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350
Aristotle (350 BC)
The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, studied marine animals and developed an epigenetic model of evolution. -
500
Xenophanes (500 BC)
Xenophanes studied fossils and put forth various theories on the evolution of life -
520
Anaximander (520 BC)
The Greek philosopher, Anaximander, wrote a text called "On Nature" in which he introduced an idea of evolution. -
James Uusher
The traditional Judeo-Christian version of creationism was strongly reinforced by James Uusher, a 17th century Anglican archbishop of Armagh in Northern Ireland. -
Historia Plantarum
John Ray's book, "Historia Plantarum" described 18,600 kinds of plants and gave the first definition of species based upon common descent. -
John Ray
The concept of genus and species was actually developed in the late 1600's by John Ray, an English naturalist and ordained minister. -
Systema Naturae
Carolus Linnaeus' most important contribution to science was in his book Systema Naturae, published in 1735. -
Carolus Linnaeus
The leading biological scientist of the mid 18th century was the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. His 180 books are filled with precise descriptions of nature, but he did little analysis or interpretation. -
Charles Bonnet
Charles Bonnet, a Swiss naturalist, wrote his book "Philosophical Palingesis" that the females of each organism contain the next generation in a miniture form. -
George Louis Leclerc
The French mathematician and naturalist, George Loues Leclerc, said that living things change through time and speculated that this was influenced by the environment or even chance. In 1774, he suggested that humans and apes are related. -
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmun Darwin was the grandfather of Charles Darwin and also an English country physician, poet, and amateur scientist. He believe that evolution has occured in living things, including humans, but he only had fuzzy ideas of what might be responsible for this change. -
James Hutton
Lyell provided conclusive evidence for the theory of uniformitarianism, which had been developed originally by the late 18th century Scottish geologist, James Hutton. -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was the first evolutionist to confidently and publicly state his ideas about the processes leading to biological change in 1809 with the publication entitled Philosophie Zoologique. -
George Cuvier
Althought George Cuvier did not agree with Lamarck's theory, he did not reject the idea that there had been earlier life forms. In fact, he was the first scientists to document extinctions of ancient animals and was internationally respected expert on dinosaurs. -
Catastrophism
George Cuvier advocated the theory of catastrophism. This is the theory that there have been violent and sudden natural catastrophies to help form major mountain chains. -
William "Strata" Smith
Developed the first accurate geological map of England. He also, from his extensive travels, develope the Principle of Biological Succession. -
Charles Lyell
In his three volumes of Principles of Geology (1830-1833), Lyell documented the fact that the earth must be very old and that it has been subject to the same sort of natural processes in the past that operate today in shaping the land. -
Lucretius (60 BC)
The Roman Philosopher, Lucretius, coined the concept that all living things were related and that they had changed over time.
