Aristotle -- The Roman Period -- The Middle Ages and Renaissance -- Evolution of the Concept of Species -- Philosophers of the XVIIIth Century -- Buffon -- Lamarck -- Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire -- Georges Cuvier -- Debate between Cuvier and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire -- Goethe -- Dugès -- The German Natural Philosophers -- The Theory of the Organic Types and its Consequences -- Louis Agassiz -- The Lower Animals -- Cell Theory and the Constitution of the Individual -- Embryology -- Species and their Modifications. This long-overlooked survey of the development of evolutionary theory is by far the most thorough and balanced account of its kind. Unlike most of the recent Anglo-centric literature that tends to focus almost exclusively on Darwin and natural selection, it follows the work of naturalists of many nationalities who used paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology in order to establish a linear continuity of evolving life though the long span of geological time. Thorough historical survey of the development of the concept of evolution before the publication of Darwin's 'The Origin of Species'. Providing an alternative view of the recent literature and journal articles commemorating Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of publication of 'The Origin of Species'. Richly annotated with up to date information and explanations of the changing concepts and terminology as well as featuring an extensive Glossary and Biographical index.