Evolution was not discovered single-handedly, Rebecca Stott argues, contrary to what has become standard lore, but is an idea that emerged over many centuries, advanced by daring individuals across the globe who had the imagination to speculate on nature's extraordinary ways, and who had the courage to articulate such speculations at a time when to do so was often considered heresy.

Darwin's list, Kent, 1859 -- Aristotle's Eyes, Lesbos, 344 BC -- The Worshipful Curiosity of Jahiz, Basra and Baghdad, 850 -- Leonardo and the potter, Milan, 1493; Paris, 1570 -- Trembley's Polyp, The Hague, 1740 -- The Consul of Cairo, Cairo, 1708 -- The Hotel of the Philosophers, Paris, 1749 -- Erasmus underground, Derbyshire, 1767 -- The Jardin des Plantes, Paris, 1800 -- The Sponge Philosopher, Edinburgh, 1826 -- The Encyclopedist, Edinburgh, 1844 -- Alfred Wallace's fevered dreams, Malay Archipelago, 1858.