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
This was a good post, and by reading what you have posted I learned how similar Lamark's theory was compared to Darwin's theory. It really shows how much Lamark encouraged Darwin to keep researching what Evolution was, and if it had existed. Just by doing research on the Finches may have been good, strong support for his theory.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your post! I too chose Lamark as having the greatest influence on Darwin and his theory. The more I read about Lamark and his research, the more I wondered why he wasn't given near as much credit as Darwin was given. Yes, his theory proved to be wrong but he seriously set the platform for Darwin to be able to develop his theory. Without him, I still feel that he would have come to his theory in a different way, but Lamark really deserves some credit! I was grateful that we both felt the same way!
ReplyDeleteAgain, great post!
You tend to use the term "belief" a lot. We aren't dealing with beliefs. We are dealing with ideas that scientists were attempting to support with empirical evidence. May not seem crucial to you, but words are important in science.
ReplyDeleteThere were significant similarities between Lamarck's and Darwin's theories but significant differences as well, and Lamarck's ideas were wrong. They didn't reflect the reality of how organisms change in the natural world, so no, Darwin did not demonstrate that Lamarck's ideas were true. Quite the opposite. By presenting a working mechanism of natural selection, Darwin was showing why Lamarck was wrong.
You highlight some of these similarities and differences in your third paragraph. Yes, Lamarck emphasized the importance of the environment and heritability, both of which were crucial to Darwin's theory as well. The key difference was that Lamarck argued that individuals could adapt and evolve. Darwin argued that only populations could evolve across generations. This applies directly to the point of "Individuals don't evolve; populations do."
I tend to agree that Darwin may well have developed his theory without Lamarck, as there were many other scientists discussing evolution during Darwin's time. That said, it is fair to give Lamarck credit for introducing the first mechanism of evolution, even if Darwin benefited mostly from demonstrating that Lamarck was wrong!
The church that impacted Darwin was the Church of England, not the Catholic Church, but you are correct that there was less uproar than Darwin feared. But the question remains, why did Darwin delay publishing for more than 20 years? What were his concerns and how did the church play a role in this delay?
Good Evening Kari
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and received a lot from it. You talked about how Landmark was a great influence and that this lead to Darwin being able to use this and build upon to come up with his own theory of evolution; I see how Landmark could be the most important influency. He looked at evolution from a different perspective but Darin was able to take that concept and look at it from a different point of view.
I did my post on Lamarck as well and I really enjoyed reading your post. I definitely feel you did a little better than I did in regards to pointing out more of Lamarck's contributions to science. I think you did an excellent job displaying your case.
ReplyDelete