|
420
|
|
Greek philosopher, Socrates
(470? - 399 BC), speculated on why children don't always resemble
their parents. He enjoyed remarking that the sons of great statesmen
were usually lazy and good for nothing.
|
| 400 |
|
 Hippocrates
(460 - 377 BC) determined that the male contribution to a child's
heredity is carried in the semen.
By analogy,
he guessed there is a similar fluid in women, since children clearly
receive traits from each in approximately equal proportion.
|
| 320 |
|
 Aristotle
(384 - 322 BC), choosing to reject the theories of Hippocrates,
told his students that all inheritance comes from the father : the
male semen, determines the baby's form, while the mother merely provides
the material from which the baby is made. He suggested that female
babies are caused by "interference" from the mother's blood. |
| 100 |
|
 Romans
speculated that mares can be fertilized by the wind. |
| 300 |
|
Hindu philosophers first pondered the nature of reproduction and inheritance. |
| 1000 |
|
Hindus observed that
certain diseases may "run in the family." Moreover, they came to believe
that children inherit all their parents' characteristics.
"A man of base descents can never escape his origins," went the laws
of Manu. |
|
1500 |
|
Spontaneous Generation
is the dominant explanation that organisms arise from non-living matter.
Maggots, for example, were supposed to arise from horsehair. |
