Lamarck, Chevalier de, << luh MAHRK, `shehv` uh LIHR duh >> (1744-1829), was a French biologist and botanist. He was one of the first scientists to propose a theory of biological evolution. Lamarck was also a founder of invertebrate paleontology (the study of prehistoric animals without backbones).
Lamarck began his work as a botanist in the late 1760’s. In 1779 he published a system of plant classification. In the 1790’s, he transferred his interest from botany to zoology and soon developed a system for classifying invertebrate animals.
From his work in botany and zoology, Lamarck concluded that plants and animals change their forms to adapt to their environment, and that these changes are then passed along to their offspring. These ideas influenced Charles R. Darwin in his development of the theory of evolution. Lamarck’s theory was disproved by discoveries in genetics in the early 1900’s, when it was shown that acquired characteristics of an organism cannot be genetically transmitted to its offspring.
In addition to these studies, Lamarck was the first scientist to try to forecast the weather. He published an annual meteorological report from 1799 to 1810. It is said that he was responsible for the names of the various cloud types: cirrus, stratus, cumulus, and nimbus.
Lamarck was born Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet in Bazentin, Picardy. He inherited the title Chevalier de Lamarck from his father. Lamarck studied briefly for the priesthood, then served as an army officer during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). Later, he turned for a short time to medicine. In 1768, he began studying under the noted botanist Bernard de Jussieu. He became conservator of the royal herbarium in Paris in 1788, and he was appointed professor of zoology at the Museum of Natural History there in 1793. In his later years, Lamarck was completely blind, but he continued his work with the assistance of others.
See also Cu vier, Baron.
