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Evolutionary theory itself has evolved in man's quest for understanding his origins. Many individuals have contributed to it, each modifying the work of his predecessors to address new data or resolve problems that arose from new information. This paper will briefly summarize some of the most defining contributions and trace the development of the theory of evolution from early to modern times. Views if origins will be categorized as early, pre-Darwinian, Darwinian, and post-Darwinian.
Early Views of Origins
The best-known early view of origins is that of the Hebrews. The Torah taught that an eternal, omnipotent, and all-wise God created the entire universe, including man, by calling it into existence. Creation began with apparent age, and complexity and design was woven into every detail. The species (Latin = kinds) were fixed by reproductive limitations which resulted when God commanded each to "bring forth after its own kind". God created man in his own image and was his showpiece of workmanship. 1 Acknowledgement of this doctrine established man's accountability to his maker. This view was subsequently embraced by Christianity, which had its origins in Judaism, but not until after the Greek Empire arose.
The Greeks adopted a view of origins that included a multitude of anthropomorphic, deities. The gods of the Greeks though superior in power and knowledge to man, were themselves subject to the laws of nature and came from primordial matter. Gaia (Mother Earth) gave rise to all life, both men and gods. There were many views as to how this occurred, but most philosophers attributed it to various processes involving air and water.
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Anaximander (ca.611-547 BC) is sometimes regarded to have developed the first written theory of evolution. He believed that the earth underwent a series of dramatic changes, each resulting in changed life forms. The early earth was covered by water, and the primary life form was fish. During one of its changes the continents appeared, and some fish became terrestrial. Humans, which to this point had lived as internal parasites inside these fish, broke free of their hosts and began their history of independence.
Plato, despite his renown as a Greek scholar and philosopher, contributed little to the study of origins. Truth, to him, was to be derived through introspection, and scientific observation held little merit. 4 This was not so with Plato's student, Aristotle (84- BC). Unlike his mentor, Aristotle was a keen observer, and he set forth observation as the key to science. In his Scala Naturae, species were hiearchially arranged from simple to complex like rungs on a ladder. Since each species was perfectly adapted to its position in the ladder, there was no need for significant change. Even so, the bottom rungs contained organisms that arose spontaneously from inorganic sources. 5
Although modern evolutionists have rejected most of Aristotle's views, he briefly toyed with the idea of limited natural selection. He believed that some anatomical features, such as incisors and molar teeth, occasionally appeared for no purpose. If such a feature were useful, it would be preserved. If not, it would cease. 6
This concept, however, was never well developed in his teachings, and emphasis was placed upon the fixity and permanence of the species.
The polytheistic view of the Greeks persisted into the Roman Empire with simple name changes for the deities and minor modifications in the myths. It wasn't until the rise of Christianity that large numbers of people seriously challenged it. The Christians, with their Jewish origins, clung to the Genesis account of creation. Jesus Christ, himself, quoted Genesis numerous times in such a way to endorse its literal interpretation. 7 When Constantine became a Christian, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The almost unlimited power of the Roman church was wielded with arrogance and lack of reason, stifling scientific inquiry. Proclamations were made as to the exact day and hour that the earth had been created. Galileo, already famous for developing a working telescope, was punished for endorsing the heliocentric theory of the solar system. Reaction to this intellectual dishonesty lead to a questioning of all that the church taught, including the theory of intelligent creation. The Reformation of the seventeenth century and the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century were largely due to reactions to extra-Biblical decrees of the Roman church.
Before leaving the topic of special creation, it should be noted that, though this view has ancient roots, it is still the view of most people in the western world. Many prestigious scientists believe that, putting theology and religious doctrine aside, there is more empirical evidence to support a model of creation with intelligent design than there is to support a model of evolution through random processes.
Pre-Darwinian Views of Origins
Georges Buffon (1707-88) interpreted geological strata as the results of stages in the earth's history. Each stratum was the result of some cataclysmic catastrophe such as an earthquake or volcano. This explained why so many fossils were of organisms which no longer lived, having become extinct through such catastrophes.
First proposed by James Hutton (176-7) and then argued by Charles Leyell (1787-1875) in his Principles of Geology, the uniformatarian theory taught that sedimentary strata was the result of long time periods involving ordinary forces. This view gained quick acceptance and replaced the theory of catastrophism taught by Buffon.
A contemporary of Buffon and Hutton, Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), a Swedish botanist, was driven by a sense of having been called by God to develop a classification of organisms. Linnaeus, usually considered the father of modern taxonomy, saw nature as a "Divine Order" of God's creation, and his own role to develop a "natural classification" which would present God's order to the world. At first Linnaeus believed that species were fixed, but after his observations in the hybridization of many plants, he suggested that new genera could be developed by hybridization. Ironically, though Linnaeus wanted his life's work to exalt God as the creator, his system of classification is now primarily used to describe evolutionary relationships.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-18) is best remembered for his theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. In his theory of transforism, he presented the idea that fluids moving throughout an organism became "excited" as they were used. This lead to increased size and complexity of the used organs that were subsequently inherited by their offspring. Traits and organs that were not used ceased to exist. Also, Lamarck believed that there was a tendency of all development to be progressive, resulting in newer, more complex species. He reasoned that the fluids in non-living matter could only produce small, simple organisms spontaneously.
Although neither of Lamarck's views is considered credible today, his was the first scientific theory of evolution. Further, his work in the natural sciences resulted in a unified science which he called "Biology".
Perhaps the most influential writing that would stir the imagination of Charles Darwin was Essay on the Principles of Populations, 178, by Thomas Malthus (1766-184). Malthus described the problem of overpopulation in plants, animals, and even man. His view was that any population, left to itself, would eventually outgrow its food source. His motive was to establish the need for moral restraint in reproduction, but Darwin saw his work as an insight into the competitive environment that all species must face to survive.
Darwinism
The writings of Malthus and Lyell were to find significance in the mind of Charles Darwin. He was given a post as a naturalist for an extended voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, from which he acquired a wealth of observations of various organisms. It was during this voyage that he began developing a theory of adaptation based upon natural selection, though it was not until twenty-two years later that he wrote and published Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection. Though "survival of the fittest" was not a phrase that he actually coined, it describes his view of gradual evolution through natural selection. Small, random variations in some individuals within an isolated population coupled with changes in the environment created a competitive advantage for those
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