How Did Other Scientists Influence Darwin’s Thinking?

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Darwin was influenced by other scientists.

• James Hutton• Charles Lyell• Thomas Malthus• Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

James Hutton

• Geologist 1795• Theory about how

geological forces have shaped the Earth

• These geological processes operate very slowly over time

• The Earth must be millions of years old

Charles Lyell

• Principles of Geology• Forces that shaped the

Earth millions of years earlier continue in the present.

• If the Earth could change over time, might life change as well?

Thomas Malthus• English economist• In 1798 he noticed that

babies were being born faster than people were dying

• Believed that if the human population continued to grow unchecked, sooner or later there would be insufficient food and living space for everybody

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution• Tendency Towards Perfection

– Organisms strive to get better

• Use and Disuse– Organisms could alter the size

and shape of their organs by using them in different ways

• Inheritance of acquired traits– Organisms that altered their

organs could pass those traits down to their offspring

Lamarck was wrong because organisms cannot pass acquired characteristics onto their offspring.