3 History of Evolutionary Thought
Tori M Saneda
Evolving Evolution: The History of Evolutionary Thought
Contrary to popular opinion, evolutionary thought does not start with Charles Darwin. The history of evolutionary thought is a fascinating story spanning hundreds of years of both speculation and scientific discovery. Using the links below, explore the story from early studies of earth sciences, through 20th-century discoveries that enrich our understanding of life on earth. As you read each person’s contribution, pay particular attention as to what exactly is the key contribution for evolutionary theory. Sometimes this will be clear, while other times it might be a bit more murky.
When navigating UC Berkeley’s Understanding Evolution: The History of Evolutionary Thought web site, make sure you click on “next page” when you see it. All of the links below go to different pages on the Understanding Evolution web site. They are provided here so that you do not have to continually go the first page should you decide to read these pages in different sittings.
- Pre-1800s
- Comparative Anatomy: Vesalius
- Observation: Harvey & Paley
- Fossils & Paleontology: Steno
- Nested Hierarchies: Linneaus
- Ancient Life: Leclerc & Buffon
- Human Ecology: Malthus
- 1800-1900
- Extinction: Cuvier
- Evolution Happens: Lamarck
- Developmental Similarities: von Baer
- Biostratigraphy: Smith
- Uniformitarianism: Lyell
- Discrete Genes: Mendel
- Early Evolution and Development: Haeckel
- Biogeography: Wallace & Wegener
- Fossil Hominids: Huxley & Dubois
- Chromosomes and Mutations: Morgan
- 1900-Present
- Random Mutation: Fisher, Haldane & Wright
- The Modern Synthesis: Dobzhansky
- Speciation: Mayr
- DNA: Crick & Watson
- Radiometric Dating: Clair Patterson
- Endosymbiosis: Lynn Margulis
- Evolution and Development for the 21st Century: Gould
- Genetic Similarities: Wilson, Sarich, Sibley & Ahlquist
You may notice that Darwin is absent from the list above although you may have read about him if you followed the links on the Understanding Evolution website. That is because the next chapter is devoted to Darwin. Even if you read the Understanding Evolution page you need to read the chapter about Darwin.
Test Yourself
Can you answer the following questions? If not, reread the web pages.
- How would you describe the contributions of pre-1800s scholars?
- What is the difference between those scientists who contributed to evolutionary theory before Darwin and after Darwin?
- How did the Modern Synthesis develop?
Cite this page
APA Style: Saneda, T.M. 2022. History of evolutionary thought. In T. M. Saneda & M. Field, Biological Anthropology: a brief introduction. Cascadia College Pressbooks.
Chicago Style: Saneda, Tori M. 2022. “History of Evolutionary Thought.” In Biological Anthropology: A Brief Introduction, 3rd. Bothell, WA: Cascadia College Pressbooks.
CSE Style: Saneda, TM. 2010. History of evolutionary thought. In: Biological Anthropology: a brief introduction, 3rd ed. Bothell (WA): Cascadia College Pressbooks. [modified 2022; accessed 2022 Dec 5]. https://openwa.pressbooks.pub/anth205bioanth/chapter/history-of-evolutionary-thought/.
