Darwin's Middle Road

Darwin was influenced by a social scientist, statistician, and an economist. Identify each one and explain what each contributed to Darwin's theory of natural selection?

    This essay was arguing that the way in which Charles Darwin made scientific discoveries, most famously his theory of natural selection (and evolution), were not simply a collection of facts nor blind theorization. The author claims that there are two types of scientists : inductivists, the fact collectors; and eurekaist, those who pull conclusions "out of thin air." Darwin took, what the author calls, "The Middle Road," a hybrid between the two scientific methods that seems to be conclusively the most effective.
    A main argument is that Darwin was influenced by people outside of the realm of science including a social scientist, a statistician, and an economist, thus making his conclusion more effective reaching different fields and gaining credibility across fields.
    He used the economical theories of Dugald Stewart, a Scottish economist, who claimed that "overall social structure must begin by analyzing the unconstrained actions of individuals" (65-66). Adolphe Quetlet contributed, unintentionally, that "population[s] would grow geometrically and food supplies only arithmetically" (66). Thus gave undeniable evidence to Darwin's claim that animals must compete to stay alive and pass on their genes. Schweber, the social scientist, basically claims that individual action determines the structure of society, and this directly supports Darwin's claims.