Pre-Darwinian Theories

pioneer in asserting that species can change
over generations, he rejected the idea that
species could evolve into other species.
Erasmus Darwin
1731-1802
Another late 18th century
closet-evolutionist was
Erasmus Darwin , the
grandfather of Charles
Darwin. Erasmus was an
English country physician,
poet, and amateur
scientist. He believed that
evolution has occurred in
living things including
humans. He wrote of this in his poems and
other relatively obscure publications.
However, like the Count of Buffon, he did not
know what caused evolution.
The first evolutionist who
confidently and very
publicly stated his ideas
about the processes
leading to biological
change was another late
18th and early 19th
century French aristocrat,
Jean Baptiste, Chevalier of
Lamarck
Lamarck
1744-1829
. Unfortunately, his theory about
these processes was entirely incorrect.
Lamarck's conception
Lamarck believed that
microscopic organisms
appear spontaneously from
inanimate materials and
then evolve progressively
into more complex forms
through a constant striving
for perfection. The
ultimate product of this
goal-oriented evolution was