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Jan 1, 1000
Aristotle
Aristotle lived from 384 - 322 B.C.E. in ancient Greece. Aristotle was influential in creating the basis for taxonomy, which is the practice of classifying things. He believed that all forms of life existed in an unchanging form and could be organized into a hierarchy. Aristotle's classification is known as the, "Great Chain of Being," and began with inanimate objects (rocks) and built up to humans as a perfected form. This theory was accepted for almost 2000 years. -
Jan 1, 1000
Plato
Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher who lived from 427 - 347 B.C.E. Plato believed that our world and all of its inhabitants were copies of a perfected world that existed. These copies were imperfect and disorderly versions of this perfect world. Also, he believed that reality was actually the opposite of what we were perceiving, instead true reality would only occur once we were in our perfected forms in the afterlife. -
Period: Jan 1, 1000 to
Society Believed that Life Existed in a Perfect Form
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Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Buffon was a French naturalist, who lived from 1707 - 1788. One of Buffon's greatest contributions to science, was a book he wrote called Histoire Naturelle, which included everything that was known about the natural world at that time. In his book, Buffon proposed that there was a common ancestry between apes and humans, because of similiar anatomy he perceived. Also, Buffon hypothesized that Earth was much older than the 6000 years that was commonly accepted at that time. -
Period: to
Most Scientists Don't Agree On How Evolution Occurs
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Georges Cuvier
Cuvier lived from 1769 - 1832 and devoted most of his life to the development of the science of paleontology. By carefully inspecting hundreds of fossils, Cuvier was able to conclude that every layer of rock has different fossils that become more dissimiliar from modern species, the deeper you go. By inspecting the fossils, Cuvier was also able to deduct that many species appeared or disappeared at random intervals, which led to his theory of Earth's Revolutions caused by catastrophic events. -
Thomas Malthus
Malthus was an English economist that lived from 1766 - 1834. One of his most famous contributions to the theory of evolution was an essay he wrote called, "The Principles of Population." This essay was extremely influential for Darwin and Wallace, because it discussed the idea that populations produced far more offspring than could possibly survive in a certain environment, due to limited food and area. This led to Darwin and Wallace both discovering natural selection. -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Lamarck was a French scientist, who lived from 1744 - 1829. After observing the similarities and differences between fossils and modern species, he noticed a line of descent, which displayed how species changed and became more complex over generations. He believed that eventually all species would reach a level of perfection, through the inheritance of the parent organisms acquired traits. This idea was published in his book, "Philosophy Zoologique," and explained how evolution was possible. -
Charles Lyell
Lyell was a scottish lawyer and geologist that lived from 1797 - 1875. Through the examination of the rock deposits, he concluded that the natural forces acting on Earth now, have always been acting at a constant rate. This theory is known as, "Uniformitarianism," and was conclusive evidence that Earth was much older than 6000 years. Uniformitarianism was believed to disprove all religion, because it directly argued the religious idea that Earth's geography was caused by an enormous flood. -
Charles Darwin's Voyage
Darwin was a British scientist that lived from 1809 - 1882. At the age of 22, Darwin departed for a 5 year voyage around South America on a survey ship called the HMS Beagle. This voyage gave Darwin the opportunity to discover hundreds of new species and witness the differences between two organisms from different islands that were believed to be of the same species. After taking hundreds of samples of animals and fossils, Darwin returned to Britain and began developing his theory. -
Alfred Russel Wallace
Wallace was a British naturalist, who lived from 1823 - 1913. He is known as a co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Wallace spent his life travelling around the amazon in order to test his hypothesis' and conduct his experiments. His theory stated that individuals that had traits that helped them survive better, were more likely to pass on those traits, which could lead to the trait becoming more frequent. -
Charles Darwin's Theory
After returning to Britain, Darwin spent 20 years formulating his theory on evolution by natural selection, which he was the co-founder of. During this time, Darwin catalogued all of the species that he had taken samples of throughout his voyage, and he wrote in-depth journals on his journey. After receiving a letter from Wallace that discussed the exact same idea of natural selection that Darwin had, Darwin began combining all of his ideas into a book called, "On the Origin of Species." -
Period: to
Most Scientists Believe the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
