ZOONOMIA by Erasmus Darwin

[Deep Sea Isopod]

I have found a free online copy of Erasmus Darwins book.



I've not had chance to read it yet. Hope someone might enjoy it.

[Ronja]

ta

[Deep Sea Isopod]

The genius of Erasmus Darwin
By Christopher Upham Murray Smith, Robert Arnott
(Google books)
So, Erasmus was someone who was onto the idea of evolution long before Charles was born!


From "Zoonomia"

Would it be too bold to imagine that, in the great length of time since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind would it be too bold to imagine that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament, which the great First Cause endued with animality, with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions and associations, and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down these improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!

[Horwood Beer-Master]

...So, Erasmus was someone who was onto the idea of evolution long before Charles was born!...

A lot of people were - at least in a vague sense anyway.

It was a workable mechanism + evidence that was missing.

[mistermack]

That's right. Darwin didn't call his book "My theory of evolution", he called it the Origin of Species by NATURAL SELECTION.
It was widely suspected that creatures could evolve, Darwin discovered the mechanism. He knew that we could change domesticated animals by selecting the ones you wanted to breed from. He realised that nature does the same thing.
.