Biography
Jean-Batista Lamarka belongs to the honor of the creator of the first classification of animals and plants. He made a huge scientific feat, but lived life, complete struggle and suffering. According to the official biography, the scientist died unrecognized, in the grief and poverty, and it took a lot of time so that the offspring would appreciate his achievements.Childhood and youth
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Mona, Chevalé de Lamarc, was born in the town of Bashen-le-Petit on August 1, 1744. In the family he was the youngest of 11 children.
Parents, although belonged to the nobility, were poor and could not help their son to build a military career, which he dreamed of. Instead, they sent Jean to the School of Jesuits in Amiens, after the end of which he had to get a spiritual san.
In 1760, Lamarka's father died, and the 16-year-old young man, throwing theological books, signed up in the army. The next 7 years of life he spent in the existing troops and earned an officer rank, distinguished in battles against the British during the seven-year war.
The science
The genuine interest in nature woke up in the future scientist only 25 years. When his regiment stayed for a long time in Riviera, Jean-Batist devoted all his free time to the study of plants and found it extremely fascinating. Soon he had to quit the army on the state of health - in the battle of Lamarck received a serious injury of cervical vertebrae. The pension of the military person was meager, and to correct financial affairs, he had to get a government official.
An interesting fact - the young man was a talented musician and seriously hesitated, on what path go further - creative or scientific. A passion for wildlife won, and after some time, Lamarck received a place for an employee in the royal garden, where he took up the collection of the famous collection of plants and invertebrates.
After 9 years, on the basis of this meeting, Lamarck wrote a book. The work of Flora France, which included the whole 3 volumes, quickly brought him fame in his native country - at that time Botany was in fashion. Scientists recognized the scientific value of the composition of Lamarca (it contained new ideas and principles of plant systematics) and offered him membership in the French Academy.
The next 2 years, the researcher spent on a trip in Europe. During this time, he visited dozens of educational institutions and botanical gardens and replenished their assembly with a huge number of new samples. Until 1789, Lamarc held the place of the main caretaker of the Royal Herbarium, but the successful career of a young scientist interrupted the revolution. When the natural science collection of the monarch ceased to exist, Lamarc, alarmed by the fate of exhibits, made a speech at the National Assembly and offered to establish a museum.
At that time, the exhibitions were not peculiar to serious systematization, but the disorderly exposition of minerals, plants and the stuffed animals did not suit the scientist. Lamarc intended to divide objects into groups, which, in turn, included orders of birth and family. Supervision of the state of exhibits and the strict order of their location was supposed to be entrusted with a separate employee.
The proposal approved, and in 1793 the National Museum of Natural History opened the doors for visitors. Jean-Batist Lamark took a modest position of the caretaker of the invertebrate hall, placing there the best objects of his collection. At that time, he worked on the preparation of a botanical dictionary - from 1781 to 1800 5 volumes and 900 tables came out.
Botany was far from the only passion of Lamarck. At that time, narrow specialization was not yet common among scientists, and his contemporaries believed that the man of science should possess wide knowledge in different fields. Jean-Batist seriously studied medicine (and even received an appropriate education), zoology, geology and physics.
Comparing the facts received, he came to the discovery that there is a holistic living shell around the planet - a biosphere. The term himself, however, was introduced a century later by the Austrian geologist Edward Zyus, but the works of Lamarc were inspired by him.
The famous work "Philosophy of Zoology" came out in 1809. In it, the researcher first outlined his ideas about the hierarchy of species, the relationship of living and non-living, as well as on external and internal factors that affect the evolution process. He elevated natural feasibility into chapter, arguing that the organisms began to grow and develop a certain inner force.
The lammark belongs to the idea of dividing animals on vertebrates and invertebrates, which is used in biology to this day (by the way, the term "biology" himself suggested that he). After the release of "philosophy", the scientist dedicated himself to the study of the simplest organisms, and from 1801 to 1822 he wrote about 7 thick volumes about them.
The scientific feat of Lamarck was huge. His contribution to science is not limited to work on biology - scientist belongs to the works on meteorology, hydrology and geology, but the main thing - he created the first theory of evolution, turning attention to the time factor in the development of living.
Although the true driving levers of Lamarc never opened (he believed that the inner striving of organisms to self-improvement is the main force), over time, his ideas were evaluated and the movement of Lamarkism was evaluated, from which the concept of Darwin rose later.
Lamarc had a lot of opponents in a scientific environment. Especially not like his bold views were George Kuvier - a biologist and criticism, which was collapsed with hostile comments on each publication and even in a necrologist could not resist sharp comments. His own doctrine of the constancy of the species, the renewal of which occurs only as a result of natural disasters, was considered the truth, and the replacement for evolutionary representations occurred very soon.
Personal life
Lamarc family life was full of tragedies and loss. The first wife Marie-Anna-Rosalie Major presented him with three sons - Antoine, Andre and Charles Rene, but early died. The second time he tried to arrange a personal life in 1974. Children from the new wife Charlotte reversed he had no. Despite the fact that the spouse was 30 years younger, she followed him in the grave before him, and Lamarck again widowed.
In 1798, Jean-Batist married Julie Mally. He buried the third wife in 1819. The only person who remained with the scholars in old age became his daughter from the last marriage of Cornelia (in some sources it is mentioned that two daughters were cared for him, but the name is only one).
None of the contemporaries of the scientist left a detailed description of the appearance of Lamarc, did not describe his personal qualities in detail. The richest scientific heritage has long been forgotten, and merit ignored. In many ways, due to competitors, Lamarck's financial affairs under the end of life were bad. He did not find approval and at the ruling top: Napoleon, to whom the scientist presented his book, so chose him that he could not resist from tears.
Death
In Late Years, Jean-Baptiste Lamarc suffered from the eye disease, which led to full blindness. He did not leave the job and dictated his essays of his daughter. His last book was the "analytical system of knowledge", in which Lamarck tried to systematize everything that knew about the wildlife, and tried to understand what the consciousness of man was determined. Unfortunately, during the life of the author, the publication was not popular.
A scientist died in 85 years. The reasons for his death, as well as the location of the grave, are definitely not known, but personal correspondence, things and books are lost. Burrying Father, Cornelia was in such a distinguished financial position that she had to seek help in the French Academy.
In 1909, exactly a hundred years after the release of the "philosophy of zoology", a monument to Lamarka solemnly opened in Paris. On the bas-relief, a touching scene is depicted - a blinded old man, broken lifestyle, sits in a chair, bowing his head. Nearby depicts the figure of a daughter consisting of it. On the pedestrine, the words of Cornelia are knocked out:
"The offspring will admire you, it will revenge for you, my father!".Bibliography
- 1776 - "Memoir about basic phenomena in the atmosphere"
- 1776 - "Studies on the causes of the most important physical phenomena"
- 1778 - "Flora France"
- 1801 - "System of invertebrates"
- 1802 - "Hydrogeology"
- 1803 - "Natural Plant History"
- 1809 - "Philosophy of Zoology"
- 1815-1822 - "Natural history of invertebrates"
- 1820 - "Analysis of conscious human activity"