1. Evolutionary Thinkers
The Early Ideas

2. Baron Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
18th c. anatomist
Catastrophism
Catastrophies in the past caused extinction of species; then replaced by migrating species

3. James Hutton (1726-1797) Scottish geologist Actualism
All geological processes presently occurring also occurred in past
Contrasted Cuvier
Britain’s sexiest man (1755)…or not.

4. Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875) Geologist Rejected catastrophism
Uniformitarianism
Earth has undergone, and continues to undergo, slow and steady changes
Earth may be more than 6000 years old

5. Georges Buffon (1707-1788) Naturalist Species can change over time
Changes can lead to new organisms

6. Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) Charles’ grandfather Physician
Turned down George III offer to be the King’s personal doctor
All life may have a single source

7. Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)
Biologist
Inheritance of acquired traits
Organisms acquired traits by using their bodies in new ways
Traits were passed to future generations
He was totally wrong!

9. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Beagle voyages to Galapagos Islands
Paper: On the Origin of Species (1859)
Theory of Natural selection
Struggle for survival among individuals of a species

10. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
Joint paper with Darwin (1858)
Came up with same conclusions in a letter (2 days) that Darwin took 20 years to ponder