jan 1, 1972 - Developed the theory of punctuated equilibrium

Description:

Gould developed the theory of punctuated equilibrium as a revision to the Darwinian theory proposing that rather than evolution happening at a slow and constant rate over upwards of millions of years, it occurs at rare instances of rapid evolutionary change in between times of stability with little change. This helped develop the theory of evolution by providing another theory of how a species may evolve. In essence, this theory is actually somewhat similar to the idea of gradualism that is commonly attributed to the modern theory of evolution due to the fact that it still supports the idea of long periods of time involved in evolution, though suck periods are instead noted as periods of stability, not change. At the time this came about, this idea was not existent, known, or a commonly held belief in comparison to Darwin's idea of gradualism, though it was accepted by anti-evolutionists.

Added to timeline:

Date: