Historical Influences on Darwin
One of the most influential people to Charles Darwin was
Thomas Malthus. Malthus’s theory of the Principle of Population positively
influenced the completion of Darwin’s theory on natural selection; however, in
my opinion, an underlying influence to Charles Darwin was Jean-Baptiste Lamark.
Lamark believed in an evolution based on environmental changes. Although Lamark
was later found to be incorrect on his theory of how traits were passed through
generations, his idea that, environmental needs influence a change in a species,
was the starting ground to Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
“Lamarck is credited with helping put evolution on the map
and with acknowledging that the environment plays a role in shaping the species
that live in it.” Corbis. “Evolution” PBS.com.
2001. August 30, 2012 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/3/l_023_01.html>
The point most directly affected by Lamark’s work is: If the
environment changes, the traits that are helpful or adaptive to that
environment will be different. Lamark believed that if a species struggled in
certain environmental areas, they would change, and that change would be passed
off to their offspring. This thought process is similar to Darwin’s; however, Darwin believed that the positive traits were passed down
through offspring and would eventually be the norm. The change was not
immediately passed down to the next generation. Darwin was not responsible for
proving Lamark’s theory wrong, but his theory of natural selection was another
possibility to the influence of environmental changes.
Charles Darwin may not have been able to complete his theory
of natural selection without the influence of Lamark because Lamark laid the
groundwork to the idea of environmental influences.
The attitude of the church affected Darwin’s desire to publicize
his work because the idea of evolution was, and still is, a very controversial topic. Similar to today, the conversation of evolution separates into church and science.
Darwin definitely saw the world differently as a result of Lamark's theory's.
ReplyDeleteGood description of Lamarck's work, though you did confuse me a bit there with the mention of Malthus first.
ReplyDeleteLamarck was very influential, but there were a number of people considering the idea of evolution at that time, including Darwin's own grandfather, Erasmus. That said, Lamarck was the first credited to recognize the relationship between the environment and evolution.
Evolution is not controversial in science, just among the general public in the tug-of-war between religious beliefs and scientific findings. In that, there is indeed much similarity between Darwin's time and ours. But why did Darwin fear controversy? What might have been the repercussions of publishing? I would have liked to have seen a little more exploration on this. Otherwise, good post.
Lamarck's theory of how certain species would change their physical characteristics in order to adapt to the environment and survive. He also made a critical discovery that these trait would be passed onto the next generation. He definitely had a significant influence on Darwin's theory of evolution.
ReplyDelete