Pre-Darwinian (book)

Question 1

• one of the most revolutionary ideas in Western thought, perhaps rivaled only by Newton’s and Einstein’s theories of physics
• challenged the prevailing worldview, which had originated largely with Plato and Aristotle

Answer 1

Darwin’s theory of biological evolution

Question 2

developed the notion that species have fixed properties

Answer 2

• Plato
• Aristotle

Question 3

each species had been created individually by God in the same form it has today

Answer 3

special creation

Question 4

must be permanent and unchanging, since change would imply that there had been imperection in the original creation

Answer 4

Great Chain of Being / Scala Naturae

Question 5

When was natural history justified partly as a way to reveal the plan of creation so that we might appreciate God’s wisdom

Answer 5

as late as the 19th century

Question 6

• established the framework of modern taxonomy in his Systema Naturae (1735)
• won worldwide fame for his exhaustive classification of plants and animals, undertaken in the hope of discovering the pattern of the creation

Answer 6

Carolus Linnaeus

Question 7

what does relatedness mean for Carolus Linnaeus

Answer 7

propinquity in the Creator’s design

Question 8

• started to give way in the belief of the literal truth of the biblical story of creation
• however, several French philosophers and naturalists suggested that species had risen by natural causes

Answer 8

18th century

Question 9

• philosophical movement that give way in belief of the literal truth of the biblical story of creation
• largely inspired by Newton’s explanations of physical phenomena
• adopted reason as the major basis of authority and marked the emergence of science

Answer 9

enlightenment

Question 10

laid foundations for evolutionary thought

Answer 10

astronomers and geolgist

Question 11

developed theories of the origin of stars and planets

Answer 11

astronomers

Question 12

amassed evidence that Earth had undergone profound changes, that it had been populated by many creatures now extinct, and that it was very old

Answer 12

geologist

Question 13

expounded the principle of uniformitaianism

Answer 13

• James Hutton
• Charles Lyell

Question 14

holding that the same processes operated in the past as in the present and that the data of geology should therefore be explained by causes that we can now observe

Answer 14

uniformitarianism

Question 15

• life has originated many times
• each lineage that descends from one of these origins becomes more complex
• orgainsms range from recently originated, simple forms of life to older, more complex forms

Answer 15

Lamarck’s hypothesis

Question 16

• species become different from each other in various feature, not necessarily becoming more complex
• descent with modification
• from a single ancestor, different lineages arise by speciating from existing
• some may undergo less modificaion from the ancestral condition than others

Answer 16

Darwin’s hypothesis

Question 17

where Lamarck hypothesized that different organisms originated separately by spontaneous generation from nonliving matter, starting at the bottom of the chain of being

Answer 17

Philosophie Zoologique (1809)

Question 18

• stated that organisms altered their behavior in response to environmental change
• Their changed behavior, in turn, modified their organs, and their offspring inherited those “improved” structures

Answer 18

Chevalier de Lamarck

Question 19

acts within species, causing it to progress up the chain

Answer 19

nervous fluid

Question 20

principle which states that the alterations, acquired during an individual’s lifetime, are inherited

Answer 20

inheritance of acquired characteristics

Question 21

theory of evolution based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics

Answer 21

Lamarckism

Question 22

when did Darwin join the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle

Answer 22

1831, age 22

Question 23

duration of the vorage of Beagle

Answer 23

December 27, 1831 - October 2, 1836

Question 24

pointed out that Darwin’s specimens of mockingbirds from the Galapagos Islands were so different. Darwin then recalled that the giant tortoises, too, differed from one island to the next

Answer 24

John Gould

Question 25

when did Darwin read the essay by Thoman Malthus

Answer 25

1838, age 29

Question 26

the essay of Thomas Malthus inspired Darwin’s great idea of what

Answer 26

natural selection

Question 27

how long did Darwin spend developing his theory, amassing evidence, and pursuing other researchers before publishing his ideas

Answer 27

20 years

Question 28

when did Darwin write a private essay outlining his theory

Answer 28

1844

Question 29

when did Darwin begin his book he intended to call Natural Selection

Answer 29

1856

Question 30

when did he receive a manuscript from Alfred Russel Wallace

Answer 30

June 1858

Question 31

title of Darwin’s book about natural selection

Answer 31

• On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or
• The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

Question 32

when was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural selection publish

Answer 32

November 24, 1859

Question 33

• Darwin argued forcefully that all creatures were subject to the same natural laws, and that humans had evolved over countless eons, just as other animals had
• published 150 years ago

Answer 33

• The Descent of Man
• Selection in Relation to Sex

Question 34

• collecting specimens in the Malay Archipelago
• independently conceived of natural selection
• contributed biogeography and geographic distribution of species

Answer 34

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)