scientist whose ideas about evolution and adaptation influenced darwin?

Answer 1

I don't think there was anyone who actually published anything on evolution before Darwin. Darwin wasn't even going to publish his book until AFTER he was dead. But then a young Alfred Russell Wallace was studying in the South East Asian Islands and came up with similar theories on natural selection and evolution. The two were actually in contact and decided to publish their papers together. Neither of them were present at the first readings of their papers.

Edit: Lamarck did write a book, and actually so did Darwin's grandfather.

Answer 2

Darwin was influenced by Lemarck, but only in the sense that his theories did not make logical sense. Lemarck believed that environmental pressures could influence the inheritance of characteristics. The most famous being that giraffes necks got longer because they were constantly reaching for food, and that this stretching caused the offspring to have longer necks. This theory also accommodated the religious views of the day, that the Earth was about 6000 years old, since changes would occur more rapidly in species. This was clearly debunked by Darwin.
Wallace also influenced Darwin, in that he forced Darwin to publish his work. Otherwise we would now know it as Wallace's theory of evolution.

Answer 3

Lamark wrote about evolution prior to Darwin but aproached it from a different angle.

But Darwin pretty much got influenced by visiting the isolated islands of the Galapagos.

Answer 4

Thats would be LaMarck

Answer 5

Evolution never happened. If it did, monkeys would still be turning into humans. But they're not.