Synopses & Reviews
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 Richardsand#8217;s magnificent biography, Haeckel will never again be discounted."
Review
"[An] excellent, well-illustrated and scholarly biography of Haeckel."
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 Haeckeland#8217;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."
Review
and#8220;
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 succeeds brilliantly in re-establishing Haeckel as a significant scientist and a major figure in the history of evolutionary thought.and#8221;and#8212;P. D. Smith,
Times Literary SupplementReview
andquot;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 Richardsandrsquo;s rendering, the scientific Haeckel cannot be understood separately from the manandrsquo;s personality and private circumstances. . . .and#160;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.andquot;andmdash;Lynn Nyhart,
ScienceReview
"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
"[Obsession]s key new ideathat obsessional thinking generated a whole new field of medicine, which in turn affected the way we now all thinkis fascinating and will hopefully stimulate any psychiatrist into some non-obsessive reflection on the significant influence, for good or ill, of our profession."Iain McClure, British Journal of Medicine
Review
"[An] absorbing biography."Gregory Radick, History Today
Review
"This is an extraordinarily thorough investigation into the life of a great (and greatly maligned) scientist....This is a masterly work, and belongs in the library of anyone who has an interest in the history of evolutionary science. Highly recommended."and#8212;
ChoiceReview
"A truly engrossing and fascinating story about a man, the product of 19th century Romanticism,and#160;part artist, part scientist, who becomes by his own insight and conviction the epicenter of a powerful clash between science and religion. Even 100 years later, the repercussions of Haeckel's actions continue to be felt in today's scientific, popular, religious, and even political discourse. . . . Richardsand#8217; exhaustive scholarship is evident throughout this brobdingnagian and revealing work of biography and history of science....this book will go a long way in recalibrating our understanding, even our appreciation, of Haeckeland#8217;s position in the history of embryology and of his contributions to modern biological research."
Review
"
The Tragic Sense of Life, by Robert J. Richards, provides not only a biography of the controversial German evolutionist Ernst Haeckel (1834and#8211;1919), but also an important piece of the emerging picture of the Darwinian Revolution in its international and intergenerational dimensions. . . . Richardsand#8217;s analysis brings Haeckel and Darwin closer together than ever before, even for those of us who resist making Romantics of them both. By doing so, and by defending Haeckel from the excesses of his critics and bringing out the personal side of his science, this book marks a major rehabilitation of Haeckel as a mainstream Darwinian, and a full-blooded one at that. It writes Germany into the larger story of the international development of Darwinism in a new way, and it injects welcome doses of drama, romance and natural beauty into the story."
Review
"This is a fascinating book. It should be read carefully and avidly." Lynn Nyhart - Science
Review
"[An] absorbing biography." Elof Axel Carlson - Quarterly Review of Biology
Review
"This book masterfully reconstructs the controversies surrounding Ernst Haeckeland#8217;s infamous diagrams comparing the embryos of different species. Hopwoodand#8217;s powerful and compelling narrative reveals how these images became enmeshed in fundamental questions about visual representation, scientific fraud, relations between science and religion, and interactions between scientists and their publics. Haeckeland#8217;s Embryos is a transformative study of scientific controversy that should be required reading for every student of science.and#8221;
Review
Ernst Haeckel, the best known German Darwinist of his day, was also the most controversial. For nearly a century and a half his widely circulated series of animal and human embryos, illustrating common descent, have prompted charges of forgery and fraud from scientific, religious, and political critics. Antievolutionists, especially advocates of intelligent design, have been among his most outspoken detractors. One can only hope that Nick Hopwoodand#8217;s scrupulously researched and evenhandedly argued book will finally lay these longstanding controversies to rest.
Review
Nick Hopwood has written a meticulous and engaging history that sets a high bar for future print and visual culture studies. Haeckeland#8217;s Embryos shows the material, intellectual, and cultural conditions under which the hidden is rendered visible and the visible rendered standard, amidst contestation at every turn. Open it, andand#8212;after you have recovered from its spectacular imagesand#8212;read it, for this is history of science at its best.
Review
Certain images in science capture the imagination and take on a life of their own. In this excellent book, surely the definitive account of the afterlife of scientific images, Nick Hopwood examines the most iconic pictures of vertebrate embryos, those first produced by German evolutionist Ernst Haeckel in 1868. These images have been repeatedly caught up in anti-Darwinist debates and to this day have been subject to charges of scientific fraud. In tracking Haeckeland#8217;s embryos, Hopwood restores the full sound and fury of history to the act of looking at what humans are and where we came from.
