The most prominent naturalist in Britain before Charles Darwin, Richard
Owen made empirical discoveries and offered theoretical innovations that
were crucial to the proof of evolution. Among his many lasting
contributions to science was the first clear definition of the term
homology--"the same organ in different animals under every variety of
form and function." He also graphically demonstrated that all vertebrate
species were built on the same skeletal plan and devised the vertebrate
archetype as a representation of the simplest common form of all
vertebrates.
Just as Darwin's ideas continue to propel the modern study of
adaptation, so too will Owen's contributions fuel the new interest in
homology, organic form, and evolutionary developmental biology. His
theory of the archetype and his views on species origins were first
offered to the general public in On the Nature of Limbs, published in
1849. It reemerges here in a facsimile edition with introductory essays
by prominent historians, philosophers, and practitioners from the modern
evo-devo community.