Osborn, H. F. From the Greeks to Darwin: An Outline of the Development of the Evolution Idea (1896)

Osborn, H. F. From the Greeks to Darwin: An Outline of the Development of the Evolution Idea / H. F. Osborn. — New York ; London : Macmillan and Co., 1896. — 259 p.

In this foundational work, Henry Fairfield Osborn traces the intellectual history of the evolution concept from its earliest roots in ancient Greek philosophy to the modern synthesis established by Charles Darwin. The author provides a systematic examination of the various evolutionary theories proposed across centuries, analyzing the contributions of figures such as Aristotle, Buffon, Lamarck, and Erasmus Darwin. Osborn’s central thesis is that the theory of evolution was not a sudden invention of the 19th century, but rather the result of a long, cumulative process of scientific and philosophical inquiry. The book serves as a classic overview of how the idea of transmutation of species moved from speculative thought to empirical scientific theory.