Lamarck proposes the first theory of evolution

In his Philosophie zoologique of 1809 the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck set out the first comprehensive theory of biological evolution. He proposed that species change over generations, by an inherent tendency toward complexity, and that organs strengthened by use, like the giraffe's neck, pass those changes on to offspring. The inheritance of acquired characteristics has since been rejected, but Lamarck's central idea, that life changes by natural causes, was an important precursor of Darwin's work. He was long ridiculed, partly by Cuvier, and died blind and poor in 1829.

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