1. I believe that Jean-Baptiste Lamarck had the biggest influence on Darwin's national selection theory because he was one of the first to attempt to explain the process of evolution. Lamarck was also one of the first to connect the relationship between species and their environments. He had the fundamentals of natural selection however he didn't have it completely correct, Darwin and Wallace refined his theory.
2. Lamarck was one of the first to look into natural selection, he noticed the importance of the relationship between the environment and the organisms in and around that environment. His theory was that if there was a change in the external environment, an organism would need to evolve in order to accommodate the new surroundings and changes. However, Lamarck's theory had a serious flaw because according to his theory if an animal acquired a new trait it would be able to pass the trait down to its offspring. Darwin discovered that natural selection occurs over generations and not to specific individuals in one lifetime however Lamarck did lay down the fundamentals prior to Darwin's studies.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_09
3. Lamarck directly affected the point "if the environment changes, the traits that are helpful or adaptive to that environment will be
different" because he forged the path for natural selection by emphasizing the relationship between organisms and their environment and how they must adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. Although his initial theory was incorrect, it allowed Darwin to build upon it.
4. I believe that eventually Darwin would have revealed the theory of natural selection even without Lamarck's groundwork but only because someone else probably would have been on the forefront before Darwin. Had no one been the first to discover this, whether it be Lamarck or someone else I think it would have seriously impaired Darwin's studies. Lamarck was a huge stepping stone in evolution and natural selection so I think that the conclusion would have been a little bit different if it weren't for Lamarck. Darwin studied Lamarck when he went to Edinburgh, so if Lamarck hadn't made the initial observation and no one else had either then I definitely think that Darwin's studies would have been some what paralyzed.
5. The Catholic church opposed evolution because they thought it contradicted their beliefs that God created all beings. During Darwin's time, the theory of evolution was looked down upon because it clashed with the church. Darwin held off on publishing his first work because he wanted to obtain more data and he did not want to upset his strictly religious wife and cousin, he also knew it would be very controversial to many others. He finally published it because Wallace had a theory dangerously close to natural selection so Darwin wanted to publish his thoughts before someone else stole the opportunity. Evolution was viewed as a threat during this time so Darwin was not very eager to publish any papers quite yet.
Hi Delaney! I also picked Lamarck as the most influential person to Darwin. I read that Wallace was a spiritualist and believed in the divinity of the human soul, so it's interesting how his beliefs were still compatible with his work. I'm wondering if this also prompted Darwin to publish, believing that one day people could have their cake and eat it too.
ReplyDeleteHey Delaney I ready your blog and you made some good points. I however would argue that although Lamarck was the first to observer and take into consideration the connections between organisms & environment, I believe Malthus observation of how limited resources effects population size helped Darwin fully put natural selection together. Sure Lamarck can been seen as a spark plug to natural selection but Malthus help Darwin light the flame.
ReplyDeleteDelaney! I really like your post, very thorough. I found it interesting that the flaw you found with Lamarck's theories was that new traits were passed on to offspring. I found Lamarcks biggest flaw was the reason he explained how animals get new traits to help them survive. He explained that animals get things by using them.
ReplyDeleteGood opening section on Lamarck, though I wouldn't say that Darwin and Wallace 'refined' Lamarck's work. They corrected it. But you are right to highlight both Lamarck's contribution as the first scientist to attempt to describe a mechanism of evolution to emphasize the importance of the environment.
ReplyDeleteGreat contrast between Lamarck's change within generations compared to Darwin's change between generations.
Good choice of bullet point.
Lamarck wasn't the only person exploring evolutionary theory (even Darwin's grandfather Erasmus toyed with the concept) but he was the first to propose a comprehensive mechanism of evolution. He was important but I agree that someone else might have provide the necessary influence.
Point in fact, the church at the center of this issue is the Church of England, not the Catholic Church. Other than this point, you do a great job of highlighting Darwin's concerns, including the effect publishing might have on his wife. Very well done.
(Unfortunately, late submission. Pay attention to those deadlines so you don't lose points.)