Search

It is not my intention, in these two chapters on theories of evolutionary mechanism, to give a detailed history. For a more complete account readers should consult Mayr 's Growth of Biological Thought (1982), Bowler 's (1983) account of rival theories to Darwinism from the publication of the Origin in 1859 until the development of the “Neo-Darwinian” synthetic theory and finally the multi-author work on the development of the synthesis itself (Mayr and Pro vine 1980). The pre-Darwinian history of evolutionary theory in nineteenth-century Britain is treated in its sociological context by Desmond (1989). These two chapters have four principal themes: in Chapter 11, (1) a discussion of Lamarck 's theory of mechanism, representing the first complete, if flawed, evolutionary theory; (2) a critique of Darwin's and Wallace 's theory of Natural Selection; (3) the contrasting theories supported “post Darwin” and referred to above; and, in Chapter 12, (4) a critique of the Synthetic Theory and reactions to it, thus bringing the account up to date. In passing, however, we may refer to the theories of Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Robert Chambers, both of whom have been discussed in previous chapters. Geoffroy (1772-1844) speculated about evolution late in life (Mayr 1982). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]