How Did Lamarck Contribute To The Scientific Field

The Scientific Revolution was at its height during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with many supporters and critics of the works of scientists. It was the transition from the medieval, philosophical and religious perspective to a secular and rational perspective. One of the biggest debates that defined the Scientific Revolution was the debate over whether the universe was geocentric (with the earth at the center of the universe), or heliocentric (with the earth revolving around the sun). The works of these scientists was influenced by political leaders for their desire in power, the clash of ideas between religious leaders and institutions, and differentiation towards female scientists and unorganization in research. In all, each of these three parts of society contributed to the Scientific Revolution in very important ways.

In the Annenberg Learner, Video on Demand series session 6, Evolution and the tree of life, various professors or scholars discussed the evolution of life. The session began with a beautiful photograph of Harvard University of Natural History. Next, a narrator introduced the Museum of Comparative Zoology located in the basement of Harvard. The basement holds the reptile and amphibian collection. The narrator pointed out that the century old jars containing specimens of bodies along with their DNAs carry clues that help scientists to reveal how evolution has shaped and reshaped the living planet also how to make sense of life.

Although Darwin’s (1809-1882) work in evolutionary observation might appear radically different from those focused on other areas, the theories he developed from these observation lead to such groundbreaking publishing’s as The Origin of Species. These intern caused an upset within the then accepted norms of philosophy and religion, had a profound impact on the academia, and further

At the beginning of the 1800s, scientists knew of some kinds of fossils, and were very aware of homologous and vestigial structures. Many scientists suspected that some kind of evolution had given rise to living things around them. However, they had no theory to explain how evolution might have occurred. Two scientists led the way in the search for a mechanism of evolution. The first was Jean Lamarck. The second was one of the greatest figures in biology, Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin believed in Evolution and natural selection. Evolution according to Charles Darwin was that all life is related in some way and has descended from a common ancestor. As random genetic mutations occur in an organism’s genetic code, the beneficial mutations aid in survival – this is called natural selection. Organisms that develop random mutations are better adapted to their environment and tend to survive and produce more offspring. Lamarck’s viewpoint on evolution was the law of use and disuse. He hypothesised that organisms react to changes in their environment by changing or strengthening a certain organ. Whilst an organ will stop working or disappear if it is stopped being used. The fault is this theory was that it could not explain how these strengthened or unused organs are passed on to other generations of the same organism. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is right, but Lamarck wasn’t far off the mark. A good example of Lamarck’s law of use and disuse in the Homo sapiens is that of the appendix. The appendix is an organ which is commonly believed to have ‘stopped working’, this organ was the remnant of large fermenting gut for plant life. This organ has ceased to work as Homo sapiens have stopped eating plant matter and started to eat organisms consisting of meat. This somewhat strengthens Lamarck’s

He concluded that the only way the current species could survive was through generations of adaptions to their environment, in which, only the strongest traits could pass on. This helped him develop his theory on natural

Darwin and Lamarck also agreed that life evolved from less, simpler organisms to many, more complex organisms. The differences are that Lamarck believed in theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics, meaning if an organism changes during life in order to adapt to its environment, those changes are passed on to its offspring. He said that change is made by what the organisms want or need. Lamarck also believed that evolution happens according to a predetermined plan and that the results have already been decided. Whereas Darwin’s theory was that diverse groups of animals evolve from one or a few common ancestors; the mechanism by which this takes place is natural selection. Natural selection is when random evolutionary changes are selected for by nature in a consistent, orderly and non-random way. Darwin believed that organisms have changed over time, and the ones living today are different from those that lived in the past. Darwin’s theory has been supported by a lot of evidence including the fact that over time, populations split into different species which are related because they are descended from a common ancestor. While Lamarck’s theory has been disproven; this has been done in two ways, by experiment and by the study of

Robert Boyle made many significant contributions to a number of subjects, including chemistry, physics, the discovery of many different unknown properties of air, and making connections between science and his religious beliefs. Many of his discoveries and theories laid the beginning groundwork for a number of the modern sciences used today and added upon previous discoveries from before his time. He greatly impacted the world during the Scientific Revolution time period and his work during that time continues to leave a lasting impression still today. He went up against the accepted beliefs of the time period and disproved many of them in the process of experimentation. In fact, without Robert Boyle, alchemy would still be the main science

Jean Baptiste de Lamarck developed his theory of evolution – transformation – in 1809. He became interested in how organisms evolved when he embarked a military career, after his father’s death, in 1761 (Encyclopaedia Britannica). As a soldier he became interested in collecting

"Ouch! An apple fell on my head! Hmmm... I wonder how that happens" said Isaac Newton. Ever heard of the man who discovered gravity? Also, he studied a lot about and wrote books about principia. Newton was one of the smartest men in history and discovered many things that changed the way scientists study today.

August 1, 1744, was the day that Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was born. He was born in Bazentin-le-Petit, France. Jean was the eleventh child born from his titled parents, Philippe Jacques de Monet de La Marck (father), Marie-Françoise de Fontaines de Chuignolles (mother). The father of Jean-Baptiste was in the military as well as his brothers. His father set a goal for him to become a priest, so when he was eleven his parents sent him away to a Jesuit School. He stayed there until he was sixteen which was when his father passed. After his father's death, he joined the military. Jean had fought in the seven year war. He had developed an illness that forced him to leave the army. Mr. Lamarck had three wives. Marie Rosalie Delaporte, his first wife,

Lamarck’s theories of adaptation were over a shorter period of time, and would of fit into the 3000 years of time period since the creation, was supported by the church at the time. The time was eventually proved genetically false by the evidence and logic towards Darwinism’s theory, which had occurred millions of years. The relative lack of transitional fossils in the fossil record was formed to support the theory of punctuated

Jean Lamarck understood evolution as the change in an individual and their characteristics based on their needs, which were then passed down to their offspring. He believed in the ‘law of use and disuse’ which basically means if a species or organism were to use an organ extensively it would gradually become more enhanced however, if an organ were used less frequently in a species it would become weaker or even lost. To support his theory he used giraffes and the evolution of their necks. He believed that giraffes stretched their necks to reach the leaves on lower branches of trees to eat the leaves and as a result of this their necks gradually became longer. As a result, the characteristics were passed down through generations eventually forming the modern day giraffe to suit the environment that they live

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1755-1829) is one of the best-known early evolutionists, holding a belief that evolution was a continuous development and strived toward greater complexity and perfection. Through which, his theory of evolution was that living organisms evolved in a unceasingly up ward direction, from dead matter, through simple to more complex forms and towards human “perfection” (Nesci.edu, 2015). From his theories of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics; where organisms adapt to their environments and those changes were passed onto their off springs (Corbis, 2001), to his theories of Use and Disuse, where organisms that are not used progressively disappear (Evolution.berkeley.edu, 2015). Lamarck was the first biologist to publish

Many knowledge claims in human and natural science are based on theories. Jean Lamarck proposed the theory of evolution in 1801. The theory of evolution proposed by Lamarck was based on the idea that organisms had to change their behavior to survive. For instance, if a giraffe stretched it neck for a long period of time to reach the leaves as the top of the tree, then a “nervous fluid” would flow in the neck and make it longer. Thus, its