Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) and 150 years of 'Lamarckism' - On the History of Development-Oriented Evolutionary Thinking

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of the history of non-Darwinian evolutionary thinking from its inception up until now. In doing so, it places Lamarckian Darwinism in a new light. Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck is considered the 'fondateur de la doctrine de l'évolution' (1809). His concept of transformation was the basis of a multifaceted 'Lamarckism', which, as a counter-draft to ultra-selectionist neo-Darwinism (survival of the fittest), was particularly successful in the German-speaking world between 1890 and 1940. Moving away from traditional Darwinian thought, Lamarck focused on development-oriented, evolutionary thinking and as such became a revolutionary thinker in the field of evolution. This first expansive English language book on Lamarckism helps to better understand his views and the existing research of new epigenetic developmental and hereditary systems, making it a must-read for philosophers, historians and evolution theorists.