Evolution: a change in characteristics within a population from one generation to the next
During the 18th century : most scientists believed that all species were permanent and unchanging, and that the earth was only thousands of years old.
*this was because they had calculated it based upon the bible.
Today: Species has changed over time and the earth is over 4 billion years old.
Ideas about geology:
Scientists in Europe begun studying rock layers, known as strata. They discovered that the lower strata developed first.
Georges Cuvier (a french anatomist) promoted the idea of catastrophism: sudden geologic catastrophes caused the extinction of large groups of organisms in the past.
Charles Lyell promoted uniformitarianism, which basically said that the same processes that were used in the past were still happening today to shape the earth in new ways.
Jean Lamarck supported the idea that populations of organisms change over time, which was true. However, he should've shut up after that. He proposed that individuals require traits during their lifetimes as a result of esxpirences or behavior, and then pass on those traits to offspring. His idea was called inheritance of acquired characteristics. This was untrue, because lamark didn't know how genes worked. It was proved wrong when a scientist cut off the tails of mice and the mice continually always had tails when they were born.
Darwin used the phrase decent with modification to describe the process of evolution. He reviewed the evidence that every species must have descended by reproduction from pre existing species and that species must be able to change over time. Although Darwin wasn't the first to think of decent with modification, he was the fist to apply it to all species. This was because we as humans stopped being weird about discovery and accepted things even if they didn't agree with our religious beliefs.
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