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An
Outdated Heritage From The 19th Century |
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When Charles Darwin advanced his theory, which was to be named "The Theory of Evolution" later on, disciplines like genetics and microbiology did not yet exist. Darwin was unaware of the structure of the DNA, proteins, and the cell. The scientists of the time were putting forward ridiculous theses about living things due to the insufficient level of science. For example, they supposed that worms appearing on meat were showing up all of a sudden without any origin. It was to be later discovered that these worms came out of the eggs laid by flies. Life was not so simple as to come about all of a sudden. |
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| "This was the prevailing understanding of science at the time Darwin wrote his book The Origin of Species. The primitive theories of Lamarck were still welcomed: it was believed that acquired traits could be transferred to later generations. Lamarck used this theory also to explain the long necks of giraffes: |
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However, Mendel’s studies made it clear that acquired traits cannot be transferred to next generations. Living things could transfer only their genes, not their elongated necks to subsequent generations… Thus both Lamarck's and Darwin's basic assertions were demolished by the end of the 19th century. |
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| According to Lamarck, giraffes were once antelope-like animals and their necks were extended over time as a result of their attempt to reach higher tree branches. | |||||||||||
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