Complex sentence: Grant travelled widely, visiting universities in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland and came into contact with the French zoologist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire who promulgated a view on evolution similar to that of Lamarck's.
Split into simpler sentences: Grant travelled widely, visiting universities in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. He came into contact with the French zoologist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire who promulgated a view on evolution similar to that of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's.