Evolution History
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Bronze age to the Silk Road
Light comes to Europe
Age of global empires
19th Century
The 19th Century was a time of great change. Population growth changed from linear to cubic to exponential. Monarchies fell. The role of religion in government withered in the West. Technological progress was astounding, and the status of science elevated. Secular philosophies florished, and secular sciences expanded dramatically. Psychology was established. Anthropology was established. The list goes on: modern geology, organic chemistry, electricity, photography. This amazing age also saw the publication of the Origin of Species, a work that firmly established humanity's connection with the rest of life and influenced many secular thinkers.
1803AD Hypothesis of mechanism for evolution promoted by Lamarck
Lamarckism (or Lamarckian inheritance) is the idea that an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring (also known as inheritance of acquired characteristics). It is named after the French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829), who incorporated the action of inheritance of acquired characteristics into his evolutionary theories. He is often incorrectly cited as the founder of the idea of inheritance of acquired characteristics, which proposes that individual efforts during the lifetime of the organisms were the main mechanism driving species to adaptation, as they supposedly would acquire adaptive changes and pass them on to offspring.
After publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, it was clear that the efforts made by individuals in a lifetime were not passed along. Rather, evolution sorted variation already present int he gene pool. Later, Mendelian genetics supplanted the notion of inheritance of acquired traits, eventually leading to the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis, and the general abandonment of the Lamarckian theory of evolution in biology.
One of the most important things to remember about Lamarck, however, is that he was one of the first evolutionists, and he was a true pioneer. The age he lived in was one where natural selection was not completely spelled out, and the difference between Darwin and Lamarck is not natural selection in itself, but the mechanism of natural selection. Lamarck incorrectly thought that activities engaged over an organism's lifetime could be passed on to their offspring. How close to right he was!
Lamarck's arch rival was Cuvier, who believed in the fixity of species, Biblical creation, and a young Earth. Cuvier was very powerful, more powerful than Lamarck, but he was to be the last of his kind. The diestic balance between church, monarchy, and science that ushered the Age of Reason would not survive the Industrial Revolution, the demise of monarchies, and the secularization of science.
After publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, it was clear that the efforts made by individuals in a lifetime were not passed along. Rather, evolution sorted variation already present int he gene pool. Later, Mendelian genetics supplanted the notion of inheritance of acquired traits, eventually leading to the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis, and the general abandonment of the Lamarckian theory of evolution in biology.
One of the most important things to remember about Lamarck, however, is that he was one of the first evolutionists, and he was a true pioneer. The age he lived in was one where natural selection was not completely spelled out, and the difference between Darwin and Lamarck is not natural selection in itself, but the mechanism of natural selection. Lamarck incorrectly thought that activities engaged over an organism's lifetime could be passed on to their offspring. How close to right he was!
Lamarck's arch rival was Cuvier, who believed in the fixity of species, Biblical creation, and a young Earth. Cuvier was very powerful, more powerful than Lamarck, but he was to be the last of his kind. The diestic balance between church, monarchy, and science that ushered the Age of Reason would not survive the Industrial Revolution, the demise of monarchies, and the secularization of science.
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