Ever heard of Camark? He's sorta "related" to Charles Darwin

I have a book somewhere that might mention him. Give me a couple of hours and I'll come back to you. And hi, btw. I don't think I'd had the pleasure of meeting you before, Rosslyn.

Thanks umm... Grand Duke! I usually wander around in Spirituality + Religions section, and where there's strange rituals or hot debate.

Thanks again for looking....... I need it for tomorrow though. So fingers crossed. >.<

I decided to get up of my arse and go and find the book, but it wasn't on the shelves, which (in my house) means it could be anywhere. What I have found on the net after a brainwave is a French guy called Lamarck, who was a bit of a hero of Darwin's. Here's a link to a biography of him. It sounds like he's your fella. Let me know if you need anymore info and I'll have a root around a bit more. Good luck with the homework.

Wow, good job GD. I had googled a bit and was about to give up!

I just remembered something about him from biology classes at university, and managed to get the spelling right to find him. He was a bit of a star in evolutionary biology circles, and Darwin quoted him quite a bit in his work.

Awwww thank you so much Grand Duke! *hug* You don't know what you just did.... You saved me from my scary science teacher....... ><

Glad to have been of service, m'Lady. Happy homeworking!

why is your science teacher scary? This should be an adventure in which you learn how these guys thought.
Lamarck (Jean Baptiste) believed that plants and animals could pass on traits that they picked up during life. His theory was inheritance of acquired characteristics anad Darwin was thoroughly familiar with this as a working model. Lamarck , even though he was all wet, at least tried to base his theory on observation and data.
his 2 new ideas included
1 thhe concept of change in the Ladder of life and
2 Inheritance of acquired characteristics while all life tried to achieve "perfection"

There were lots of "neo Lamarkian" evolutionary biologists. The most famous was a Russian named Trofim Lysenko who, almost all on his own, transformed Soviet biology through the 1950s into a classic Laamarkian system that coincidentally , just happened to be supportive of Soviet style of Communism.
The Russian biologists of note like geneticists and paleontologists , were rounded up and many died in the vast Soviet prison system . Just for trying to have science proceed on its own and not be part of a state sponsored thought process.

There are a number of good texts on Lamark and the many scientists involved in early evolutionary thought. The best discusses Lamarks role in evolutionary thought its called "The WSTructure of Evolutionary Theory" by Stephen J Gould. Its Goulds last book before he died of cancer 2 years ago. this is a scholarly and not an easy read, but its the definitive discussion of Lamarks contributions.

If you type J B Lamark into google you will come up with nearly 5000 sites for Lamark. Many of them are in French however.

Here are two which might give you a start
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/fgregory/Lamarck.htm

http://www.victorianweb.org/science/lamarck1.html

This site is a translation of his Zoological Philosophy.

http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/LAMARCK/tofc.htm

There are many more.

Thanks for all the help

Well, the thing is, my science teacher doesn't explore the thoughts of these guys WITH us, she gives worksheets, and left it at it. And she gives detentions. Sssssscary.

That sounds like a really old-fashioned way of teaching, Rosslyn. Lamarck, Darwin et al were pioneers of science, and making students complete worksheets cannot be the best way to get them to become interested in the subject matter, rather than learning what they need to know for a test then forgetting all about it.

sigh--Sister Atilla the nun still lives on.

Tell that to the Ministry of Education here in Britain. baaaaaah. I personally isn't interested in science.... good at it, but not interested. I blame the teacher. Genetics is supposed to interest me, but worksheet assosiated with it.... bores. Yep.

I didn't realise you were living in good ol' Blighty, Rosslyn. Are you GCSE, A-Level or Uni student?

Alas, GCSE. But comin' on to A-Levels next year, tho! My path is still hidden from me.....