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350
Aristotle
Greek philosopher, studied marine animals and developed an epigenetic model of evolution. He also developed a classification system for all animals. -
500
Xenophanes
He studied fossils and put forth various theories of evolution of life. -
520
Anaximander
Greek philosopher, of Miletus , wrote a text called " On Nature" in which he introduced an idea of evolution, stating that life started as slime in the oceansa and eventually moved to drier places. He also brought up the idea that species evolved over time. -
Jan 1, 1350
Spontaneous Generation
The idea of spontaneous generation, which stated that living things can appear fully formed from inorganic matter. In this view, maggots came from rotting meat, frogs came from slime, etc. -
Jan 1, 1400
Greece
While the Greeks did not specifically refer to their concepts as "evolution", they did have a philosophical notion of descent with modification. Several different Greek philosophers subscribed to a concept of origination, arguing that all things originated from water or air. -
Jan 1, 1581
James Ussher
17th century archbishop of Armagh Ireland. By counting the generations of the Bible and adding them to modern history, he fixed the date of creation at October 23rd, 4004 B.C. During Ussher's lifetime, debate focused only on the details of his calculations rather than on the approach. Dr. Charles Lightfoot of CAmbridge University in England had the last word. He proclaimed that the time of creation was 9:00 am on October 23rd, 4004 B.C. -
Date of Creation
James Ussher fixed the date of creation at October 23, 4004 B.C.He proclaimed that the time of creation was 9:00 A.M. on October 23, 4004 B.C.By counting the generations of the Bible and adding them to modern history -
The Concept of Genus and Species
The concept of genus and species was actually developed in the late 1600's by John Ray, an English naturalist and ordained minister. However, it was Linnaeus who used this system to name us Homo sapiens (literally, "wise men"). -
Karl von Linné
The leading biological scientist of the mid 18th century was the Swedish botanist Karl von Linné (Carolus Linnaeus in Latin). His 180 books are filled with precise descriptions of nature, but he did little analysis or interpretation. -
Erasmus Darwin
Charles Darwin's grandfather, a distinguished naturalistwith own intriguing ideas about evolution. He never thought of natural selection, but he did argue that all life could have a single common ancestor, though he struggled with the concepts of a mechanism for this decent. -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Lamarck believed that microscopic organisms appear spontaneously from inanimate materials and then transmute, or evolve, gradually and progressively into more complex forms through a constant striving for perfection. -
Carl Linné
Carl Linné (1707-1778), is considered the father of modern taxonomy for his work in hierarchical classification of various organisms. At first, he believed in the fixed nature of species, but he was later swayed by hybridization experiments in plants, which could produce new species -
George Cuvier
Due to weakness of Lamarck's theory it was relatively easy for the French scientists and others to discredit the idea of inheritanceof acquired characteristics. First scientist to documentthe extinction of ancient animals and was an internationally recgonized expert on dinosaurs. -
Erasmus Darwin
Charles Darwin's grandfather Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was also a distinguished naturalist with his own intriguing ideas about evolution. -
Life Forms are Not Fixed
Late in the 18th century, a small number of European scientists began to quietly suggest that life forms are not fixed. The French mathematician and naturalist, George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon , actually said that living things do change through time. -
Charles Lyell
He was obsessed with the implications of the evolutionary theory of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. -
Charles Lyell
A careful examination of European geological deposits in the early 19th century led the English lawyer and geologist, Charles Lyell , to conclude that Cuvier's catastrophism theory was wrong. -
This Revolutionary Idea
This revolutionary idea was instrumental in leading Charles Darwin to his understanding of biological evolution in the 1830's. However, it was not until the late 19th century that most educated people in the Western world finally rejected the theory of catastrophism in favor of uniformitarianism -
Jesus- 000
Jesus is born. (Christian belief) -
WORLD
The acceptance of biological evolution in the world.
