Historical Influences on Darwin
1. For this blog post I chose Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for his positive influences on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
2. Lamarck's work went hand-in-hand with Darwin's beliefs which made it much easier for Darwin to express his thoughts. Lamarck believed in natural religion as well as harmony in the world which coincided with Darwin. It is said that Lamarck's conclusions on evolution are what sparked the attention and interests toward the topic. In Darwin's claims of natural selection, there are characteristics of Lamarck's views on inheritance. One of the most influential theories they had that coincides was Darwin's of natural selection and Lamarck's on the inheritance of acquired traits. Lamarck's work showed that organisms improved themselves by their own and eventually those traits were to be handed down to that species offspring the next generation. This process was labeled Lamarckism and was seen as a support for natural selection.
3. The point that most applies to Lamarck was the belief that In order for traits to evolve and change, they MUST be heritable. I say this because of Lamarckism and how it supports the idea of self-improvement through the path of evolution. He explains how the new advantages for the environment will be passed on to the offspring through a genetic level.
4. Even though Lamarck contributed greatly to Darwin's theory, I believe that his theory of evolution could still have been developed without Lamarck's work. I do think that Darwin's work would have been more difficult and could have possibly even came out with a different result. Many of Darwin's claims derived from Lamarck's ideas but the impact of Lamarck was not so substantial that there would be no theory of evolution without him.
5. The attitude of the church affected Darwin and his theory because any other idea that was different from the religious line was frowned upon. This would have made it more difficult for him to work while also keeping it on the down low.
Source used:
https://www.studymode.com/essays/Lamarck's-Influence-On-The-Development-Of-3006.html
2. Lamarck's work went hand-in-hand with Darwin's beliefs which made it much easier for Darwin to express his thoughts. Lamarck believed in natural religion as well as harmony in the world which coincided with Darwin. It is said that Lamarck's conclusions on evolution are what sparked the attention and interests toward the topic. In Darwin's claims of natural selection, there are characteristics of Lamarck's views on inheritance. One of the most influential theories they had that coincides was Darwin's of natural selection and Lamarck's on the inheritance of acquired traits. Lamarck's work showed that organisms improved themselves by their own and eventually those traits were to be handed down to that species offspring the next generation. This process was labeled Lamarckism and was seen as a support for natural selection.
3. The point that most applies to Lamarck was the belief that In order for traits to evolve and change, they MUST be heritable. I say this because of Lamarckism and how it supports the idea of self-improvement through the path of evolution. He explains how the new advantages for the environment will be passed on to the offspring through a genetic level.
4. Even though Lamarck contributed greatly to Darwin's theory, I believe that his theory of evolution could still have been developed without Lamarck's work. I do think that Darwin's work would have been more difficult and could have possibly even came out with a different result. Many of Darwin's claims derived from Lamarck's ideas but the impact of Lamarck was not so substantial that there would be no theory of evolution without him.
5. The attitude of the church affected Darwin and his theory because any other idea that was different from the religious line was frowned upon. This would have made it more difficult for him to work while also keeping it on the down low.
Source used:
https://www.studymode.com/essays/Lamarck's-Influence-On-The-Development-Of-3006.html
Nice blog post Justin, I found your post very insightful. I like how you went into detail about how Lamarck and Darwin's work went hand in hand. I actually didn't know that Lamarck work made it easier for Darwin to express his thoughts so that was very interesting to read. I agree with you on that the church frowned upon any other religious beliefs. But, the church really did affect Darwin and his theory by knowing that if he was to come out with this theory it was considered a crime. A very punishable crime that could lead to death.
ReplyDeleteAs this is a science class, let's avoid the term "beliefs" when talking about scientific conclusions. In order to qualify a scientific concept, it must be presented with evidence to support it, taking it from the realm of the hypothetical to the realm of evidence-based. No "belief" involved.
ReplyDeleteIn your first paragraph, you spend a lot of time skirting the key issue, which is describing Lamarck's theory and explaining the relationship between his work and Darwin's. You eventually make your way to it here:
"Lamarck's work showed that organisms improved themselves by their own and eventually those traits were to be handed down to that species offspring the next generation."
This is where you came closest to explaining what Lamarck's theory actually is. You are on the right track here but some clarification is needed:
Lamarck must be acknowledged as the first naturalist to propose an actual mechanism regarding the process of evolution. Even though the mechanism turned out to be wrong, this is a very big deal. Lamarck also recognized the importance of the environment on shaping organisms and he also understood that the traits must be heritable and passed on through reproduction in order for evolutionary changes to spread. So these are important to explain. The key difference between Darwin's and Lamarck's theories is when the evolutionary process occurs. Lamarck argued that individuals evolve and pass those changes onto their offspring. Darwin understood that this process wouldn't work. He argued instead that natural selection acted on existing natural variation in a population, selecting those variants that competed more successfully in a given environment and produced more offspring as a result. I.e., Darwin argued that "Individuals don't evolve. Populations do."
Yes, you are correct with the identified bullet point, but are there any others that also apply? In addition to heritibility, Lamarck recognized the importance of the changing environment and the necessity for reproduction.
Good discussion on your conclusion and reasoning for the next section. I agree.
"This would have made it more difficult for him to work while also keeping it on the down low."
Darwin's story was a little more complex than this. The question is really *why* he felt the need to keep it "down low". Scientists are always presenting ideas that contradict the church's teachings. What, specifically, caused Darwin to hesitate in publishing.. because he certainly did hesitate. He hesitated for 23 years and might never have published if not for Wallace. So what were Darwin's concerns? And was he only worried about himself, professionally or personally, or was he also worried about how his family might be impacted by publishing? Remember that his wife was very devout. How might she have been impacted if the church responded negatively to Darwin? Remember that scientists don't work in a vacuum. They can be influenced not just by academics but also by social, cultural and personal issues.
Justin, I agree that Lamarck was a very strong influence of Darwin's theory. I do believe that evolution would not have been the same had Lamarck not influenced Darwin at. This is why I do believe that Lamarck was essential to Darwin's idea. Aside from that I do strongly agree with everything else that you said, especially the part about the church making it hard on Darwin to explore different options.
ReplyDeleteHi Justin,
ReplyDeleteI agree, Lamarck's theory had a strong influence on Darwin for the reason that Darwin in a way finished Lamarck's theory by changing the use it or lose it theory to the theory of natural selection. I also agree that Darwin would have been able to complete this theory of natural selection even without Lamarck's theory, because of his expedition that lead him to the Galapagos Islands. As well as his colleague discovery of the different beak types that made Darwin question how they became that way.
I don't believe that Darwin was necessarily keeping his work on the down-low, other scientists were using Darwin's work to complete their own. He was nervous about ruining his families reputation in the church if he were to publish his findings. I believed what pushed him to finally publish was the fear of not getting the credit because Alfred Russel Wallace was going to publish his work.