Contents Introduction c. 4 Billion BCE Origin of Life c. 3.9 Billion BCE Last Universal Common Ancestor c. 3.9 Billion BCE Prokaryotes c. 2.5 Billion BCE Algae c. 2 Billion BCE Eukaryotes c. 1.4 Billion BCE Fungi c. 570 Million BCE Arthropods c. 530 Million BCE Medulla: The Vital Brain c. 530 Million BCE Fish c. 450 Million BCE Land Plants c. 417 Million BCE Devonian Period c. 400 Million BCE Insects c. 400 Million BCE Plant Defenses against Herbivores c. 360 Million BCE Amphibians c. 350 Million BCE Seeds of Success c. 320 Million BCE Reptiles c. 300 Million BCE Gymnosperms c. 230 Million BCE Dinosaurs c. 200 Million BCE Mammals c. 150 Million BCE Birds c. 125 Million BCE Angiosperms c. 65 Million BCE Primates c. 55 Million BCE Amazon Rainforest c. 350,000 BCE Neanderthals c. 200,000 BCE Anatomically Modern Humans c. 60,000 BCE Plant-Derived Medicines c. 11,000 BCE Wheat: The Staff of Life c. 10,000 BCE Agriculture c. 10,000 BCE Domestication of Animals c. 8000 BCE Coral Reefs c. 7000 BCE Rice Cultivation c. 2600 BCE Mummification c. 2350 BCE Animal Navigation c. 400 BCE Four Humors c. 330 BCE Aristotle’s The History of Animals c. 330 BCE Animal Migration c. 320 BCE Botany 77 Pliny’s Natural History c. 180 Skeletal System 1242 Pulmonary Circulation 1489 Leonardo’s Human Anatomy 1521 Sense of Hearing 1543 Vesalius’s De humani corporis fabrica 1611 Tobacco 1614 Metabolism 1620 Scientific Method 1628 Harvey’s De motu cordis 1637 Mechanical Philosophy of Descartes 1651 Placenta 1652 Lymphatic System 1658 Blood Cells 1668 Refuting Spontaneous Generation 1669 Phosphorus Cycle 1670 Ergotism and Witchcraft 1674 Leeuwenhoek’s Microscopic World 1677 Spermatozoa 1717 Miasma Theory 1729 Circadian Rhythms 1733 Blood Pressure 1735 Linnaean Classification of Species c. 1741 Cerebrospinal Fluid 1744 Regeneration 1759 Theories of Germination 1760 Artificial Selection (Selective Breeding) 1786 Animal Electricity 1789 Gas Exchange 1791 Nervous System Communication 1796 Paleontology 1798 Population Growth and Food Supply 1809 Lamarckian Inheritance 1828 Germ-Layer Theory of Development 1831 Cell Nucleus 1831 Darwin and the Voyages of the Beagle 1832 Anatomy Act of 1832 1833 Human Digestion 1836 Fossil Record and Evolution 1837 Nitrogen Cycle and Plant Chemistry 1838 Cell Theory 1840 Plant Nutrition 1842 Urine Formation 1842 Apoptosis (Programmed Cell Death) 1843 Venoms 1843 Homology versus Analogy 1845 Photosynthesis 1848 Optical Isomers 1849 Testosterone 1850 Trichromatic Color Vision 1854 Homeostasis 1856 The Liver and Glucose Metabolism 1857 Microbial Fermentation 1859 Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection 1859 Ecological Interactions 1859 Invasive Species 1861 Localization of Cerebral Function 1862 Biological Mimicry 1866 Mendelian Inheritance 1866 Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny 1866 Hemoglobin and Hemocyanin 1869 Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) 1871 Sexual Selection 1873 Coevolution 1874 Nature versus Nurture 1875 Biosphere 1876 Meiosis 1876 Biogeography 1877 Marine Biology 1878 Enzymes 1880 Phototropism 1882 Mitosis c. 1882 Thermoreception 1882 Innate Immunity 1883 Germ Plasm Theory of Heredity 1883 Eugenics 1884 Gram Stain 1885 Negative Feedback 1890 Germ Theory of Disease 1890 Animal Coloration 1891 Neuron Doctrine 1892 Endotoxins 1896 Global Warming 1897 Adaptive Immunity 1897 Associative Learning 1897 Ehrlich’s Side-Chain Theory 1898 Malaria-Causing Protozoan Parasite 1898 Viruses 1899 Ecological Succession 1899 Animal Locomotion 1900 