...

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