From the Greeks to Darwin: The Development of the Evolution Idea Through Twenty-Four Centuries (Classic Reprint) - Hardcover

Henry Fairfield Osborn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0265397537 ISBN 13: 9780265397534

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Discover how the idea of evolution grew—from ancient Greece to Darwin—across twenty-four centuries.

This carefully framed history traces the long arc of evolutionary thought, showing how early Greek natural philosophy and later thinkers laid groundwork that shaped modern biology. It frames evolution as a developing law of nature, explored through philosophy, theology, geology, and the life sciences. The 1929 edition expands the original work with new discoveries and fresh readings, highlighting forgotten precursors and the ongoing dialogue among scholars about how ideas evolve.

You’ll encounter:

• A clear, chronological map of ideas from the Greeks through nineteenth-century thinkers.
• Profiles of key contributors and the threads they wove into the evolution concept.
• Explanations of how pre-Darwinian ideas anticipated later theory, including debates about natural causation and heredity.
• A sense of how scientific method and interpretation shaped our understanding of life’s history.

Ideal for readers of science history, philosophy of biology, and anyone curious about how Darwin’s ideas fit into a long tradition.

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0265397537
• ISBN 13: 9780265397534
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 424