That’s the claim at RealClearScience and, wouldn’t you know, Darwin doubters are supposedly to blame.
We are informed that this claim on Lamarck’s part, “The second law proposes that the changes brought about by organisms’ own efforts (through use–disuse) can be transmitted to succeeding generations, thereby allowing evolutionary progression”—like all the others—turned out to be wrong.
Then, of course, Darwin came along and set everything straight with is theory (nay, Truth) of natural selection acting on random variations. And…
Unfortunately, Lamarck’s reputation has been tarnished by others’ attempts to use his theory of inheriting acquired characteristics to question Darwinian evolution in defiance of scientific evidence. Today, “Lamarckism” is almost a dirty word in biology.
Ross Pomeroy, “The Most Unfairly Treated Person in the History of Science” at RealClearScience
What rubbish*, honestly. Darwinists hate and despise Lamarckism because, in its current form of epigenetics, it is a rival to Darwinism — and worse, there is lots of evidence for it now despite their best efforts. Wrecking the careers of skeptics has only gotten them so far.
- On the bright side, this sort of thing is a really good argument for home schooling.
See also: Epigenetic change: Lamarck, wake up, you’re wanted in the conference room!