Download History of Evolutionary Thought - Field Natural History - Lecture Notes and more Study notes History in PDF only on Docsity! Field Natural History History of Evolutionary Thought I. What is evolution? 1. Evolution in the broadest sense is the observable or inferable fact of change. a. Biological evolution can be defined as changes in any attribute of a population over time. b. Most importantly, evolutionary changes are those that are inherited from one generation to the next. 2. Natural selection is the process of adaptive evolution and is most commonly associated with evolutionary change. It is probably the most common mechanism of evolution, but not the only mechanism. II. Pre-Darwinian concepts of evolution, early philosophers. A. Herakleitos (ca 500 BC) believed the universe was in constant state of flux. Other Greek philosophers also believed change was the norm. 1. BUT, later philosophers regarded the universe as more static. This included Plato’s concept of Typology, or essentialism. (400 B.C.) a. The major concept of typology- Every object was formed around a perfect essence or type. Also called idealism. (No room for evolution here.) b. Any variation amongst living organisms was due to the flawed sensory perception humans. c. This means that evolutionary mechanisms (e.g. natural selection) which depend on variation are ineffective. B. Hippocrates (400 B.C.)- Biological inquiry and the search for natural causes. 1. Hippocrates writings suggest that the people of the times explained the world around them by invoking divine intervention. 2. But Hippocrates believed that there might be a limit to how many divine things there can be. a. Instead, he also observed patterns - this is the job of any scientist. b. The second job of scientists is to find explanations for those patterns. Hippocrates looked to Nature for the source of a pattern. C. Aristotle’s (mid 300 B.C.) Scala naturae – “Great Chain of Being”. 1. Arranged organisms, from simple to complex, on a scale (ladder). a. The hierarchy must extend to social relations as well: it is right and proper that there be inferior and superior human races. b. The role of natural science then, was to catalogue the links of the Great Chain of Being and to discover their order, so that the wisdom of God could be revealed and appreciated. 2. Ancient Greeks static view of nature dominates biological thinking for 2,000 years. D. The pioneering work of Karl von Linne' (Carolus linnaeus) a Swedish botanist. 1. Linnaeus developed the concept of binomial nomenclature and wrote Systema naturae, which described and classified All known species of plants and animals at the time. a. This was undertaken ad majorem Dei gloraim, "for the greater glory of God." 2. Over time, Linnaeus revealed that species might change over time. Docsity.com
