Hutton and Lyell concluded that earth is extremely old and that the processes that changed Earth in the past are the same processes that operate in the present. Hutton presented his hypotheses about how geological processes have shaped the Earth.
Hutton recognized the connections between a number of geological processes and geological features like mountains and more.
Lyell also argue that earth is much much older than a few thousand years. Darwin began to read Lyell’s books during his voyage and he was able to conclude that Lyell was correct.
Lamarck suggested that organisms could change during their lifetimes by selectively using or not using various parts of their bodies. he also suggested that individuals could pass these acquired traits onto their offspring, enabling species to change over time. Lamarck propose that all organisms have an inborn urge to become more complex and perfect. We know today that his hypotheses were incorrect in several ways however, his work paved the way for later biologist, including Darwin.
Malthus noted that humans were being born faster than people were dying, causing overcrowding. Darwin realize that his reasoning applied even more to other organisms than it did to humans. This was important because Darwin became convinced that species evolved and he needed to figure out how evolution occurred.
Inherited variation is used in artificial selection because in artificial selection, nature provides the variations, and humans select those they find useful.
