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John Ray
John Ray was born in Black Notley, United Kingdom on November 29, 1627. He developed a classification system for plants and animals based on anatomy and physiology. He died on January 17, 1705 in Braintree, United Kingdom. -
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was born on September 7, 1707 in Montbard, France. Buffon noted the similarities between humans and apes, and speculated that they might have a common ancestor, suggesting that species change over time. He also suggested that the Earth was much older than 6000 years, contrary to popular belief. He died on April 16, 1788 in Paris, France. -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was born in Bazentin, France on August 1, 1744. He developed the ideas of inheritance of acquired characteristics and use and disuse. He believed that characteristics acquired during an organism's lifetime can be passed on to its offspring and that unused body parts would eventually disappear. He died December 18, 1829 in Paris, France. -
Thomas Malthus
Thomas Malthus was born on February 13, 1766 in Westcott, United Kingdom. He was an economist that wrote an essay titled 'Essay on Principals of Population'. In his essay he proposed that populations produced more offspring than their environment could support because of food supply or climate for example. The populations were eventually reduced by starvation or disease. He died on December 29, 1834 in Bath, United Kingdom. -
Georges Cuvier
Georges Cuvier was born August 23, 1769 in Montbéliard, France. He is largely credited for creating the science of paleontology. Cuvier found that each layer of rock is characterized by a unique group of fossil species. He also found that deeper, older layers of rock contain fossils that are more dissimilar from modern species and that new species appeared and others disappeared. This evidence showed that species could become extinct. He died on May 13, 1832 in Paris, France. -
Charles Lyell
Charles Lyell was born in Angus, United Kingdom on November 14, 1797. He proposed a theory that geological processes operated at the same rates in the past as they do today. This is known as uniformitarianism. Lyell reasoned that if geological changes are slow and continuous, then Earth may be more than 6000 years old. He also theorized that slow, subtle processes can happen over a long period of time and could result in substantial changes. He died on February 22, 1875 in London, UK. -
Mary Anning
Mary Anning was born on May 21, 1799 in Lyme Regis, United Kingdom. She was very skilled at collecting fossils. She made many contributions to the field of paleontology including discovering the first plesiosaur, an aquatic reptile. She died in the same town she was born in on March 9, 1847. -
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in The Mount, Shrewsbury, United Kingdom. He mapped some of the coast of South America while exploring the natural history of all the places he visited. His observations of the variety of finch beaks and tortoise shells on the Galapagos islands in South America helped create the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin died on April 19, 1882 in Downe, United Kingdom. -
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace was born on January 8, 1823 in Llanbadoc, United Kingdom. He knew that populations changed as time passed and reasoned that individuals with traits that helped them survive in their local environments were more likely to to survive to pass on these traits to offspring. This idea is known as survival of the fittest. He died in Broadstone, Dorset, United Kingdom on November 7, 1913.
