Darwin without Malthus

Nineteenth century Russian intellectuals perceived a Malthusian bias in Darwins theory of evolution by means of natural selection. They identified that bias with Darwins concept of the struggle for existence and his emphasis upon the evolutionary role of overpopulation and intraspecific conflict. In this book, Todes documents a historical Russian critique of Darwins Malthusian error, explores its relationship to such scientific work as Mechnikovs phagocytic theory,Korzhinskiis mutation theory and Kropotkins theory of mutual aid, and finds its origins in Russias political economy and in the very nature of its land and climate. This is the first book in English to examine in detail the scientific work of nineteenth century Russian evolutionists, and the first inany language to explore the relationship of Russian theories to the economic, political, and natural circumstances in which they were generated. It combines a broad scope (dealing with political figures and cultural movements) with a close analysis of scientific work on a range of topics.