The inspiration of Lamarck's belief in evolution PDF Download

Author: Richard W. Burkhardt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Evolution
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Author: Peter Ward
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 163286617X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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A riveting explanation of epigenetics, offering startling insights into our inheritable traits. In the 1700s, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck first described epigenetics to explain the inheritance of acquired characteristics; however, his theory was supplanted in the 1800s by Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection through heritable genetic mutations. But natural selection could not adequately explain how rapidly species re-diversified and repopulated after mass extinctions. Now advances in the study of DNA and RNA have resurrected epigenetics, which can create radical physical and physiological changes in subsequent generations by the simple addition of a single small molecule, thus passing along a propensity for molecules to attach in the same places in the next generation. Epigenetics is a complex process, but paleontologist and astrobiologist Peter Ward breaks it down for general readers, using the epigenetic paradigm to reexamine how the history of our species-from deep time to the outbreak of the Black Plague and into the present-has left its mark on our physiology, behavior, and intelligence. Most alarming are chapters about epigenetic changes we are undergoing now triggered by toxins, environmental pollutants, famine, poor nutrition, and overexposure to violence. Lamarck's Revenge is an eye-opening and provocative exploration of how traits are inherited, and how outside influences drive what we pass along to our progeny.

Author: Edward John Steele
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781864487961
Category : Antibody diversity
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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This text challenges the accepted theory on the genetic mechanism of evolution. The traditional neo-darwinian view is that we are at the mercy of our genes which we inherit, largely unchanged, from our parents, apart from random mutations which accumulate and lead to change over evolutionary time. The work shows that for one adaptive body system there is strong molecular genetic evidence that aspects of acquired immunities developed by parents during their lifetime may be passed on to their children. This gives new credibility to the Lamarckian heresy - the notion of the inheritance of acquired characteristics, which has, until now, been refuted.

Author: Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de Lamarck
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Physiology, Comparative
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Author: Stephen Jay Gould
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674417925
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1460

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The world’s most revered and eloquent interpreter of evolutionary ideas offers here a work of explanatory force unprecedented in our time—a landmark publication, both for its historical sweep and for its scientific vision. With characteristic attention to detail, Stephen Jay Gould first describes the content and discusses the history and origins of the three core commitments of classical Darwinism: that natural selection works on organisms, not genes or species; that it is almost exclusively the mechanism of adaptive evolutionary change; and that these changes are incremental, not drastic. Next, he examines the three critiques that currently challenge this classic Darwinian edifice: that selection operates on multiple levels, from the gene to the group; that evolution proceeds by a variety of mechanisms, not just natural selection; and that causes operating at broader scales, including catastrophes, have figured prominently in the course of evolution. Then, in a stunning tour de force that will likely stimulate discussion and debate for decades, Gould proposes his own system for integrating these classical commitments and contemporary critiques into a new structure of evolutionary thought. In 2001 the Library of Congress named Stephen Jay Gould one of America’s eighty-three Living Legends—people who embody the “quintessentially American ideal of individual creativity, conviction, dedication, and exuberance.” Each of these qualities finds full expression in this peerless work, the likes of which the scientific world has not seen—and may not see again—for well over a century.

Author: Alpheus Spring Packard
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781835915714
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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"Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution" is a biographical work written by Alpheus Spring Packard, an American naturalist and evolutionary biologist. Published in 1901, the book aims to shed light on the life and scientific contributions of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French biologist who is often considered one of the pioneers of evolutionary theory. In the book, Packard delves into Lamarck's early life, education, and career as a naturalist in 18th and early 19th century France. He explores Lamarck's groundbreaking ideas about the transmutation of species, which laid the groundwork for later evolutionary theories, including Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. One of the central themes of the book is Lamarck's theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics, also known as Lamarckism. Lamarck proposed that organisms can pass on traits acquired during their lifetime to their offspring, thereby driving evolutionary change. Packard examines the historical context in which Lamarck developed his ideas and the scientific controversies surrounding his work. Furthermore, Packard discusses Lamarck's contributions to other areas of biology, including his work on invertebrate zoology and taxonomy. He highlights Lamarck's meticulous observations and classification of organisms, which laid the foundation for modern biological classification systems. Throughout the book, Packard offers a balanced assessment of Lamarck's legacy, acknowledging his pioneering contributions to evolutionary theory while also addressing the criticisms and challenges his ideas faced from contemporaries and later scientists. "Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution" provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of Lamarck's life and work, placing him in the context of the broader scientific and intellectual currents of his time. It remains a valuable resource for scholars and enthusiasts interested in the history of evolutionary thought and the development of modern biology.

