Change is the normal course of events to produce the various species as opposed to a static system. He suggested that there might be alternatives to the literal interpretation of The Bible. He opposed evolutionary theories. He explained species extinction by catastrophism. As species were eradicated then other species moved in although he could not explain how.
Evolution is dependent on two forces.
He went back to Aristotle's ladder of nature and said a natural force operates forcefully to move organisms up the ladder of complexity toward the place held by man. Cuvier attacked Lamarck and that caused the public to be less open to any of the evolutionary doctrines. The more you use it the more likely it is to be passed on to other generations. Charles Lyell was the geologist who most influenced Charles Darwin. He wrote The Principles of Geology which Darwin took on the Beagle.