The Greek philosopher came up with his own theory of evolution

The British scientific community was in turmoil in 1859. In that year, biologist Charles Darwin published the book Origin of species contain his theory of evolution. According to this theory, all living things descend from common ancestors and that species arose through natural selection.

The idea was seen as groundbreaking and blasphemous, and Darwin’s ideas generated much controversy. But Darwin was by no means the first to think of evolution.

Video: This is how Darwin’s theory was received

The Greeks thought of evolution

One of the first “evolutionists” was the Greek Anaximander (610-546 BC). The philosopher believed that all life had originated in the water, and that marine creatures had come ashore and adapted to land life.

Humans also came from fish-like animals, and “in these animals people took their form,” Anaximander believed.

Other ancient minds—such as Zeno of Citium (c. 334-262 BC)—believed that all life had a fixed function, and that nature strived for the “best-surviving structure.”

The church was transversal

Although philosophers thought in a Darwinian way, their theories in middle ages Censorship, because the Church claimed that God created everything. So living beings were created perfectly – and therefore cannot evolve normally.

However, these doctrines did not appeal to Muslim scholars. The Arab historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun wrote in 1377 that man had evolved from the “monkey world” in a process in which “more species arise”.

Charles Darwin tried to prove this belief in 1859 Origin of species spend. There is now a global consensus on the theory of evolution.

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