Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was a well-known French naturalist that brought on the idea that animals change through time. He then created the idea of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics which states that if an animal develops a trait through time, then it can be passed on to their children. However, this idea didn't turn out to be true. (online source)
The points that were directly affected by Lamarck's findings is in order for traits to evolve in time, it needs to be heritable. Meaning that in order for the trait to be passed on, it needs to be a trait that you are born with and not with traits you get environmentally. Lamarck helped with this point due to his theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics, which proved that any traits that are created environmentally cannot be passed to the offspring.
Darwin couldn't have done his theory without Lamarck's findings. Lamarck was the one who found out that only hereditary genes apply with evolution- through this, it narrowed down the possibilities for Darwin on what really applies when it comes to natural selection and inheritance of genes.
The church was not agreeing with Darwin and his theories. The church believed that everything that happens with evolution and gene inheritance has to do with God and the way God wants it. The church believes that everything happens in "God's image" meaning that God makes everything happen. Even though the church fought Darwin's theory, Darwin still didn't believe in that statement. He still continued on with his book and published his own beliefs.
Hello Kirsten
ReplyDeleteaccording to a history book I've read, Darwin was able to reconcile his theory with a belief in god, but still the church considered it a threat.
Okay on your opening section, but how does Lamarck's mechanism differ from Darwin's? It would have been helpful to delineate that for your readers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your choice of bullet points, but "heritable" didn't have to mean that you were born with those traits. Keep in mind that neither Lamarck nor Darwin knew about Mendelian genetics yet, so the process of inheritance wasn't well understood and therefore the limits weren't recognized.
There are two other bullet points that could apply here, namely the impact of the environment on the process and you could also cite the point "Individuals do not evolve. Populations do.", noting that Lamarck actually argued the opposite, that individuals change and pass those changes onto their offspring.
" Lamarck was the one who found out that only hereditary genes apply with evolution"
Again, no. The discovery of genes is credited to Mendel, whom we will learn about next week. With regard to the importance of Lamarck to Darwin, I suggest that you are giving Lamarck too much credit over Darwin's work. Lamarck should certainly be credited as the first to propose an actual mechanism for evolution. This was a huge step forward, regardless of its inaccuracies, but there were many others discussing and debating evolution during Darwin's time, not to mention by the time Darwin was in school, Lamarck's theory was old news and falsified. Lamarck was important but not necessarily indispensable.
"Even though the church fought Darwin's theory,..."
Actually, the church didn't know Darwin existed until after he published, though that doesn't mean the church didn't play a role in Darwin's decision to delay. Darwin delayed publishing for more than 20 years. The question is, why? And how did the influence of the church play a role in this delay? What were Darwin's concerns? And was he only worried about himself or was he also worried about how his family might be impacted by publishing?
I hear what you are saying. Great input. Thanks
ReplyDelete