Genetics Rediscovered 1900 Ovaries and Female Reproduction 1901 Blood Types 1902 Tissue Culture 1902 Secretin: The First Hormone 1904 Dendrochronology 1905 Blood Clotting 1907 Radiometric Dating 1907 Probiotics 1907 Why Does the Heart Beat? 1908 Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium 1910 Genes on Chromosomes 1911 Cancer-Causing Viruses 1912 Continental Drift 1912 Vitamins and Beriberi 1912 Thyroid Gland and Metamorphosis 1912 X-Ray Crystallography 1917 Bacteriophages 1919 Biotechnology 1920 Neurotransmitters 1921 Insulin 1923 Inborn Errors of Metabolism 1924 Embryonic Induction 1924 Timing Fertility 1925 Mitochondria and Cellular Respiration 1925 “The Monkey Trial” 1925 Population Ecology 1927 Food Webs 1927 Insect Dance Language 1928 Antibiotics 1929 Progesterone 1930 Osmoregulation in Freshwater and Marine Fish 1931 Electron Microscope 1935 Imprinting 1935 Factors Affecting Population Growth 1936 Stress 1936 Allometry 1937 Evolutionary Genetics 1938 Coelacanth: “The Living Fossil” 1939 Action Potential 1941 One Gene-One Enzyme Hypothesis 1942 Biological Species Concept and Reproductive Isolation 1943 Arabidopsis: A Model Plant 1944 DNA as Carrier of Genetic Information 1945 Green Revolution 1946 Bacterial Genetics 1949 Reticular Activating System 1950 Phylogenetic Systematics 1951 The Immortal HeLa Cells 1952 Cloning (Nuclear Transfer) 1952 Amino Acid Sequence of Insulin 1952 Pattern Formations in Nature 1952 Plasmids 1952 Nerve Growth Factor 1953 Miller-Urey Experiment 1953 The Double Helix 1953 REM Sleep 1953 Acquired Immunological Tolerance and Organ Transplantation 1954 Sliding Filament Theory of Muscle Contraction 1955 Ribosomes 1955 Lysosomes 1956 Prenatal Genetic Testing 1956 DNA Polymerase 1956 Second Messengers 1957 Protein Structures and Folding 1957 Bioenergetics 1958 Central Dogma of Molecular Biology 1958 Bionics and Cyborgs 1959 Pheromones 1960 Energy Balance 1960 Chimpanzee Use of Tools 1961 Cellular Senescence 1961 Cracking the Genetic Code for Protein Biosynthesis 1961 Operon Model of Gene Regulation 1962 Thrifty Gene Hypothesis 1962 Silent Spring 1963 Hybrids and Hybrid Zones 1964 Brain Lateralization 1964 Animal Altruism 1966 Optimal Foraging Theory 1967 Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics 1967 Endosymbiont Theory 1968 Multi-Store Model of Memory 1968 Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis 1968 Systems Biology 1969 Cellular Determination 1970 Cell Cycle Checkpoints 1972 Punctuated Equilibrium 1972 Sustainable Development 1972 Parental Investment and Sexual Selection 1974 Lucy 1974 Cholesterol Metabolism 1974 Sense of Taste 1975 Monoclonal Antibodies 1975 Sociobiology 1976 Cancer-Causing Genes 1977 Bioinformatics 1978 In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) 1979 Biological Magnification 1980 Can Living Organisms Be Patented? 1982 Genetically Modified Crops 1983 HIV and AIDS 1983 Polymerase Chain Reaction 1984 DNA Fingerprinting 1986 Genomics 1987 Mitochondrial Eve 1987 Depletion of the Ozone Layer 1990 Domains of Life 1991 Sense of Smell 1994 Leptin: The Thinness Hormone 2000 Skin Color 2003 Human Genome Project 2005 Protist Taxonomy 2006 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells 2009 Viral Mutations and Pandemics 2010 Deepwater Horizon (BP) Oil Spill 2011 Translational Biomedical Research 2011 Albumin From Rice 2012 Human Microbiome Project 2012 Epigenetics 2013 American Chestnut Tree Blight 2013 De-Extinction 2013 Oldest DNA and Human Evolution Notes and Further Reading Photo Credits