-
350
Aristotle B.C.
Greek philosopher, studied marine animals and developed an epigenetic model of evolution. He also developed a classification system for all animals. -
500
Xenophanes B.C
He studied fossils and put forth various theories of evolution of life. -
520
Anaximander B.C.
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 oceans and eventually moved to drier places. He also brought up the idea that species evolved over time. -
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. -
John Ray
His book, "Historia Plantarum" catalogued and described18,600 kinds of plants and gave the first definition of species based upon common descent. -
Carolus Linnaeus
Or known as "Carl Linne", was considered the father of modern taxonomy for his work in hierarchical classification of various organisms. He maintained his belief in special creation in the Garden of Eden. -
Comte de Buffon
French zoologist also known as George Louis Leclerc, actually said that living things do change through time and that Earth must be much older than 6,000 years. -
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher who developed a concept of decent that is relatively close to modern thinking. In a way it anticipated Darwinian thinking. -
James Hutton
He proposed that the natural forces currently changing the shape of the Earth's surface had been operating throughout time much the same way. -
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's theory of evolution was good at the time, it has now been discredited by experimental evidence and the much more plausible mechanism of modification proposed by Darwin. -
Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
In his book, "Systeme de la Nature' theorized on the nature of heredity and how new species come into being. He thought that speciation took place by chance events in nature, rather than by spontaneous generation as was believed at the time. Has another book, "Essai de Cosmologie". -
Thomas Malthus
His theory of population growth was in the end what inspired Darwin to develop the theory of natural selection. According to him poverty, famine, and disease were natural outcomes that resulted from overpopulation. -
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. -
Charles Bonnet
Swiss naturalist, wrote his book, "Philosophical Palingesis" that the 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 analogous to organisms climbing a ladder of life with animals becoming intelligent, primates becoming huma, and humans becoming angels. -
Age of Earth
In 1774, in fact, Buffon speculated that the Earth must be at least 75,000 years old. -
Charles Lyell
He was obsessed with the implications of the evolutionary theory of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. In Lyell's view, if Lamarck was right then religion was a fable, man was just a better beast, and moral fabric of society would crumble to dust. -
Malthus' Essay
Thomas Maltus' Essay on the Principleof Population, which was the most influential work of its era. The 6th edition was independently cited as influence by both Darwin and Wallace in developing the theory of 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). -
Darwin and Wallace
Darwin and Wallace released a joint scientific paper which introduced the concept of evolution by means of natural selection.
