TED-Ed
Published on 1 Oct 2013

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Seventeenth-century Danish geologist Nicolas Steno earned his chops at a young age, studying cadavers and drawing anatomic connections between species. Steno made outsized contributions to the field of geology, influencing Charles Lyell, James Hutton and Charles Darwin. Addison Anderson recounts Steno’s little-known legacy and lauds his insistence on empiricism over blind theory.

Lesson by Addison Anderson, animation by Anton Bogaty.