For centuries, human beings have been contemplating the idea that living things evolved over time instead of being created by a supernatural force. In the Middle Ages, some great thinkers suspected that species changed over time, but they never explained the guiding mechanisms for this process to occur. Or, they came up with false conclusions.

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace have been recognized as the first people to describe evolution by natural selection. Nonetheless, many others who lived before, during, or after Darwin and Wallace contributed to what we know today. Let’s meet some of them.