For the proper stoners like myself
Natura non facit saltus[1][2] (
Latin for "nature does not make jumps") has been an important principle of
natural philosophy. It appears as an axiom in the works of
Gottfried Leibniz (
New Essays, IV, 16:
[2] "la nature ne fait jamais des sauts", "nature never makes jumps"), one of the inventors of the
infinitesimal calculus (see
Law of Continuity). It is also an essential element of
Charles Darwin's treatment of natural selection in his
Origin of Species.
[3] The Latin translation comes from
Linnaeus'
Philosophia Botanica.
[4]