Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck is the person we can thank for the terms, biology and invertebrates.
His contributions to science are numerous. He founded the dichotomous keys to assist in
classifying plant life in France. The graphic use of the branching of a tree to
explain how things are grouped and related comes from the works of Lamarck. He
presented the idea that living things become more complex over time and was the
earliest to publish his theories on evolution. He published many works on
botany, meteorology, zoology, paleontology, geology and chemistry. Lamarck discovered
that environment plays an important role in development and ultimately this is
what made the greatest influence on Charles Darwin. His ideas that species
evolve directly relative to their environment were true even though his
mechanism was faulty.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830902433.html
Some of the key
points in the logical explanation for Evolution that were influenced by Lamarck
are as follows:
If the environment changes, the traits that are
helpful or adaptive to that
environment will be different.
Lamarck
discovered that a seed, when germinated in two different environments develops
into two apparently different species. This was one of the most important
discoveries to prove that environment plays a significant role in development
and Darwin pursued this idea even further into his own ideas, which eventually
became natural selection.
In order for traits to evolve and change, they MUST be
heritable.
Lamarck
believed that an animal could change within its lifetime which we know to be incorrect;
however, he also believed that the change would be passed on to the offspring. This
idea was the foundation for how traits are passed on and while he didn’t
understand why, Darwin knew that they would be passed on just as Lamarck
suggested they would be.
Individuals do not evolve. Populations do.
Lamarck
identified that in order to survive the animal must be able to access the
resources available to it. In order to this, they must adapt in some cases to
reach these resources. While he was
incorrect on how this occurred over time. It gave Darwin the basis for the idea
that living things must adapt in order to survive.
Without the influence
of Lamarck, Darwin might have come up with his hypothesis and theories but it
would have taken him much longer. These ideas were the first to be published
and while some of the information would be proven false, they are what gave
Darwin some of his first ideas and are the basis for everything Darwin would
later believe.
Darwin, the
Church and On the Origin of Species
Ideas on evolution
and new theories were considered to be anti-Christian and heretical.
Philosophers and mathematicians had already been killed in light of their
controversial opinions. His wife was concerned over his ideas as they
contradicted her religious beliefs as well. Darwin was fearful of publishing his ideas
under such circumstances. When his work,
on the Origin of Species was published it was not well received by the public
and it still originates some very strong debates to this day.
Stacy, I love how you formatted this blog. I definitely have no imagination haha. And the point you made about Darwin coming up with the ideas much later than he did if not for Lamarck was a very good conclusion. I also like how you went into depth about his discoveries.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. I always hope I'm clear when presenting my thoughts so the feedback is great!
DeleteI agree with Stephanie, wow, great job on formatting the blog!! I'm a first time blogger and I can't wait to figure out how to create a page like you presented here.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with you on choosing Jean-Baptiste Lamarck to have the most influence on Darwin. After reading about inherited traits and how species develop into "perfection" over time to cope with their environment-I thought I was reading Darwin's work! I also fully support the comment you made that, "Without the influence of Lamarck, Darwin might have come up with his hypothesis and theories but it would have taken him much longer." Dead on my dear!
Lamarck was a man that died in poverty, and yet Darwin used his views and findings to create what he created, even if he expressed them differently or altered them. I find the basis of Darwin's work really shows a lot of Lamarck's work and what he was trying to prove.
An interesting fact I found on Lamarck:
"...ultimately driven by environmental change, over long periods of time. It is interesting to note that Lamarck cited in support of his theory of evolution many of the same lines of evidence that Darwin was to use in the Origin of Species."
Thank you so much! It is amazing isn't? That Darwin should be credited with it all and really he combined ideas and presented them all from the other men. They should all get credit as a collaborative effort!
DeleteThis is a great blog. It has a lot of information and is well-written. You fully explain everything and were creative with your blog. The comment you made about Darwin coming up with his ideas much later if it werent for Lamarck, I thought was believeable.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I could never say for sure that he would or wouldn't but it would seem that any of them could have expounded and come up with the same conclusions if they's had enough time.
DeleteStacy, your blog set up is awesome!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your write up and it really made me think about how much Lamarck had to do with Darwin's success. I will defiantly be reading more about Lamarck, thank you!
-Michael Meiser
Thank you so much! He was very interesting and, I think really started the whole thing!
DeleteExcellent background on Lamarck's work. Concise and clearly written. Great images too.
ReplyDeleteA clarification on the statement "a seed, when germinated in two different environments develops into two apparently different species". From your source, this isn't exactly what was stated. If seeds from the same species are grown in two different environments, over time, they will develop into two apparently different species. This is evidence of natural selection, although at the time, Lamarck considered species to be fixed. Ah, the irony.
I don't think England was killing off it's scientists during Darwin's day, but the church could make your life miserable if they wished by ostracizing you and your family. This was Darwin's fear, or at least one of many.
Thank you! Again, thank you for the clarification on the seed statement. I try to put things in my own way and they don't always come out right! I would disagree though that even in using the exact phrasing of the statement it is proof of natural selection, but proof of environment demanding change, since natural selection would require offspring. I would agree that they would not be killing people but making one's life extremely difficult.
DeleteToo funny! I didn't realize before that you, L Rodriguez, were our professor. So, can you explain then why that would be considered natural selection in regard to plants? I know they germinate but are there seeds really considered offspring? I do realize that plants change but I didn't think it was considered natural selection in the same way as mammals.
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