-
Period: to
Timeline of Theorists
-
Erasmus Darwin's Birth
Darwin was a notable physician and philosopher. He was offered a position as physician to the king, but he declined the offer. He is known best for authoring the publication "Zoonomia" which contains a theory on the system of pathology and reproduction. In zoonomia, Erasmus Darwin expressed an opinion on evolution, similar to the one of his grandson, stating "the strongest and most active animal should propogate a species, which should thence be improved." -
William Paley's Birth
Willam Paley was an English philosopher. He is known for his text "Principals of Moral and Political Philosophy", which has been frequently cited in the U.S. Congress and in English Parliament. He is also known for his book, Natural Theology, which suggests that god exists because his work can be seen in the happy nature of the physical and social order in society. Paley is also known for his watchmaker analogy about a watch and the world. -
Birth of Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Jean Baptiste Lamarck was a French naturalist who came up with the concept of special sciences and was one of the early people to come up with the concept of evolution that happened within a series of natural laws. He was also a soldier for Prussia in the Pomeranian war. Lamarck talked about how species became more complex over time. Lamarck also asserted that different species adapted to their environments. -
John Henslow's Birth
John Henslow was an English botanist and geologist. He mentored and befriended Charles Darwin. Henslow learnt his first lessons in geology from Adam Sedgwick on the Isle of Wight. Henslow also studied mineralogy and botany. Henslow began a herbarium of British flora including many samples from from friends, family, other botanists and many students. As a mineralogist he studied the complex structure of crystals using precise laws, he tried to apply precise laws to the field of botany, also. -
Charles Lyell's Birth
Charles Lyell was a lawyer and one of the best geologists in the world during the 1800's. He is noted for his belief in James Hutton's theory of uniformitarianism. Lyell read one of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's books and was interested in the theories presented, because if they were true they would mean that the earth is as old as he believed it was. Lyell was at first skeptical that animals could mutate, but he was later convinced of the theory. Lyell was good friends with Darwin. -
Erasmus Darwin's Death
Darwin was greatly influenced by other scientists and philosophers throughout his life. He at one point formed the Lichfield Botanical Society for the purpose of translating the works of Swedish Botanist Carolus Linnaeus into English. It took him seven years to complete this task and publish the writings in two books, A System of Vegetables and The Families of Plants. Darwin also based most of his theories from Zoonomia on the work of David Hartley. Lord Monboddo was also important to Darwin -
Robert Chamber's Birth
Robert Chambers was an important Scottish evolutionairy theorist from the 19th century, as was his brother William. In 1832 William started a publication called Chamber's Edinburgh Journal, with Robert contributing. Soon after they started a book publishing company called W. & R. Chambers Publishing. Around the same time Chambers developed an interest in the field of geology and joined the Geological Society of London. He published a book on Ancient Sea Margins. -
William Paley's Death
The Watchmaker theory comes from ancient philosophers use of sundials to prove the divine nature of the world. Paley's influences on his religious work included John Ray, William Derham and Nieuwentyt. His writing on religion is similar to many written articles during the enlightenment period. His religious work is often used in university discussions on the topic and still provokes philosophers to this day. Richard Dawkins says he is a neo-Paleyist despite their different theories. -
Charles Darwin's Birth
Darwin is one of the most important humans in history for his theory of natural selection. Darwin originally was a prominent geologist before he had a chance encounter that would lead to him developing his theory of natural selection. He originally studied medicine before abandoning it to pursue his interest in nature. He helped study marine vertebrates before he went on a five year voyage on the HMS Beagle. It was on that voyage that the he developed his theory of natural selection. -
Birth of Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace was a notable naturalist, biologist, anthropologist, explorer and geographer. He has been described as the father of biogeography by some and did large amounts of field work on the Malay Archipelago and in the Amazon Basin is South America. Wallace worked extensively with Charles Darwin. Together, Darwin and Wallace created a theory as to why butterflies had deveolped bright color schemes, believing they did it through natural selection as a warning sign to predators. -
Death of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Lamarck also believed that if an organ was used heavily or disused it was reflected in future generations. This has been rejected by genetic research, but epigenetics has brought Lamarck's research back into the picture. Lamarck expressed disdain for the ideas in chemistry promoted by Lavosier. Stephen Jay Gould regards Lamarck as the primary evolutionary theorist, meaning that his ideas were the first of his kind and they still affect science to this day. -
John Henslow's Death
Henslow published A Catologue of British Plants in October 1829. Charles Darwin joined Henslow's course in botany and helped other students collect plants. Henslow was offered a spot on the HMS Beagle to survey South America, but he was persuaded against accepting by his wife. Instead he offered the spot to Charles Darwin, which would become a fateful move in the history of evolution theorism. Henslow corresponded with Darwin on the journey, further influencing Darwin's work on evolution. -
Robert Chamber's Death
Chambers expressed views similar to Lamarck on the concept of evolution and anonymously published a book called Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. His reasons for the anonymity were beacuase the theory was not widely accepted at the time. He proposed stellar evolution, which means that stars go through large changes during their lifetime. He also proposed transmutation of species, similar to the views of Lamarck in his book. -
Charles Lyell's Death
Lyell struggled mightly with his religion when it came to natural selection. However, he had an important role in the publication of Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Dawins' work, with his work in geography supporting Darwin's theory that it would take significant "geological time" for animals to change. Darwin at times was frustrated with Lyell for his difficulty believing in evolution once stating "I am fearfully disappointed at Lyell's excessive caution." -
Charles Darwin's Death
The distribution of different rocks and species of animals in South America and on the Galapagos Islands caused Darwin to contemplate their distribution. He also studied finches and noted their different types of beaks. He then developed his theory and wrote The Origin of Species, which took him ten years to publish. It wasn't until Alfred Russel Wallace wrote him an essay with a similar theory that he decided to jointly publish his finding with him. -
Alfred Russel Wallace's Death
Not only did Darwin and Wallace work together on the caterpilars, Wallace was the person who influenced Darwin to publish his findings on natural selection. Wallace also wrote a book entitled "Darwinism" to back up the findings of Darwin. While many people consider Wallace a sidenote when talking about evolution theorists, Darwin himself considered Wallace one of the leaders in the field. Wallace published 22 full length books and over 747 shorter pieces during his lifetime.
