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Orthogenesis
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Orthogenesis is an obsolete biological hypothesis that organisms have an innate tendency to evolve in a definite direction towards some goal, due to some internal mechanism or "driving force". Accordi
Theodor Eimer was the first to define orthogenesis.
Theodor Eimer was the first to define orthogenesis.
The mediaeval great chain of being as a staircase, implying the possibility of progress: Ramon Lull's Ladder of Ascent and Descent of the Mind, 1305
The mediaeval great chain of being as a staircase, implying the possibility of progress: Ramon Lull's Ladder of Ascent and Descent of the Mind, 1305
Reviewing Darwin's Origin of Species, Karl Ernst von Baer argued for a directed force guiding evolution.
Reviewing Darwin's Origin of Species, Karl Ernst von Baer argued for a directed force guiding evolution.
Henry Fairfield Osborn's 1934 version of orthogenesis, aristogenesis, argued that aristogenes, not mutation or natural selection, created all novelty.
Henry Fairfield Osborn's 1934 version of orthogenesis, aristogenesis, argued that aristogenes, not mutation or natural selection, created all novelty. Osborn supposed that the horns of Titanotheres evolved into a baroque form, way beyond the adaptive optimum.
History of evolutionary thought
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Evolutionary thought, the recognition that species change over time and the perceived understanding of how such processes work, has roots in antiquity. With the beginnings of modern biological taxonom
The tree of life as depicted by Ernst Haeckel in The Evolution of Man (1879) illustrates the 19th-century view of evolution as a progressive process leading towards man.
The tree of life as depicted by Ernst Haeckel in The Evolution of Man (1879) illustrates the 19th-century view of evolution as a progressive process l
The Greek philosopher Anaximander of Miletus argued that humans originated from fish.
The Greek philosopher Anaximander of Miletus argued that humans originated from fish.
Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail from The School of Athens (1509 – 1511) by Raphael
Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail from The School of Athens (1509 – 1511) by Raphael
Augustine of Hippo, shown in this sixth-century AD Roman fresco, wrote that some creatures may have developed from the "decomposition" of previously e
Augustine of Hippo, shown in this sixth-century AD Roman fresco, wrote that some creatures may have developed from the "decomposition" of previously existing organisms.