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350
Aristotle B.C.
He was a Greek philosopher, and studied marine animals and developed an epigenetic model of evolution. He also developed a classification system for all animals. This is important because it shows us that the great philosophers started thinking about evolution in an early era. -
500
Xenophanes
He studied fossils and put forth various theories of evolution of life from the fossils he studied. This is important because he was using fossils as a resource to his theories. -
520
Anaximander B.C.
A Greek Philosopher from Miletus, he wrote a text called "On Nature", in which he introduced an idea of evolution, stating that life began as slime in oceans and eventually moved to drier land. He also brought up the idea that species evolved over time. This is important because it tells us that even though the theory was false, he was trying to come up with answers. -
Jan 1, 1450
Evolution in Medieval Times
People in the medieval age mostly believed that all things showed up on this earth in unchanging form. This is important because it tells us that people in the medieval age were very strictly religious and would not believe anything besides it. -
Jan 1, 1500
Spontaneous Generation in Medieval Age
Some people back then thought that living things fully appeared from inorganic matter, such as maggots coming from rotting meat and frogsbeing created from slime. This is important because this sort of concept prevented genetic thinking and evolution theories from forming. -
John Ray
He created a concept that we were related to primates. He also placed us in the order Primates along with all of the apes, monkeys, and prosimians. This was very controversial at the time since it proposed that people were a part of nature, along with plants and animals. This is important because it shows us that people were outraged by this theory. -
James Ussher
By counting the generations of the Bible and adding them to modern history, he fixed the date of creation at October 23, 4004 B.C. This shows us how important religion was to people back then and how much they wanted answers to their questions. -
James Hutton
He theorized that the natural forces currently changing the shape of the Earth's surface had been operating throughout time, in much the same way. This is important because people starting to think outside of the box, even though it was untrue. -
Carolus Linnaeus
He at first believed in the fixed nature of species but was later swayed by hybridization experiments in plants. Even though he saw the hybridization, he believed God was meaning to to do so. This is important because it shows that people were not willing to let go of their religious beliefs to look more indepth at evolution. -
Immanuel Kant
The German philosopher theorized that "an orang-outang or a chimpanzee may develop the organs which serve for walking, grasping objects, and speaking-in short, that lie may evolve the structure of man, with an organ for the use of reason, which shall gradually develop itself by social culture".This sort of thinking eventually led to Darwin's theory of natural selection. This sort of thinking is where it started. -
Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
In his book, "Systeme de la Nature', he theorized on the nature of heredity and how new species come into being. He thought that speciation took place by changes events in nature, rather than by spontaneous generation, which was apopular belief at the time. This was important because it shows that people were beginning to branch out of the spontaneous generation idea. -
Charles Bonnet
A Swiss naturalist, he wrote his book, "Philosophical Palingesis" containing information such as females of each organism contain the next generation in miniature form. He believed that natural catastrophies sparked evolutionary changes in organisms. His idea of evolution was similar to organisms climbing a ladder of life with animals becoming intelligent, primates becoming humans, and humans becoming angels. This is important because it shows a new idea developing. -
Erasmus Darwin
Charles Darwin's grandfather, he argued that life could have begun from a single ancestor. He also discussed competition caused changes within species. He was thinking along the same lines as his grandson, and this is important because people were beginning to think along the lines of Darwin. -
Comte de Buffon
Comte de Buffon , actually said that living things do change through time. He speculated that this was somehow a result of influences from the environment or even chance. He believed that the earth must be much older than 6000 years. In 1774, in fact, he speculated that the earth must be at least 75,000 years old. He also suggested that humans and apes are related. This is importatn because, again, people were starting to think along the lines of Darwin, thinking about evolving. -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
The belief most commonly associated with Lamarck today is his idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This theory stated that an organism could pass on to its offspring any characteristics it had acquired in its lifetime. For example, if a man exercised and thus developed strong muscles, his offspring would then have strong muscles at birth. His theory is constantly being compared to Darwin's Natural theory and its important to note the differences between them. -
Thomas Malthus
He was the one who inspired Darwin in the end. According to Malthus, populations produce many more offspring than can possibly survive on the limited resources generally available. According to Malthus, poverty, famine, and disease were natural outcomes that resulted from overpopulation. However, Malthus believed that divine forces were ultimately responsible for such outcomes, which, though natural, were designed by God. This is important because it helped Darwin create his Natural Selection. -
Alfred Wallace
He is best known for independently proposing a theory of evolution due to natural selection that prompted Darwin to publish his own theory. He won awards including the Royal Society's Royal Medal(1868) and Copley Medal and Order of Merit (1908). This was important because heimpelled Darwin to publish his work even sooner. -
Gregor Mendel
Through plant breeding experiments, he discovered that there is a recombination of parental traits in offspring. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that Mendel's pioneer research into genetic inheritance was rediscovered. This was long after his death. He never received the public acclaim that was eventually showered on Darwin during his lifetime. This is important because it shows how much hype Darwin got, but Mendel didnt. -
Thomas Huxley
Thomas Huxley was known as "Darwin's Bulldog" because of his passionate, eloquent defense of Darwinism against attackers of the theory. Though he was once an opponent of evolutionary change, he quickly embraced Darwin's Theory. This is important because it shows that fellow scientists were willing to embrace Darwin's theory. -
BC:Evolution in Greece
The Ancient Greeks argued that everything origionated from water and air. This is important because it shows us how the Greeks thought.
