The Naturalist’s Library: Entomology, Vol. 5, Foreign Butterflies

1837

De Beer Sb 1833 N E5

Edinburgh: W. H. Lizars

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) lived a life defined by a scrupulous dedication to science. Studying botany, he eventually came under the patronage of the Comte de Buffon and was initiated as a Royal Botanist. After the Revolution, he was made Professor of Invertebrates (a term he coined). As a professor, Lamarck developed his evolutionary theory of characteristic inheritance. While his theory (Lamarckism) has been disproved, it was a crucial moment of enlightened scientific defiance. Although he would die impoverished, Lamarck is known today as a revolutionary biologist and taxonomist.