- Alfred Russel Wallace greatly influenced Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection.
- Wallace was a British biologist who created a similar theory of natural selection to that of Darwin's. He was also influenced by Thomas Malthus' work about the pressure of population growth. Wallace concluded that animals and plants must also be under this same pressure, like humans. He described that these other living things could not reproduce freely due to their environment and natural selection. https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/history_14
- The first point that all organisms have the potential to reproduce exponentially, is the same point that Wallace tried to prove wrong. He also used it as a basis to prove that natural selection helped to avoid this. The second point of explaining why reproduction does not occur freely was also explained by Wallace who suggested that the environment plays a big role. In addition, the next four points about who gets the limited resources was explained by Wallace as the traits that better enable them to gain them, or natural selection.
- No, Darwin could not have developed his theory without Wallace's help. At least not at the time that he did. It would have taken him much more time to figure it all out on his own. Also, Darwin's Theory was so similar to Wallace's, so it was of great help to him.
- The attitude of the church made Darwin scared to publish his work. He did not want to be punished by the church or have his career ended.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Darwin
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"Wallace concluded that animals and plants must also be under this same pressure, like humans."
ReplyDeleteYou have the directionality wrong. Both Wallace and Darwin focused on natural populations, not human populations. In Darwin's case, it was because he recognized that the idea of human evolution would be controversial and he wanted to avoid that hot topic. He later addressed it in his second book "The Descent of Man".
Otherwise, you have the core points in this opening section, but don't be afraid to expand and tell the full story for your reader. Show us what you know.
I agree with your choice of bullet points, but since both Wallace and Darwin developed the same mechanism, isn't it fair to say that ALL of the bullet points also apply to Wallace?
"No, Darwin could not have developed his theory without Wallace's help."
Actually, Darwin DID develop his theory without Wallace. He had been working on his idea for two decades when he became award of Wallace's theory, so Wallace's impact isn't with regard to shaping Darwin's work. Where Wallace's influence is important is as the driving factor that finally convinced Darwin to publish after delaying for more than 20 years. So while Darwin certainly developed his theory without Wallace, he may never have *published* without him.
Okay in your last section, but expand. This section is worth 10 points and required further explanation. Was he only worried about himself or was he also worried about how his family might be impacted by publishing? Remember that his wife was very devout. How might she have been impacted if the church responded negatively to Darwin? Remember that scientists don't work in a vacuum. They can be influenced not just by academics but also by social, cultural and personal issues.
These assignments are essentially papers, not tweets, and should be treated as such. Expand each section into full paragraphs and address each prompt fully. Tell the full story to your reader and see if you can't teach us something we don't already know.