When was evolution hypothesized?

Answer 1

The changing of life over time was first proposed by Greek philosophers ca. 600BCE (Anaximander, Empedocles). Similar hypotheses have been proposed between then and the 18th century CE, but it was not until the 18th century that such proposals became the subject of critical thought and empirical research. Diderot and Buffon were French philosophers who proposed hypotheses similar to common descent and natural selection back in the 18th century. It was also in the 18th century that natural philosophers first began structured investigation of the fossil record, and that the thought that life changes over time became firmly embedded in natural philosophy. Before Darwin prominent names in the history of evolutionary thought are: Lamarck, Grant, Saint-Hilaire. Robert Chambers first proposed a form of common descent - though one in which all other animals were steps on a ladder leading towards modern man. It was not until Charles Darwin that universal common descent, the 'tree of life' view, was formally proposed.