Lecture 2: History of Evolution Thought Before Darwin

Empedocies (c. 492-432 B.C.)

Early greek philosophers (Pre-socratic)

proposed two oppoising forces called love and strife that bring elements together or tear them apart

proposed that all matter is made of 4 elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air

belived that souls are immortal and in reincarnation

proposed that body parts independently arose from the ground and the unattached parts wondered the earth before combining

argued that if an organsim was assembled from parts that were unable to function well, then it would go extinct

attempted to explain apparent diversity of forms, and how species tend to be so well suited to their environment

Socrates (c. 470-399 B.C.)

early greek philosopher

known for The Socratic Method of Questioning

famous quote “I know that I know nothing”

died a matyr

Plato (c. 428-347 B.C.)

classical greek philosopher (post-socratic)

a student of Socrates

‘theory of forms’ hold that there are 2 realms of relailty (The Realm of Forms and The Physical Realm)

believed forms were ideal, fixed, and unchanging

one form can be represented by many particulars

Early christian theologians adapted the ‘theory of forms’ is the context of the nature of god and creation

reimagined the 4 elements as geometric shapes with physical characteristics

The Realm of Forms

non-physical, and timeless with the ultimate blueprints of everything

The Physical Realm

is everything you can see and touch (Particulars)

➢flawed, changing and temporary

Aristotle (c. 384-322 B.C.)

classical greek philosopher (post-socratic)

a student of Plato

an empeiricist, foundational scientist and Father of biology

observed the world and drew conclusions based on the data

rejected Plator’s geometric version of the 4 elements and instead gave them a pair of descriptive qualities (example: fire is hot and dry)

held later disproved ideas about gravity related to the 4 elements

laid some foundations for the ‘Great chain of Being”

taxonomy based on nested hiearchies of types of souls

Aristole’s Hiearchy Type of Souls:

Plants = vegetative souls (basic life functions)

Animals = vegetative soul, sensitive soul (sense perception, pleasure, pain)

Humans = vegetative soul, sensitive soul, rational soul (abstract thought, reason)

Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274)

an Italian priest

a proponent of Natural Theology and was influenced by some of Aristole’s thinking

believed each species was created individually by god in the form it is today (special creation)

‘The Great Chain of Being’

Francesco Redi (1626-1697)

Italian physician and naturalist

investigated the ‘Idea of Spontanseous Generation’

tested whether maggots spontaneously arose on meat

promted other questions whether organisms could appear on non-living surfaces

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

Polish mathematician and astronomer

placed the sun at the center of the solar system

showed that not everything revolved around the Earth

helped launch the Scientific Revolution

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Italian astronomer and physicist

Father of modern science

strongly support Copernicus’ heliocentric model

Sir Issac Newton (1643-1727)

English physicist and mathematician'

“If i have seen farther than others, it was only by standing on the shoulders of giants” (1678)

important figure associated with the Scientific Revolution and Age of Enlightenment

Father of modern scientific method

formulated the ‘Laws of Motion and Revolutionized Physics”

Carolus (Carl) Linnaeous (1707-1778)

Swedish biologist and physician

studying natural history was justified as revealing the plan of creation to appreciate God’s wisdom

produced the “Systema Naturae” in 1758, which became a framework for modern taxonomy

Father of modern taxonomy

ranked hiearchy with related species grouped into genera, related genera into families

Binomial classification (Genus and Species)

the nested grouping of plants and animals later were explained by Darrwin as the result of common descent

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788)

French naturalist

the Father of Natural History, and one of the first to recognize ecological succession

Buffon’s Law is the first major principle of biogeography, stating that geographically separated regions with identical climates and environments often support entirely different sets of plant and animal species

proponent of the idea of centers of origin from which things spread out

natural barriers and long distances prevent the same specied from living everywhere ( geographic isolation)

two separate parts of the world with the exact same weather and soil can still have completely unique wildlife

Charles Bonnet (1720-1793)

Swiss naturalist and philosopher

mainly studied plants and insects

one of the first to use the term ‘Evolution in the context of biology’

proponent of the Great Chain of Being, and species costancy

James Hutton (1726-1797)

Scottish geologist

proposed what became known as the ‘Principle of Uniformitarianism’ (the present is the key to the past)

geological features were shaped by slow, continuous, uniform processes over great span of time (‘Deep Time’)

the father of modern geology

Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875)

Scottish geologist

built on the work of Hutton and supports the ‘Principle of Uniformitariansim’

a close friend of Charles Darwin

Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)

French naturalist and zoologist

founding father of ‘Vertebrate Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy’

contributed some of the early work on biostratigraphy

established extinction as a scientific fact'

proponent of catastrophism is geology

supported the idea of cyclic catastrophes and creation events

opposed early theories of evolution

William Paley (1743-1805)

English naturalist and theologian

said the fit of diverse species to their environments was the results of God’s planning

in ‘Natural Theology’ God is reffered to as a watchmaker, with the watch being composed of many complicated parts that all have to fit together perfectly to function

organisms were said to be more complex and so they must have been diagnosed by a maker for them to be successful in an environment

Larmack (1744-1829)

French biologist and zoologist

was one of the first to use the term biology in the modern sense

hypothesized that life originated many times by spontaneous generation from non-living matter starting at the bottom of a Chain of Being

he believed in Orthogenesis towards higher levels

organisms were said to contain a ‘nervous fluid’ that helped them move up the chain according to differences in age and their needs, and the motion of fluid would serve as an adaptive force towards greater complexity

also worked on classification of invertebrates

proponent of the theory of acquired characteristics (Lamarckism)

Lamarckism

Lamarck argued that various parts of the body could become strengthemed and exaggerated by the ‘nervous fluid’ according to their needs

Lamarck believed that changes in physical characteristics acquired through life could be inherited

adaptive force was said to cause a frequently used organ to strengthen, and disuse to cause it to weaken