-
350
Aristotle
The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, studied marine animals and developed an epigenetic model of evolution. He also developed a classification system for all animals. -
500
Xenophanes
Xenophanes studied fossils and put forth various theories on the evolution of life. -
520
Anaximander
The Greek philosopher, Anaximander 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. -
John Ray
John Ray's book, "Historia Plantarum" catalogued and described 18,600 kinds of plants and gave the first definition of species based upon common descent. -
Carolus Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus, or Carl Linné (1707-1778), is considered the father of modern taxonomy for his work in hierarchical classification of various organisms. At first, he believed in the fixed nature of species, but he was later swayed by hybridization experiments in plants, which could produce new species. -
Immanuel Kant
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) developed a concept of descent that is relatively close to modern thinking; he did in a way anticipate Darwinian thinking. Based on similarities between organisms, Kant speculated that they may have come from a single ancestral source. -
Immanuel Kant
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) developed a concept of descent that is relatively close to modern thinking; he did in a way anticipate Darwinian thinking. Based on similarities between organisms, Kant speculated that they may have come from a single ancestral source. -
Carolus Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish born naturalist, published his book, "Systema Naturae" in which he outlined a method for classifying all organisms. This method is still in use today (generas, orders, classes and kingdoms). -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's (1744-1829) theory of evolution was a good try for his time, but has now been discredited by experimental evidence and the much more plausible mechanism of modification proposed by Darwin. Lamarck saw species as not being fixed and immutable, but rather in a constantly changing state. -
Comte de Buffon
Comte de Buffon, a French naturalist, developed the modern definition of a species; a group of organisms which can breed and produce fertile offspring. He thought that all organisms were created by god and arranged in a hierarchy with mankind at the top of creation. -
Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
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. -
Thomas Malthus
Thomas Malthus' (1766-1834) theory of population growth was in the end what inspired Darwin to develop the theory of natural selection. According to Malthus, populations produce many more offspring than can possibly survive on the limited resources generally available. -
Charles Bonnet
Charles Bonnet, a Swiss naturalist, wrote in his book, "Philosophical Palingesis" that the females of each organism contain the next generation in miniature form. He believed that natural catastrophes sparked evolutionary changes in organisms. His idea of evolution was analogous to organisms climbing a ladder of life, with animals becoming intelligent, primates becoming human, and humans becoming angels. -
Georges Cuvier
Georges Cuvier, a French naturalist, made numerous contributions to the biological sciences. He was the founder of vertebrate paleontology, confirmed that species can become extinct, and developed a classification system for animals that is still in use today (vertebrates, articulates, molluscs and radiates). Cuvier believed that animals were functional wholes. -
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin, English physician, poet and naturalist, developed one of the first theories of evolution in his book, "Zoonomia." Erasmus thought that all life had evolved from one common ancestor which over time branched off into all the species we see today. He thought the transmutation of species was driven by competition and sexual selection, but he had no facts to support his theories. Erasmus Darwin was Charles Darwin's grandfather. -
Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Scientists at the beginning of the 1800s know of some kinds of fossils, and they were very aware of homologous and vestigial structures. Many scientists suspected that some kind of evolution had given rise to living things around them. However, they had no unifying theory to explain how evolution might have occurred. Two scientists led the way in the search for a mechanism of evolution. The first was Jean Lamarck. The second was one of the greatest figures in biology, Charles Darwin. -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's book, "Philosophie Zoologique" stated that animals evolved from simpler forms. Lamarck saw evolution as a goal oriented process striving towards perfection; analogous to species climbing a ladder. One result of this view was that he did not believe species became extinct, rather, they simply evolved into a different species. For Lamarck the process of evolution was a simple one - as the environment changes species need to modify how they interact with it in order to survi -
Kull K.
In the previous volume of "Folia Baeriana", one can find a statement: "Development, not evolution, could be considered as the central theoretical framework for biology. In this case Baer and not Darwin would become the central historical figure in theoretical biology" (Salthe, 1993:247). This may mean that the arguments put forward by Karl Ernst von Baer, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, who happened to be both, a forerunner and critic of the theory of natural selection, have attained a growing -
Biological Conceptions of Evolution
The preceding discussion has focused on the philosophical components of evolutionary theory, but precursors exist for its biological aspects as well. Indeed, as mentioned above, by Darwin's time the concept of descent with modification was hardly controversial - it was only the mechanism, the rate of modification, and the ultimate origin of life that were being debated. Darwin's major breakthrough consisted in providing a plausible mechanism to drive change in organisms. -
Medieval Theories
During medieval times, the idea of evolution was quite out of fashion, since the time was dominated by the Christian theory of special creation. This idea, which argued that all living things came into existence in unchanging forms due to divine will, was notably in opposition to the concept of evolution.