Author: Jeff Frank
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1684096626
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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A large sophisticated telescope complex sits atop a dormant volcano in one of Earth's most remote locations. Some incredibly bright but fiercely independent folks operate it much of the time. They detect, map, and perform threat analysis of near-Earth objects. Shortly after the world narrowly escapes an extinction event, they start collecting pieces of a related cosmic puzzle. When they've connected enough of them, an intriguing and disturbing picture emerges. Yet the most revealing pieces don't reveal themselves until after all life on Earth already has begun marching in lockstep toward possible oblivion.

Author: Richard Wellington Burkhardt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674833180
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was a biological Janus, at once a highly competent taxonomist in a traditional mold and a bold, almost visionary, philosopher of nature who aspired to contrive an all-embracing "physics of the earth" by sheer force of intellect. Lamarck is generally remembered only for his ideas about the inheritance of acquired characters, ideas he did not originate or take special credit for, ideas that were only one part of his broad theory of evolution. In this, the first modern book-length study of Lamarck, Richard Burkhardt examines the origin and development of Lamarck's theory of organic evolution, the major theory prior to Darwin.

Author: Robert J. Richards
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226712052
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Did Darwin see evolution as progressive, directed toward producing ever more advanced forms of life? Most contemporary scholars say no. In this challenge to prevailing views, Robert J. Richards says yes—and argues that current perspectives on Darwin and his theory are both ideologically motivated and scientifically unsound. This provocative new reading of Darwin goes directly to the origins of evolutionary theory. Unlike most contemporary biologists or historians and philosophers of science, Richards holds that Darwin did concern himself with the idea of progress, or telos, as he constructed his theory. Richards maintains that Darwin drew on the traditional embryological meanings of the terms "evolution" and "descent with modification." In the 1600s and 1700s, "evolution" referred to the embryological theory of preformation, the idea that the embryo exists as a miniature adult of its own species that simply grows, or evolves, during gestation. By the early 1800s, however, the idea of preformation had become the concept of evolutionary recapitulation, the idea that during its development an embryo passes through a series of stages, each the adult form of an ancestor species. Richards demonstrates that, for Darwin, embryological recapitulation provided a graphic model of how species evolve. If an embryo could be seen as successively taking the structures and forms of its ancestral species, then one could see the evolution of life itself as a succession of species, each transformed from its ancestor. Richards works with the Origin and other published and archival material to show that these embryological models were much on Darwin's mind as he considered the evidence for descent with modification. Why do so many modern researchers find these embryological roots of Darwin's theory so problematic? Richards argues that the current tendency to see evolution as a process that is not progressive and not teleological imposes perspectives on Darwin that incorrectly deny the clearly progressive heart of his embryological models and his evolutionary theory.

Author: Kevin J. Flannelly
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319524887
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
This book provides a new perspective on the association between religious beliefs and mental health. The book is divided into five parts, the first of which traces the development of theories of organic evolution in the cultural and religious context before Charles Darwin. Part II describes the major evolutionary theories that Darwin proposed in his three books on evolution, and the religious, sociological, and scientific reactions to his theories. Part III introduces the reader to the concept of evolutionary psychiatry. It discusses how different regions of the brain evolved over time, and explains that certain brain regions evolved to protect us from danger by assessing threats of harm in the environment, including other humans. Specifically, this part describes: how psychiatric symptoms that are commonly experienced by normal individuals during their everyday lives are the product of brain mechanisms that evolved to protect us from harm; the prevalence rate of psychiatric symptoms in the U.S. general population; how religious and other beliefs influence the brain mechanisms that underlie psychiatric symptoms; and the brain regions that are involved in different psychiatric disorders. Part IV presents the findings of U.S. studies demonstrating that positive beliefs about God and life-after-death, and belief in meaning-in-life and divine forgiveness have salutary associations with mental health, whereas negative beliefs about God and life-after-death, belief in the Devil and human evil, and doubts about one’s religious beliefs have pernicious associations with mental health. The last part of the book summarizes each section and recommends research on the brain mechanism underlying psychiatric symptoms, and the relationships among these brain mechanisms, religious beliefs, and mental health in the context of ETAS Theory.