Lamarck's Influence On The Development Of Darwin's Theory Of Evolution

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who showed law in organic and inorganic
species evolution. As it turned out, the work of Lamarck was quite influential
on Darwin. Lamarck's views on inheritance of characteristics can be seen in
Darwin's accounts of natural selection. When Lamarck wrote of transmutation,
Darwin followed with his beliefs of the mutability of species. As well, Darwin
had used Lamarck's ideas on use and disuse of organs. Lamarck was not the
greatest of influences on Darwin, but he was an important one.

One of the most important arguments in Darwin's theories was the idea of natural
selection. It is generally thought that the world first heard of this idea in
the form of Lamarck's inheritance of acquired traits theory. Lamarck's work
showed that organisms improve themselves on their own. Then these new advantages
for the environment would be passed on to the species offspring on the genetic
level. This idea of self improvement detailed how, through hard work of the
organism, the path of evolution ...

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instead of direct transfer of environmental change, those that
vary by good fortune are better suited for the environment and leave more
surviving offspring. A species would have this beneficial trait through random
variation. Then, the characteristic would help the animal survive, while the
others died off. This ensured that the beneficial trait would get passed on.
This explanation is similar to Lamarkism, with obvious adjustments. Darwin
simply showed that natural selection is, above all, a theory about the struggle
of individual survival and reproduction. Lamarck's theory on inheritance of
acquired characteristics is not that much different, infact, Lamarckism has
occasionally ...

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