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This title in other formats:The Tragic Sense of Life: Ernst Haeckel and the Struggle Over Evolutionary Thoughtby Robert J. Richards
Review-a-Day (What is Review-a-Day?)"Decades of intense study of Darwin’s life, intellectual development, and social and political context have generated new kinds of questions about a number of matters....In the spirit of these expanding horizons of Darwin scholarship, The Tragic Sense of Life, by Robert J. Richards, provides not only a biography of the controversial German evolutionist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), but also an important piece of the emerging picture of the Darwinian Revolution in its international and intergenerational dimensions." Sander Gliboff, American Scientist (read the entire American Scientist review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Prior to the First World War, more people learned of evolutionary theory from the voluminous writings of Charles Darwin’s foremost champion in Germany, Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), than through any other source, including the writings of Darwin himself. Haeckel’s books vastly outsold Darwin’s in their own time, and today, his extraordinary scientific illustrations adorn books, posters, and coffee mugs. Haeckel gave currency to the idea of the “missing link” between apes and man, formulated the concept of ecology, and promulgated the "biogenetic law":the idea that the embryo of an advanced species recapitulates the stages the species went through in its evolutionary descent. But, with detractors ranging from paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould to modern-day creationists and advocates of Intelligent Design, Haeckel is better known as a divisive figure than as a pioneering biologist. Robert J. Richards’s intellectual biography rehabilitates Haeckel, providing the most accurate measure of his science and art yet written, as well as a moving account of Haeckel’s eventful life. The Tragic Sense of Life examines the intellectual context as well as the intimate experiences and profound convictions that allowed Darwin’s message to become almost a religious calling for Haeckel. Far from shying away from the many controversies that marked Haeckel’s life and career, Richards engages Haeckel’s many challengers and dissenters, whose accusations against him range from the charge that he falsified some of his famous drawings to the supposedly proto-Nazi quality of his biological theories. Reappraising Haeckel’s accomplishments, artistic endeavors, many battles, personal relationships, and searing loves, Richards convincingly demonstrates the enormous impact Haeckel had on biology and larger scientific affairs during the last half of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries. The definitive account of Darwin’s greatest intellectual heir, The Tragic Sense of Life book is a sweeping reevaluation of the Romantic ideas and calamitous biography of a man whose vision of evolutionary theory is still influential today. Review:"Haeckel has now found his champion in historian Robert J Richards who sets out to change forever the general perception of this man, whom he regards as one of the greatest in the history of the life sciences. . . . Thanks to Richards's magnificent biography, Haeckel will never again be discounted."-Michael Ruse, The Lancet Review:"[An] excellent, well-illustrated and scholarly biography of Haeckel."-Andrew Robinson, Financial Times Review:"In this magnificent book, Richards gives Haeckel a scientific reputation that he never quite secured during his life. The case is compelling that we should go back and look at Haeckel's scientific work, and not just at the gorgeous pictures that have often distracted historians. Thanks to Richards, we have a guide to the work and its context and impact. He has brilliantly illuminated this fascinating and tragic life."-Jane Maienschein, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences Review:"The Tragic Sense of Life is an immensely impressive work of biography and intellectual history, and a fitting testament to a complex and contradictory character. . . . Richards suceeds brilliantly in re-establishing Haeckel as a significant scientist and a major figure in the history of evolutionary thought."-P. D. Smith, Times Literary Supplement Review:"In his characteristically rich and rolling prose, Richards weaves a compelling story of a life marked by tragedy and of an intense, larger-than-life figure whose passions drove his scientific research and philosophy. In Richards's rendering, the scientific Haeckel cannot be understood separately from the man's personality and private circumstances....One cannot leave this book without a deep appreciation for Haeckel as a tragic figure and for the force of personality in shaping the direction science may take."-Lynn Nyhart. Science About the AuthorRobert J. Richards is the Morris Fishbein Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago and the author, most recently, of The Romantic Conception of Life: Science and Philosophy in the Age of Goethe, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Preface
1. Introduction The Tragic Source of the Anti-Religious Character of Evolutionary Theory
2. Formation of a Romantic Biologist Early Student Years University Years Habilitation and Engagement
3. Research in Italy and Conversion to Darwinism Friendship with Allmers and Temptations of the Bohemian Life Radiolarians and the Darwinian Explanation Appendix: Haeckels Challenger Investigations
4. Triumph and Tragedy at Jena Habilitation and Teaching Friendship with Gegenbaur For Love of Anna The Defender of Darwin Tragedy in Jena
5. Evolutionary Morphology in the Darwinian Mode Haeckels Generelle Morphologie der Organismen Haeckels Darwinism Reaction to Haeckels Generelle Morphologie Conclusion Appendix: Haeckels Letter to Darwin
6. Travel to England and the Canary Islands: Experimental Justification of Evolution Visit to England and Meeting with Darwin Travel to the Canary Islands Research on Siphonophores Entwickelungsmechanik A Polymorphous Sponge: The Analytical Evidence for Darwinian Theory Conclusion: A Naturalist Voyaging
7. The Popular Presentation of Evolution Haeckels Natural History of Creation Conclusion: Evolutionary Theory and Racism
8. The Rage of the Critics Critical Objections and Charges of Fraud Haeckels Responses to His Critics The Epistemology of Photograph and Fact: Renewed Charges of Fraud The Munich Confrontation with Virchow: Science vs. Socialism Conclusion
9. The Religious Response to Evolutionism: Ants, Embryos, and Jesuits Haeckels Journey to the Tropics: The Footprint of Religion “Science Has Nothing to Do with Christ”Darwin Erich Wasmann, a Jesuit Evolutionist The Keplerbund vs. the Monistebund The Response of the Forty-six Conclusion
10. Love in a Time of War At Long Last Love The World Puzzles The Consolations of Love Second Journey to the TropicsJava and Sumatra Growth in Love and Despair Lear on the Heath The Great War
11. Conclusion: The Tragic Sense of Ernst Haeckel Early Assessments of Haeckel Outside of Germany Haeckel in the English-Speaking World at Midcentury Haeckel Scholarship in Germany (1900–Present) The Contemporary Evaluation: Haeckel and the Nazis Again The Tragedy of Haeckels Life and Science
Appendix 1: A Brief History of Morphology Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) Karl Friedrich Burdach (1776–1847) Lorenz Oken (1779–1851) Friedrich Tiedemann (1781–1861) Carl Gustav Carus (1789–1869) Heinrich Georg Bronn (1800–1862) Karl Ernst von Baer (1792–1876) Richard Owen (1804–1892) Charles Darwin (1809–1882)
Appendix 2: The Moral Grammar of Narratives in the History of Biologythe Case of Haeckel and Nazi Biology & What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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