By: Lauren Wolf
On August 1, 1744 Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck was born in a small village in the north of France called Bazentin (University of). He was born into a noble but un-wealthy family with a background rich in military service and was the youngest of eleven children. When Lamarck was eleven he enrolled in the Jesuit seminary at Amiens as his father expected his youngest son to become a priest (Bookrags). In 1760, after the death of his father, Lamarck purchased a horse and rode off to join the French Army who was campaigning in Germany at the time (Clifford). At the age of 17, while fighting in the Seven Years War, Lamarck distinguished himself and as acknowledgment of his actions on the battlefield was rewarded with a commission for bravery (Macroevolution). His given name, Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet was changed because of this and he became the Chevalier de Lamarck and was know as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck from then on (Macroevolution). After the war ended Lamarck continued to serve in the military until 1768 when he left because of an injury (Bookrags). After the military Lamarck worked as a bank clerk in Paris, during which time he began study medicine and botany.
In 1778 he published a three volume book on French plant life which was known as Flore Française, in which he used a dichotomous key to identify each plant (Macroevolution). The book was highly praised. Afterwards he acquired a position at the Jardin des Plantes. In 1793 the Jardin des Plantes was converted to the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle (Bookrag). The newly converted museum was run by twelve professors in different fields and Lamarck was appointed to the professor of zoology (Bookrag). He was also in charge of organizing the collection of animals and fossils without backbones, which he called invertebrates (Bookrag).
In 1809 Lamarck published Philosophie zoologique, including his theory of transmutation about which he wrote "Nature, in producing in succession every species of animal, and beginning with the least perfect or simplest to end her work with the most perfect, has gradually complicated their structure” (University of). Lamarck did not believe in extinction. He thought that the disappearance of species was due to their evolution into new species and that continued progression of this process meant that “less perfect” organisms vanished (University of). Although Lamarck had to claim that organisms such as protists that were simple were under continuous generation (University of).
In 1809 Lamarck published Philosophie zoologique, including his theory of transmutation about which he wrote "Nature, in producing in succession every species of animal, and beginning with the least perfect or simplest to end her work with the most perfect, has gradually complicated their structure” (University of). Lamarck did not believe in extinction. He thought that the disappearance of species was due to their evolution into new species and that continued progression of this process meant that “less perfect” organisms vanished (University of). Although Lamarck had to claim that organisms such as protists that were simple were under continuous generation (University of).
In 1815 he published his first volume of Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres and in 1822 he published his second volume (University of). This work included his evolutionary theory founded on four laws. The first law was the idea that organic matter had a natural inclination to increase in complexity and defended the notion that evolution advanced to create plants and animals that became more complicated over time (Hannaby). The second law described the influence of the environment and the continual needs of animals to use new movements resulting in the development of new organs (Hannaby). The third law sums up the principle of use and disuse. This says that reoccurring actions or lack of actions caused modifications to the size and strength of an animal’s body (Hannaby). The fourth law talked about Lamarck’s theory of acquired characteristics or “Lamarckism,” stating that characteristics acquired by animals in their life span could be passed on to future generations and that inheritance was essential to account for the continuing accumulation of traits over time (Hannaby).
For most of his life, Lamarck and his theories were ignored by the scientific community. George Cuvier valued Lamarck’s work with invertebrates but discredited his theories of evolution as they opposed his own. Though Lamarck was married three times and had a total of eight children, most of his life was a constant battle with poverty (Scoville). To make matters worse, Lamarck lost his eyesight at age 65 but continued his work with the aid of his daughter (Bookrags). Lamarck died on December 18, 1829 and because his family was so poor, his books and works were auctioned in order to pay for his funeral in which he only received a rented grave that he was removed from five years later (Clifford). The location of his remains is unknown to this day. While many of Lamarck’s theories were proved incorrect, he is one of the first scientists to publish the concept of adaption and to acknowledge the idea that adaption occurred in order to help species better survive in their given environment.
Works Cited:
Works Cited:
Clifford, David. "Lamarck (1744 - 1829)." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 14 Sept. 2004. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
"Jean-Baptiste Lamarck – Biography." Macroevolution.net. Web. 27 Nov. 2011
"Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Biography | BookRags.com." BookRags.com | Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Book Summaries and More. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
"Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Biography – French Naturalist « Hanneby.com." Hanneby.com. Web. 26 Nov. 2011.
"Jean-Baptiste Lamarck." University of California Berkeley, 2006. Web. 26 Nov. 2011.
Scoville, Heather. "Jean Baptiste Lamarck." Evolution - Natural Selection, History of Life on Earth, Darwinism, Lesson Plans and More! Web. 26 Nov. 2011.
*note: because most of the references begin with “Jean-Baptiste Lamarck…” I used the website or sponsor as internal references.
I personally did not know much about Lamarck, other than his theory of acquired characteristics, which is usually mentioned in biology classes, laughed at, and dismissed. I had no idea how influential he was not only in the field of evolutionary biology (for his creative, albeit mechanistically incorrect, ideas) but also for his work with classification of invertebrates.
ReplyDeleteLamarck should be applauded for his efforts to provide reasons for why we see organisms that are so well "matched" for their environments. While he was looking at these adaptations from a very human perspective, even a "superior" one, the point of science is to look at the evidence, take a guess, check your work, and re-evaluate. Providing different perspectives is necessary and vital; without Lamarck's contributions and their subsequent "disproving," who knows what conclusions we'd have now?
Overall, I appreciated your post for its readability and succinctness. Your title made me chuckle, and hey, science/history always goes down a bit better with a dose of humor added. Good work on your part.
I enjoyed reading your post about Lamarck. I agree with Michelle in how it seems Lamarck is usually not treated with complete seriousness in science classes. I think the extent of his contributions towards accepted theories is usually overlooked when paired with the picture of a giraffe stretching its neck. This seems hypocritical as scientists know that their theory is only accepted until someone comes up with something closer to correct and his theories (though misguided) offered direction for Darwin and others. It’s interesting to see how his life experiences allowed him to work in the different fields and how he took advantage of his surroundings to help him develop his theories.
ReplyDeleteI’ve also heard that Lamarck did some research and work in the atmospheric sciences. I believe that he even published an article on meteorology; one of many things he published apparently. Did you happen to come across any of that in your readings? Did it affect how he approached evolution in any way?
Great piece – it’s really nice to learn about the people behind the theories and how their lives may have led them into their different fields of study.
Your post definitely sums up just how interesting Lamarck was. His life seems sort of tragic honestly, especially being born into a nobel but poor family? That seems like slap in the face. Also, I have never even heard of a rented grave, what an interesting idea. In school I remember the most that I heard about Lamarck was before the section on Darwin on which I was taught "This man thought this was how evolution worked, but he was wrong. Now let's move onto Darwin." I almost feel bad for him. It is interesting that he did not believe in extinction, although the idea, on the greater time-line, is fairly recent.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post. You don't often read the biographies of people like Lamarck, so this is quite refreshing!
What I find interesting about LaMarck's theory is: how would an organism ever acquire totally new characteristics? Sure under his theory, a giraffe could grow a longer neck and pass it on to his offspring while a fish could learn to swim faster and pass that on to his offspring. However, how/why would a novel gene arise without the explanation of random genetic variation.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite evident that although his theories were later proved incorrect, he was a greatly important biologist as most students would include LaMarck if asked to name 5-10 biologists off the top of their head. It shows how scientists don't always necessarily have to be correct to be influential and that there is much to be learned from mistakes.