Baptiste Lamarck
Lamarck proposed a theory of evolution which was widely believed in the pre-Darwinian 19th century. Darwin certainly had a great deal of respect for his ideas. Here are a couple of links which put his life and work in relatively simple terms: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesiz… http://www.sparknotes.com/biology/evolut… I hope this is what you’re looking for.