2.8: Key Developments in Evolutionary Thought
- Page ID
- 191611
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Key Developments in Evolutionary Thought
| 4th century BCE | “Founder of Biology.” Publishes History of Animals, a biological classification system of over 500 animals based on structure, physiology, reproduction, and behavior. Also creates the “Great Chain of Being,” ranking species and placing humans closest to God. | |
| 8th–9th century CE | Writes seven-volume Book of Animals, which includes animal classifications and food chains. Introduces concept of biological evolution and its mechanisms. | |
| 1011–1021 | “Father of Modern Optics.” Uses experimental science to catalog how vision works and discovers laws of reflection and refraction. Publishes Book of Optics and invents camera obscura, the foundation for modern photography. | |
| 1620 | “Father of Empiricism.” Publishes The Novum Annum, formulating the scientific method based on observation and inductive reasoning. | |
| 1686 | First to publish a biological definition of species in History of Plants. | |
| 1749 | Publishes Histoire Naturelle, comparing anatomical structures across species using methods still in use today. Inspires Lamarck and Cuvier. | |
| 1758 | Introduces system of binomial nomenclature. Publishes Systema Naturae, the tenth edition of which introduces the designation Homo sapiens for humans. | |
| 1788 | “Father of Geology.” Publishes Theory of the Earth; introduces idea of Deep Time; explains how features of the earth were formed through the actions of rain, wind, rivers, and volcanic eruptions. | |
| 1798 | Economist and “Father of Statistics.” Publishes An Essay on Population; introduces concept of carrying capacity; explains how populations outstrip the food supply, leaving some individuals to die off; inspires Darwin’s idea of “natural selection.” | |
| 1809 | Publishes theory of the Inheritance of acquired characteristics; is the first Western scientist to propose a mechanism explaining how traits change in species over time and to recognize the importance of the physical environment in acting on species and their survival. | |
| 1810 | Paleontologist/comparative anatomist; proved species went extinct; proposed the Theory of Catastrophism. | |
| 1830 | Establishes geology as a science. Publishes first edition of The Principles of Geology (1830–33); issuing 12 total editions in his lifetime, each updated according to new scientific data. | |
| 1858 | Sends scientific paper to Darwin titled “On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type,” essentially espousing the concept of natural selection; a reading of the papers by both Wallace and Darwin to the Linnaean Society is conducted by Lyell. | |
| 1859 | Publishes On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859). | |
| 1865 | Publishes Experiments in Plant Hybridization (1865), outlining the fundamentals of genetic inheritance. | |
| 1889 | Publishes Essays Upon Heredity (1889), disproving the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Publishes The Germ Plasm (1892), postulating an early idea of inheritance through sexual reproduction. | |
| 1937 | One of the founders of the Modern Synthesis of biology and genetics. Publishes Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937). Documents a genetic model of speciation through reproductive isolation. |