ERASMUS DARWIN
“A fool you know, is a man who never tried an experiment in his life”
Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was one of the most enthusiastic scientists at that time. Although he didn't spread his ideas about evolution, he deeply influenced his grandson Charles Darwin. His belief was, that organisms evolve through time ( like Charles' "Gradualism") but he didn't know how at his time. He also described the importance of sexual selection to continue the changes in species.
Erasmus Darwin was born near Nottingham on December 12, 1731 and successfully attended schools in Cambridge and Edinburgh. He was a remarkable polymath (became a best selling poet) and at the same time he was a country doctor, naturalist, medical botanist and inventor. In his life, he published several books about his work. The 2 most important works are "Zoonomia"( 1794) which is a medical textbook and "Phytologia"(1800). His poems were widely read and highly discussed.
Excerpt of his poem "The Temple of Nature"
Organic Life beneath the shoreless waves
Was born and nurs'd in Ocean's pearly caves
First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass,
Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass;
These, as successive generations bloom,
New powers acquire, and larger limbs assume;
Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,
And breathing realms of fin, and feet, and wing. (1803)
Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was one of the most enthusiastic scientists at that time. Although he didn't spread his ideas about evolution, he deeply influenced his grandson Charles Darwin. His belief was, that organisms evolve through time ( like Charles' "Gradualism") but he didn't know how at his time. He also described the importance of sexual selection to continue the changes in species.
Erasmus Darwin was born near Nottingham on December 12, 1731 and successfully attended schools in Cambridge and Edinburgh. He was a remarkable polymath (became a best selling poet) and at the same time he was a country doctor, naturalist, medical botanist and inventor. In his life, he published several books about his work. The 2 most important works are "Zoonomia"( 1794) which is a medical textbook and "Phytologia"(1800). His poems were widely read and highly discussed.
Excerpt of his poem "The Temple of Nature"
Organic Life beneath the shoreless waves
Was born and nurs'd in Ocean's pearly caves
First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass,
Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass;
These, as successive generations bloom,
New powers acquire, and larger limbs assume;
Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,
And breathing realms of fin, and feet, and wing. (1803)
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
"In all works on Natural History, we constantly find details of the marvelous adaptation of animals to their food, their habits, and localities in which they are found."
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was one of the 19th century's most important naturalists, glaciologist, anthropologists, ethnographers and astrobiologists. He came up with a similar theory about natural selection like Darwin and in 1858 he also presented his theory with Darwin. His work on evolutionary bio geography ( how animals and plants are distributed) though led to him becoming known as that subject's "father". In addition, Wallace is recognized as the ore-eminent collector and field biologist of tropical regions in the 19th century. His book "The Malay Archipelago" becoming one of the most celebrated travel writings in that of that century,has never been out of print. When he died, he was one of the world's most famous scientists, but then he got overshadowed by Darwin, mainly because of the "Darwin Industry" of the years before.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was one of the 19th century's most important naturalists, glaciologist, anthropologists, ethnographers and astrobiologists. He came up with a similar theory about natural selection like Darwin and in 1858 he also presented his theory with Darwin. His work on evolutionary bio geography ( how animals and plants are distributed) though led to him becoming known as that subject's "father". In addition, Wallace is recognized as the ore-eminent collector and field biologist of tropical regions in the 19th century. His book "The Malay Archipelago" becoming one of the most celebrated travel writings in that of that century,has never been out of print. When he died, he was one of the world's most famous scientists, but then he got overshadowed by Darwin, mainly because of the "Darwin Industry" of the years before.
JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK
Jean Baptiste Lamarck was the first scientist who proposed a scientific view on evolution. He introduced the theory of "Inheritance of acquired characteristics", or the theory of 'Use-Disuse' meaning that if a species doesn't use a function of the body, the next generation doesn't have it anymore. In reverse, if a species needs a function more than it has it, the next generation will have it.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck was born in 1744 in Somme and died 1829 in Paris. He was a Zoologist and a Botanist and the founder of the modern zoology of invertebrate animals.
Use-Disuse Theory