| Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) is sometimes called the "Grandfather of Evolution." Erasmus was a prosperous physician, a poet, a philosopher, and a botanist. His ideas expressed in his treatise on evolutionary theory, Zoonomia; or, the Laws of Organic Life (1794-1796) preceded the publication of the work of his famous grandson by over 60 years. Although he did not come up with natural selection, he did discuss ideas that his grandson elaborated on sixty years later, such as how life evolved from a single common ancestor, forming "one living filament". He wrestled with the question of how one species could evolve into another. Erasmus Darwin also talked about how competition and sexual selection could cause changes in species: "The final course of this contest among males seems to be, that the strongest and most active animal should propagate the species which should thus be improved". |
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Erasmus was the founder of the Lunar Society (the "Lunatics") which attracted such famous individuals as James Watt (Steam Engine), Matthew Boulton (Metallurgy), Joseph Priestly (Chemistry), and Josiah Wedgwood (Pottery). They always met on the afternoon and evening of a full moon so as to provide light on their way home. Their conversations ranged widely and were undoubtedly among the most interesting in England at the time. Erasmus addressed two major evolutionary questions: (1) Did all living things rise from a single common ancestor? (2) How did one species develop into another? His writings address almost all important evolutionary topics except Natural Selection and his ideas on man-ape relationships, sexual selection, competition, animal domestication, plant movement, and adaptive coloration were later taken up by his grandson in a series of publications and books. He is most famous for an epic poem that addresses evolutionary processes, The Temple of Nature. |
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