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The development of Darwin's evolutionary thought after 1859 ; A catalogue of the Darwin reprint collection at the Botany School Library, Cambridge
This thesis is not available on this repository until the author agrees to make it public. If you are the author of this thesis and would like to make your work openly available, please contact us: [email protected] Library can supply a digital copy for private research purposes; interested parties should submit the request form here: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/digital-content-unit/ordering-imagesPlease note that print copies of theses may be available for consultation in the Cambridge University Library's Manuscript reading room. Admission details are at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/manuscripts-university-archive
Darwin, Malthus, SĂŒssmilch, and Euler: The ultimate origin of the motivation for the theory of natural selection
It is fairly well known that Darwin was inspired to formulate his theory of natural selection by reading Thomas Malthusâs Essay on the Principle of Population. In fact, by reading Darwinâs notebooks, we can even locate one particular sentence which started Darwin thinking about population and selection. What has not been done before is to explain exactly where this sentence â essentially Malthusâs ideas about geometric population growth â came from. In this essay we show that eighteenth century mathematician Leonhard Euler is responsible for this sentence, and in fact forms the beginning of the logical chain which leads to the creation of the theory of natural selection. We shall examine the fascinating path taken by a mathematical calculation, the many different lenses through which it was viewed, and the path through which it eventually influenced Darwin