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364
Aristotle 's Philosophy 364 B.C
Aristotle, a greek philosopher, was Alexander the greats tutor and also a student of Pluto. Aristotle saw the variations between living and non living matter, plants and animals, and between humans and animals. In Aristotles philosphy all things strive forward perfection and evolve through many processes. -
425
425 A.D Medieval Ideas
Evolution during medieval times was very uncommon because during that time period the Christian theory of special creation was the dominant theory. This idea argued that all living things came into existence in unchanging forms due to divine will. A few medieval philosophers theorized about some sort of teleological principle by which species might derive from a divine form. -
455
Thoughts on Evolution: Empedocles 450 B.C
A Greek philosopher by the name of Empedocles was born in Acragas. He believed the universe was composed of four basic elements: air, water, earth and fire. These elements he believed were formed by two fundamental forces, called Love and Strife. Empedocles theorized that past natural selection is responsible for the forms we see today. He believed that natural selection was a past event, not an ongoing process. -
460
Thoughts on Evolution: Xenophanes 460 B.C
Xenophanes of Colophon observed fossil fishes and shells and later came to a decision that where the fossils and shells had been found on land had once been underwater. Xenophanes was known as the first person to ever use fossils as evidence for a theory of the history of earth. -
520
Greeks Theories on Evolution 520 B.C
Many Greek philosophers argued that all living things originated from water or air. They also theorized that all things descended from one central species or principle. Greek philosopher, Anaximander of Miletus, wrote a text called "On Nature" which was an idea of evolution and said that life started as slime and eventually moved to drier places. He also believed that species evolved over time. -
Jan 17, 640
Judeo-Christian version of creationism was strongly reinforced by James Ussher
The traditional Judeo-Christian version of creationism was strongly reinforced by James Ussher , a 17th century Anglican archbishop of Armagh in Northern Ireland. By counting the generations of the Bible and adding them to modern history, he fixed the date of creation at October 23 640 B.C During Ussher's lifetime, debate focused on the details of his calculations rather than on the approach. Dr. Charles Lightfoot proclaimed that the time of creation was 9:00 A.M. on October 23, 4004 B.C. -
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
John Ray developed the concept of genus and species. -
Carolus Linnaeus
Linnaeus apparently believed that he was just revealing the unchanging order of life created by God. The goal of documenting change in nature would not have made sense to him. Late in his life, however, he was troubled by the fact that plant hybrids could be created by cross pollination. These were varieties that had not existed before. Linnaeus stopped short of concluding that these plants had evolved. His most important contribution to science was his logical classification system. -
Immanuel Kant
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant 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. -
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. Has another book, "Essai de Cosmologie". -
George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
The French mathematician and naturalist, George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon , actually said that living things do change through time. He speculated that this was somehow a result of influences from the environment or even chance. He believed that the earth must be much older than 6000 years. In 1774, in fact, he speculated that the earth must be at least 75,000 years old. He also suggested that humans and apes are related. -
Alfred Russel Wallace
Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace both independently developed the idea of the mechanism of natural selection (Natural Selection) after reading Thomas Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population. Wallace was a champion of rather radical social causes and later openly embraced spiritualism - all elements that resulted in the downplay of his role in the discovery of natural selection. -
Thomas Malthus
Thomas Malthus , an English clergyman and pioneer economist, published Essay on the Principles of Population. In it he observed that human populations will double every 25 years unless they are kept in check by limits in food supply. His book said that all plant and animal populations have this same potential to rapidly increase their numbers unless they are constantly kept in check by predators, diseases, and limitations in food, water, and other resources that are essential for survival. -
Jean-Baptiste Chevalier de Lamarck
Believed that microscopic organisms appear spontaneously from inanimate materials and evolve gradually and progressively into more complex forms through a constant striving for perfection. Also that evolution was mostly due to the inheritance of acquired characteristics as creatures adapted to their environments. And that evolution occurs when an organism uses a body part in such a way that it is altered during its lifetime and this change is then inherited by its offspring. -
The English Lawyer and Geologist, Charles Lyell
Lyell believed that there primarily have been slower, progressive changes. In his three volume Principles of Geology (1830-1833), Lyell documented the fact that the earth must be very old and that it has been subject to the same sort of natural processes in the past that operate today in shaping the land. These forces include erosion, earthquakes, glacial movements, volcanoes, and even the decomposition of plants and animals. -
Charles Darwin Roberts
Darwin planned out a ocean voyage to explore Tenerife at the Canary Islands. To explore the species around the ocean. On July 19 1835 Darwin went on exploring Lima Peru Darwin looked around the city and was shocked at the state of decay all around him. Then Darwin started observing more about the decay. -
Charles Darwin health problem
On June 23 1838 Darwin heath problem became more worse more heart troubles, stomach pains, nausea, and headaches. -
Thomas Huxley
Thomas Huxley was known as "Darwin's Bulldog" because of his passionate, eloquent defense of Darwinism against attackers of the theory. Though he was once an opponent of evolutionary change, he quickly embraced Darwin's Theory. This is important because it shows that fellow scientists were willing to embrace Darwin's theory. -
Gregor Mendel
Through plant breeding experiments, he discovered that there is a recombination of parental traits in offspring. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that Mendel's pioneer research into genetic inheritance was rediscovered. This was long after his death. He never received the public acclaim that was eventually showered on Darwin during his lifetime. This is important because it shows how much hype Darwin got, but Mendel didnt.
