Crocker, L. G. Diderot and eighteenth-century French transformism (1959)

Crocker, L. G. Diderot and eighteenth-century French transformism / L. G. Crocker // Diderot Studies. — 1959. — Vol. 2. — P. 114–156.

Abstract:

"My purpose in this study is to re-evaluate the contribution of Denis Diderot to the development of transformist ideas in the French Enlightenment. Far from being a mere popularizer, Diderot anticipated many of the concepts central to evolutionary thought, such as the instability of species and the influence of environmental factors. By tracing his dialogue with the natural sciences of his time, I intend to show that Diderot's philosophy provided a conceptual framework that, while speculative, moved significantly toward a modern understanding of biological change, long before the formal establishment of evolutionary theory."