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History of Thought:

"The Search for Human Origins"

pp. 19-34

1. Major Periods in The History of Physical Anthropology
   

1. Pre-Scientific Period (to 1859)

2. Period of Evolutionism and Concern Over Races (1860--ca. 1940)
   

3. The Period Since WWII
   
   (See"Major Characteristics of Modern Physical Anthropology, Primatology, and Paleontology.")

pp. 20-21

2. Major Problems in The Pre-scientific Period
   
   
   1. Humans were thought to have had ancient origins

   corresponding to the time of the creation of the earth

   2. Earth was thought of as a young place
      
      
   • Related Terms:
     
     

   • creationism
     
     
   • catastrophism (George Cuvier)
     
     
   • evolution

3. Older Evolutionary Ideas
   
   
   1. Example: Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. 99-55 B.C.)
      
      
   • De rerum natura [On the Nature of Things] (on-line book)
     
     
   2. Example: Genesis Account of Creation from the Old Testament

p. 21

4. Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh, Ireland (1581-1656)
   
   
   • In 1650 determined that the Earth was created in 4004 B.C.

p. 21

The Renaissance Web Reference site has this to say . . . This Great Chain, first described by St. Thomas Aquina, is what holds the world together. The Great Chain is as follows:
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274)	God Angels [Pope -- for Catholics] Kings/Queens Archbishops Camilla Parker Bowles (Princess Consort, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall) Dukes/Duchesses Bishops Marquises/Marchionesses Earls/Countesses Viscounts/Viscountesses Barons/Baronesses Abbots/Deacons Knights/Local Officials Ladies-in-Waiting Priests/Monks Squires Pages Messengers Merchants/Shopkeepers Tradesmen Yeomen Farmers Soldiers/Town Watch Household Servants Tennant Farmers Shephards/Herders Beggars Actors Thieves/Pirates Gypsies Animals Birds Worms Plants Rocks
Notes: For Catholics, the Pope is at the same level or above the King. Speaking of clergy, the Church hierarchy is actually separate from the secular hierarchy. I have inserted churchmen into the Chain at the best approximation of their ranks. In terms of deference, personal threat matters. In other words, you might bow to a pirate even if you technically out-rank him, because he is armed and you are not! Office also makes a difference. The King's most trusted advisor gains deference greater than that to which his rank entitles him. The term "Yeoman" is used here to distinguish a farmer who owns his own fields from one who is merely a tennant on someone else's fields. The term does have several other meanings in other contexts. Be thou not confused! Children have, in general, a rank one or two beneath their parents while they remain minors. There are as many gradations among the non-human orders as among people. A complete list would simply be too long to reproduce! For more on how the links of the Great Chain interact, including some good practical advice, check out this article.

pp. 22-23, 96-100

• Related Terms:
  
  
  • taxon
    
    
  • taxonomy

7. Early Discoverers of Prehistoric Evidence

• Issac de la Peyrère, 1655
  
  
• John Friedrich Esper, 1771
  
  
• John Frere, 1790
  
  
• Philippe - Charles Schmerling, 1830
  
  
• Father John MacEnery, 1829
  • Kents Cavern, Devonshire
    
    
• (and others)
  
  
• Related Terms:
  
  
  • thunderstones
    • Hand Ax, 1715, Grayes Inn Lane, London
    • etc.

8. Monsters . . .

Kingdom . . .	Genus	Species	Variety	Common Name
Animalia . . .	Homo	monstrosus	. . .	"monsters"
Animalia . . .	Gorilla	gorilla	gorilla	"gorilla"
Animalia . . .	Homo	erectus	pekinensis	"Peking Man" / "Peking People"

Goat-footed person ("satyrs")	One-eyed people	Homo monstrosus
Source: De Waal Malefijt, Annemarie. (1968). "Homo monstrosus," Scientific American, 219:4:112-118.

 

• Gulliver's Travels, 1726, Jonathan Swift

9. James Hutton (1726-1797)

   Theory of the Earth, 1775 first demonstrated the immense antiquity of the earth Related Terms: deep time

pp. 25, 179

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Slides: 05 begin here

pp. 6, 21, 25-28, 29-33, 26f, 57, 100, 153

12. Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

• The Voyage of the Beagle, 1831-1836

  



• On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 1859

 



(See 13. below)

• Descent of Man, 1871

pp. 28-31

13. Darwin's Theory of Evolution Through Natural Selection
    
    

    Thomas Malthus Source:Turnbaugh et al. (2002). p. 30

    • Observation 1:

    Without environmental pressures, every species tends to multiply in geometric progression ("superfecundity").
    (Source: Thomas Malthus, Essay on the Principle of Population, 1789, and others)

     

    • Observation 2:

      But under field conditions, although fluctuations occur frequently, the size of a population remains remarkably constant over long periods of time.
      (Source: Universal observations)

    • Observation 3:

      Limits are placed on population expansion by limited environmental resources.
      (Source: Observation reinforced by Malthus)

    • Conclusion 1:

      Therefore not all organisms will survive to adulthood and reproduce, and therefore there must be a "struggle for existence."
      (Author of inference: Malthus)

    • Observation 4:

Not all members of a species are alike; that is, there exists considerable individual uniqueness and variation.
(Source: Animal breeders, taxonomists)

• Observation 5:

Parents often pass their individual variations on to their offspring.
(Source: Animal breeders)

• Conclusion 2:

Hence in the struggle for existence individuals featuring favorable variations will enjoy a competitive advantage over others . . . and . . . they will produce offspring in proportionately greater numbers.

There is "differential reproduction" and "differential survival," i.e., "natural selection."
(Author of inference: Darwin)

• Conclusion 3:

Through the action of natural selection over many generations a species could evolve.
(Author of inference: Darwin)

• Related Terms:

pp. 100-103

pp. 102-103

pp. 49, 50, 52

• phenotype

pp. 28-29, 57

14. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
    
    
    • Working separately from Darwin, arrived at the same generalizations at the same time

Alfred Russel Wallace Source:Turnbaugh et al. (2002). p. 33

15. Both Darwin and Wallace Knew: Principle cause of natural selection is the environment
    
    

16. Problem: Neither Darwin nor Wallace Knew The Source of individuals variation

• Answer eventually was in the modern study of genetics
  • inherited characteristics

17. Problem: If natural selection only weeds out what already exists, how can it produce anything new?

• Answer eventually was in the modern study of genetics
  • mutation
  • sexual recombination

pp.32, 47-50, 57

18. Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 - 1884)

• Related Terms:

• recessive genes

• sex-linked traits

19. Hugo DeVries (1848-1935)

Rediscovered Mendel's work on plant hybrids in the spring of 1900

20. Misconceptions of Darwin's Work
    
    
    • Some thought his work was anti-religious
      
      
    • Some thought he took the position that humans descended from an ape
      
      
      • “In the distant future . . . light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.” – Origin of Species, 1859

21. Thomas H. Huxley (1825-1895)

Frontispiece from T. H. Huxley's Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature
(London: Williams and Norgate, 1863)