The Theory of Evolution Through Time

By Trevor_Dolbow
  • 428 BCE

    Plato (428-348 BC)

    Plato believed that every species had a perfect or essential form. He also believed that the differences within species were considered imperfections. Plato was also able to realize that species had varying levels of complexity.
  • 384 BCE

    Aristotle (384-322 BC)

    Aristotle was a philosopher who was extremely interested in the study of living things. He wrote about a way to “properly” go about performing a biological investigation.
  • 428

    Plato (428-348 BC)

    Plato believed that every species had a perfect or essential form. He also believed that the differences within species were considered imperfections. Plato was also able to realize that species had varying levels of complexity

  • Count Buffon (1725-1773)

    Count Buffon was originally ordered to catalogue the royal collection of natural history, where he was able to reconstruct a lot of this geological knowledge. His beliefs were able to help pave the way for paleontology.

  • Hutton (1726-1797)

    Hutton had an interesting idea on how landforms were created on earth for the time. He stated that rock sediment can reform into rocks from heat and pressure, and this could be used to explain every landform on earth.

  • E. Darwin (1731-1802)

    E. darwin was Charles Darwin's Grandfather. He did not create the specific idea of evolution, but he did come up with several ideas that Charles Darwin elaborated on several years later.

  • De Lamarck (1744-1829)

    De Lamarck came up with the idea that if an animal or organism went through a change in its environment, it would eventually adapt to it. He also created the use or disuse law, which talked about if a muscle or body part is used, it becomes stronger and more refined, but if it was not used, it would not develop, and possibly underdeveloped.

  • Cuvier (1769-1832)

    Cuvier overall saw organisms as integrated wholes, as one being. He did not believe in organic evolution, but saw that fossils were overall not well documented, and decided to document several key species.

  • Lyell (1797-1875)

    Lyell planned to create a book that stated that there was a natural reason for everything. Within this book, he stated that the world must be overall ancient due to how slowly everyday processes work. This book was published in 1830.

  • Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

    Charles Darwin is considered to be the person who came up with the theory of evolution. He was able to reach the conclusions and views about natural selection about evolution that he reached, because of him studying many different specimens.