BIOL 1001 Chapter : Chapter 14 Lecture Notes
Document Summary
Darwin published on the origins of species in 1859: early biological thought did not include the concept of evolution. Pre-darwinian thought held that all organisms were created simultaneously by god, and that each distinct life-form was permanently fixed and did not change over time. These beliefs were heavily influenced by theology. Plato (427 347 b. c. ) proposed that each object on earth was merely a temporary reflection of its divinely inspired ideal form . Aristotle (384 322 b. c. ) arranged all organisms on a linear scale of increasing complexity (the ladder of nature ) Early explorers often took naturalists along to catalogue the plant and: exploration of new lands revealed a staggering diversity of life animal life they found. The number of species was far greater than expected. The vast numbers of species observed allowed naturalists to see patterns that had not emerged before. They noticed, for example, that each area had its own distinctive set of species.
