In his life time, Lamark, never was recognized for his great findings but his contributions to science set way for the findings of not only Darwin but Lyell and Haeckel, whom all added on to the theory of adaption. Lamark was actually a professor of the natural history of insects and worms and in this field he coined the term "invertebrates" which didn't exist at the time and he made huge advances in forming the classifications of the animal and insect kingdom. As his theories and work are still used today it is sad that he didn't live to see his work being put to such extensive use.
Lamark’s theory was actually rather complex but it stated
that if the environment changes, the traits that are adaptive or helpful are
different and in order for traits to evolve and change, they must be heritable.
He believed that organisms only change if the environment changes and there is a necessity
to survive but it is a gradual species change. Altered behavior or action leads
to increasing or decreasing use in organs and limbs which in turn would alter
features. But he also thought that these new traits were passed down to their
offspring which was disproved but I think this idea gave Darwin a light bulb in
his head to look more into how species evolved from similar ancestors.
I think that Darwin would have eventually ended up developing his theory of natural selection without the influence of Lamark. That being said, all of the work and research Lamark did, gave Darwin the blueprint to say, this makes sense or this doesn't seem right. So I think Lamark's theories pushed Darwin into finding out more about how natural selection and adaption really works. Darwin doesn't necessarily have the same view points as Lamark but they are very similar or expanded because of more research and theory.
I’m surprised to say that the Catholic Church was pretty
neutral and indifferent at the time of Darwin’s book release. I’m not surprised
that they eventually came out with anti-evolution rants and enthusiastically
opposed Darwin’s theories and beliefs. It only took them a couple decades. With
the Church’s belief in God’s creation of the world and all living things in it
and Darwin’s belief in evolution there was opposition to the conflicting
beliefs.
Information received from: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/lamarck.html
