Thomas Malthus' influence on Darwin

Thomas Malths was an economist and a scientist. He observed that in every population more individuals are produced than can survive. Darwin saw this in nature and thought about its meaning. He realized that certain organisms would survive in a population and others would not survive or reproduce. Using this knowledge, Darwin was able to develop his theory of natural selection. Natural selection is the process by which organisms with favorable variations reproduce at higher rates than those without such variations.