Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck was born in Bazentin-le-Petit, Picardy, on August 1st 1744. He was the youngest of eleven children in rural France. The family had a strong military background, with several generations as officers in the French army. Some of Lamarck's older brothers made their careers in the military. His father wanted Jean to take a career in the church. However, Jean did not like the ministry, and quit his …showed first 75 words of 827 total…

…showed last 75 words of 827 total…by modern knowledge of genetic inheritance, the process was an ingenious interpretation of his observations. Lamarck's theory was not accepted in his lifetime. He retired from his job when his eyesight deteriorated in his seventies. He lived ten more years and died on 18 December 1829. Lamarck's books and the contents of his home were sold at auction, and he was buried in a temporary lime-pit where others who could not afford graves were laid to rest.