Lamarck had a great influence in Darwin’s ideas but he did
not have the same beliefs as Lamarck. Lamarck
had a big impact in the scientific community. He proposed that the organisms
that are among the earth did not stay the same, and that over time they would
change in accordance to how they utilized themselves to survive. He believed that
when the environment around an organism changed the organism would have to
change their “behavior” as well to be able to continue to live well in their
environment. Lamarck believed that when
the organism reproduced the “offspring” that the organism had would “inherit”
what they needed most to survive in a bigger manner and what they did not use
would be in smaller portions. He believed that the organisms on the planet
would develop to fit with their surroundings over time and he did not believe what
the church believed that the organisms were set in a way that God made them.
Darwin built upon Lamarck’s thoughts but he did not think exactly like
Lamarck. The section on Darwinism that
was mostly affected by him is that when the environment changes the traits
helpful to the adaptation of the organisms change as well. Darwin however believed that the organisms
that had the traits to survive would be have a better chance of survival but
Lamarck believed that the offspring of any organism would develop and have the
trait they needed. I believe that Darwin could not have developed his theory
without this person’s thoughts because in order for a theory to be successful it
has to be revised and built upon. The
church did not want Darwin’s theories to be published because it went against
the beleifs of the church and they thought it was some kind of blasphemy
You did a good job of explaining Lamarck's evolutionary mechanism. You mention that Darwin's ideas were different... but then you don't say how! It would have been better to complete the thought and explain the differences between to the theories (you explain it a little later in the post but it needs clarification).
ReplyDeleteI agree with your bullet point but were there any others that matched with Lamarck?
Are you suggesting that Darwin took Lamarck's theory and "revised and built upon" it? Darwin certainly shared some of Lamarck's understanding of how the natural world worked (namely the influence of the environment and the importance of inheritance) but he could have just taken these two points and developed his own mechanism, which was very different from Lamarck's. Keep in mind that there were other naturists working on this concept of evolution. It is difficult to assume that Lamarck was that important to Darwin.
The church didn't know about Darwin's work until *after* he published, and yet Darwin delayed publishing for more than 20 years? Why did he delay? What was he concerned with?
A suggestion: Consider these posts to be papers. They should be formatted just as a paper would be, with paragraphs and formatting to make it easier for your readers to read and understand.
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteIn reading about Lamarck I do think he had an influence on Darwin but not as much as some of the other candidates. Lamarck's findings on genetics was genetically wrong, that a trait an animal procures during its life will be passed on to its next of kin. Although I think he had an influence on Darwin in that he proposed that humans evolved from lower species through adaptations was a great influence on Darwin's natural selection.