Edward Tyson

Edward Tyson (born 1650, Bristol, Somerset [now North Somerset], England—died August 1, 1708, London) was an English physician and pioneer of comparative anatomy whose delineation of the similarities and differences between men and chimpanzees (he called them “orang-outangs”) provided an empirical basis for the study of man. His work suggested a continuity of traits between humans and other primates nearly a century before evolution was first theorized.

Tyson’s comparisons, set forth in his landmark treatise (1699) of anthropology and comparative anatomy, remarkable for its empirical approach, served as an aid to naturalists 150 years later. He worked within the context of the “chain of being,” whereby close analogy and continuity between similar organisms were to be anticipated.