1. Evolution Volume III: The History of Evolutionary Thought
By Heather Rowan with Travis Perry and Peter Riffin

2. I. History of Evolution
A. Evolution first suggested by French naturalist George Louis Leclerc ( ), but he had no proof.
B. George Cuvier ( ) – A vertebrate zoologist who used comparative anatomy to classify animals. He suggested Catastrophism (Mass extinction).
C. Jean Baptiste Lamarck ( ) – another French naturalist. He proposed the Theory of Acquired Characteristics.

3. I. History of Evolution
Erasmus Darwin ( ) Grandfather of Charles Darwin, also a physician and naturalist. Suggested the possibility of evolution based on studies of animal development, artificial breeding and vestigial organs.
D. James Hutton ( ) - Proposed the Uniformatarian Theory of Geology. The theory states that geologic process happen at the same rate today that they have throughout the earth’s history. The earth is not unchanging. There are continuous cycles of erosion and uplifting of rocks. Erosion makes soils deposited in layers to became sedimentary rock. This rock often contains fossils.

4. E. Carl Linnaeus (1708-1788) Swedish Founder of modern taxonomy
“Systema Naturae”
Invented hierarchical scheme of classification
Kingdom<Phylum<Class<Order<Family<Genus<Species
Binomial naming, “genus species” (e.g., homo sapiens)
“God creates, Linnaeus names”

5. Early classification based on typological thinking:
World was constant (static)
Species were immutable (unchanging)
VARIATION in life was simply noise
Classification was a method for organizing things
Not a method for explaining things, except as a representation of a creator

6. F. Charles Darwin ( )
Naturalist on Beagle ( )
During his travels:
Galapagos & their bizarre flora/fauna
Encountered fossils of extinct giant mammals
1. Hypothesized that all organisms are the result of “descent with modification”
Worked intermittently on the theory of evolution for 20 years
2. Published “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life” (1859)
One of the most important thinkers of all history!

7. The trip out and South American

8. The Voyage of the Beagle
It was in the Galapagos Islands that Darwin made the observations that would most influence his studies for the next twenty years. In particular, he found the speciation of Galapagos finches to be fascinating.
Discuss what could cause these species to come from a single ancestral species?

9. On the Origin of Species
Both Darwin’s and Wallace’s papers were presented as a scientific meeting just a few weeks later, but received little fan fare.
On the Origin of Species was finally published in 1859 and all 1,250 copies sold the first day.