All
five of the men have had some sort of influence over Charles Darwin’s theory of
natural selection. I would argue that Jean Baptiste Lamarck had a theory more
on the track to Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Lamarck had argued that the
offspring of species inherited traits that their parents had developed.
Where Lamarck was incorrect was that he
thought species were able to change their physical characteristics to better
fit their environment. Lamarck did not know about genetics or how traits were
passed on to the next generation. Lamarck had come up with the basic idea of
evolution. Species inherited the traits that had enabled their parents to
survive. Darwin vastly improved upon this model. He had discovered that traits
had to already exist in the population in order to be passed on to the next
generation. Darwin had discovered that genes dictate what characteristics a
species has, and that a species cannot change them. Lamarck had put forth that
environment shaped a species. Lamarck’s view had helped Darwin develop his
theory of natural selection.
Darwin would have probably still come up
with his theory but it would have taken him a bit longer to be as thorough
without Lamarck’ prior theory. Lamarck had found out that species are suited to
live in the environments they thrive in. The characteristics of a species are
passed on to their offspring, but Lamarck also believed that a species was able
to change their characteristics in response to environmental influences.
Darwin did not publish his work
because it would be looked down on by the church and society. It was not until
Alfred Russel Wallace had decided to publish work that Darwin had the
motivation to do the same. The church had a very negative influence on the
publication of their types of work.
Hello Juan,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you weren't afraid to say if the scientist was incorrect of his studies compared to darwins ideas and studies. You explained why he was incorrect and why darwins ideas were correct. Although Lamarck contributed to the theory Darwin probably would not have found out without him so he still made a difference in darwins theory!
"He had discovered that traits had to already exist in the population in order to be passed on to the next generation." Very well stated. That is a perfect way of explaining the difference between Darwin and Lamarck's work.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that Darwin didn't have a concept of a "gene" at this point. He wasn't aware of Mendel's work or of genetics in general, but he was aware of the importance of the inheritance of traits.
I agree that Darwin probably would have developed his ideas without Lamarck, who was not the only evolutionary theorist around, even if he was one of the most notorious.
Good post.