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330
The Great Chain of Being
Aristotle classified all species in a chain starting with t base of plants moving up to all the way to humans. This happened sometime between 384 B.C. and 322 B.C. -
Period: 330 to
PreDarwin
Before Darwin published his threories. -
Jan 1, 1260
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas believed that life could form from non-living creatures and from plants. -
James Ussher Proclaims Date of Earth's Creation
James Ussher, an archbishop from Northern Ireland, counted the many generations of the Bible and added them to modern times to come up with his idea of the date of the Earths's Creation. (October 23, 4004 B.C.) He published this in his book "The Annals of the World." -
John Ray Suggests Primates Are Our Relatives
In the late 1680's, John Ray developed the idea that humans are closely related to primates and that we are part of the natural world. -
Linnaeus Publishes Systema Naturae
Linnaeus believed that by studying nature, the order of God's creations would be revealed. -
Comte de Buffon Comes Out
In the late 18th century, there were many scientists who were beginning to think that species are not fixed. Comte de Buffon of France was one of the first to come out and say it though. He believed that life forms really do change over time. He also stated that the Earth must be at least 75,000 years old. -
Hutton Introduces Uniformitarianism
James Hutton presented two papers discussing uniformitarianism which is saying that "the present is the key to the past." -
Eramus Darwin Suggests Human Evolution
Eramus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin, wrote about his ideas of evolution in poems and also in his book Zoonomia; or, the Laws of Organic Life. He believed that humans had evolved but he did not have a clear explanation on the reasons why. He also believed that the Earth had been formed millions of years before humans ever came about. -
Lamarck States 1st Theory
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck from France, published his book Zoonomia, which suggests "that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament... with the power of acquiring new parts" (wikipedia). -
Hutton Publishes Again
James Hutton published a two volume series of his theories. -
Malthus Publishes Population Theory
Thomas Malthus, of England, published his 6 volume book called "An Essay on the Principle of Population." He inspired Darwin to develop his theory of natural selection. Malthus believed that disease, famine, and poverty were all the consequences of overpopulation. -
Cuvier Documents Extinction
George Cuvier was born on August 23 (my birthday!), in a French-speaking community located in the Jura Mountains. He published his studies documenting the past lives of animals that no longer existed, therefore they were extinct. -
Lamarck Publishes 2nd Theory
Lamarck published Philosophie Zoologique which was where he introduced his idea of inheritance of acquired traits. This theory was later proven to be incorrect. -
Lyell Provides a Backbone for Hutton's Theory
Charles Lyell, from Scotland, published three volumes of "Principles of Geology" which provided solid information to James Hutton's theory of uniformitarianism. It said that the natural forces that changed the earth in the past are the same forces that change the earth today. Erosion, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are examples of those forces. -
Charles Darwin Publishes His Theory
Charles Darwin published his book "On the Origin of Species". It states his theory of natural selection. -
Fossil Discovery
Charles Walcott found many fossils in the Canadian Rocky Mountains that revealed what life was like 500 million years ago. He collected more than 65,000 specimens. -
Modern Theories Are Developed
Modern evolution theories were developed in the 1920's. Like that random mutations sometimes happen in any organism and that traits that helped you to survive are the traits that become more common in a species over a long period of time. Fossil evidence show that a gradual change occurs in animals and plants. -
The Double Helix
James Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of DNA, featuring the double helix. -
"Alvin" Discovers New Life Forms Underwater
Alvin discovers new life forms that could be related to species previously found. -
Faster Evolution at the Equator?
Klaus Rohde suggests that climate can be a very important factor in determining the rate of evolution.
