Before November 24, 1859, many people simply believed that species were created by
             God in their present forms, or that it was possible for organic matter to be spawned from
             inorganic matter. However, Charles Darwin used these ideas to create his thesis, On the
             Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
             The first true theories on evolution arise during the classical Greek period. On a
             handful of Greek philosophers believed in the theory of evolution and natural selection.
             Unfortunately, the two philosophers who influenced western civilization the most, Plato
             and Aristotle, opposed any theory of evolution. Plato believed that there were two
             worlds, one real world, and one imperfect world that we perceive with our senses. Any
             variations in life were imperfect images of their ideal forms. However, Aristotle didn't
             believe in two worlds; instead, he believed in a "scale of nature." Each life form was
             arranged on a type of "ladder". It started at the bottom with the least complex organism
             and continued up to the most complex organism. Each organism had a pre-determined
             "rung", which allowed no ability to move up, and no open spaces for a new organism to
             fill.
             According to Neil Campbell in his book, Biology: Fourth Edition, "Juedo-Christian
             culture fortified anti-evolution theories." (p. 400-401) The creationist-essentialist dogma
             that species were permanent and created for a specific purpose became deeply embedded
             in Western thought. Any person who dared to theorize or believe in theories about
             evolution were instantly labeled heretics. The medieval church saw evolution as saying
             that God did not exist, that we are not the "supreme creation", and that humans could just
             be evolutionary mistakes.
             However, in the later 1700's and early 1800's there was a "scientific revolution"
             taking place. People began to use scientifi...