HSHM 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Grand Unified Theory, Natural Selection 2, Unofficial Collaborator

• School: Yale University
• Department: Hist of Science, Hist of Med
• Course: HSHM 211
• Professor: William Rankin

Document Summary

Ideas of natural order are ideas of social order: linnaeus, a static, designed order, humanity as master and commander, humboldt, nature is divided into nations, use the tools of statecraft. Enter darwin: his biogeography, darwin = geology + biogeography, = lyell + humboldt fro(cid:373) l(cid:455)ell"s stead(cid:455)-state earth to a directional earth, his economics, a big influence, social darwinism. The gloomy economist: thomas robert malthus (1766 1834, former anglican priest, professor of history and political economy, (cid:862)essa(cid:455) o(cid:374) the pri(cid:374)(cid:272)iple of populatio(cid:374)(cid:863, things will not get better for humanity, but worse, population increases exponentially. Unrestrained, it will double every 25 years: but food supply increases linearly. (cid:862)the po(cid:449)er of populatio(cid:374) is so superior to the power of the earth to pro(cid:448)ide su(cid:271)siste(cid:374)(cid:272)e that pre(cid:373)ature death (cid:373)ust i(cid:374) so(cid:373)e shape or other (cid:448)isit the hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) ra(cid:272)e. (cid:863: population checks can occur. (cid:862)e(cid:448)il e(cid:454)ists i(cid:374) the (cid:449)orld (cid:374)ot to (cid:272)reate despair, (cid:271)ut a(cid:272)ti(cid:448)it(cid:455). (cid:863)