Review
andquot;Hopwood raises important questions (particularly pertinent to the modern era of viral memes) about the teaching of empirical science and the bringing of complex scientific ideas to the public, the and#39;boundary of popular literature and specialist work,and#39; the relationship between the observer as accurate reporter and as artist, and the line beyond which schematization for didactic or rhetorical effect becomes deliberately misleading.andquot;
Review
andquot;Detailed, well documented, and rich with illustrations. It is likely to be of most value to those with interests in developmental biology, embryology, the history of attacks on evolution, or the history of scientific publication.andquot;
Review
andquot;Rarely have images proved so incendiary as the embryo drawings of nineteenth-century experimental zoologist Ernst Haeckel. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Nick Hopwood traces the chequered history of the sketches, which showed similarities between embryos of higher and lower vertebrates, including humans, at particular points in their development. Haeckel intended the images as support for Charles Darwinand#39;s evolutionary theory, but under attack revealed that they were schematics. Hopwood meticulously charts how, despite the controversy, the drawings took on a life of their own.andquot;
Review
andquot;Sumptuous. . . . Hopwoodand#39;s excellent, thought-provoking book makes us ponder how these erroneous illustrations acquired their iconic status, and, above all, it shines a spotlight on the power of drawings to influence our thinking.andquot;
Review
"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)
Synopsis
Prior to the First World War, more people learned of evolutionary theory from the voluminous writings of Charles Darwinand#8217;s foremost champion in Germany, Ernst Haeckel (1834and#8211;1919), than from any other source, including the writings of Darwin himself. 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. Richardsand#8217;s intellectual biography rehabilitates Haeckel, providing the most accurate measure of his science and art yet written, as well as a moving account of Haeckeland#8217;s eventful life.
Synopsis
Pictures from the past powerfully shape current views of the world. In books, television programs, and websites, new images appear alongside others that have survived from decades ago. Among the most famous are drawings of embryos by the Darwinist Ernst Haeckel in which humans and other vertebrates begin identical, then diverge toward their adult forms. But these icons of evolution are notorious, too: soon after their publication in 1868, a colleague alleged fraud, and Haeckeland#8217;s many enemies have repeated the charge ever since. His embryos nevertheless became a textbook staple until, in 1997, a biologist accused him again, and creationist advocates of intelligent design forced his figures out. How could the most controversial pictures in the history of science have become some of the most widely seen?
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
In Haeckeland#8217;s Embryos, Nick Hopwood tells this extraordinary story in full for the first time. He tracks the drawings and the charges against them from their genesis in the nineteenth century to their continuing involvement in innovation in the present day, and from Germany to Britain and the United States. Emphasizing the changes worked by circulation and copying, interpretation and debate, Hopwood uses the case to explore how pictures succeed and fail, gain acceptance and spark controversy. Along the way, he reveals how embryonic development was made a process that we can see, compare, and discuss, and how copyingand#151;usually dismissed as unoriginaland#151;can be creative, contested, and consequential.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
With a wealth of expertly contextualized illustrations, Haeckeland#8217;s Embryos recaptures the shocking novelty of pictures that enthralled schoolchildren and outraged priests, and highlights the remarkable ways these images kept on shaping knowledge as they aged.
About the Author
Robert J. Richards is the Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Science and Medicine; professor in the Departments of History, Philosophy, and Psychology and in the Committee on Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science; and director of the Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine, all at the University of Chicago. In 2011, he was awarded the George Sarton Medal in recognition of distinguished scholarship and contributions to the advancement of the History of Science.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
and#160;
1.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Introductionand#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;The Tragic Source of the Anti-Religious Character of Evolutionary Theory
and#160;
2.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Formation of a Romantic Biologistand#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Early Student Years
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; University Years
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Habilitation and Engagement
and#160;
3.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Research in Italy and Conversion to Darwinism
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Friendship with Allmers and Temptations of the Bohemian Life
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Radiolarians and the Darwinian Explanation
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Appendix: Haeckeland#8217;s Challenger Investigations
and#160;
4.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Triumph and Tragedy at Jena
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Habilitation and Teaching
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Friendship with Gegenbaur
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; For Love of Anna
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Defender of Darwin
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Tragedy in Jena
and#160;
5.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Evolutionary Morphology in the Darwinian Mode
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Haeckeland#8217;s Generelle Morphologie der Organismen
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Haeckeland#8217;s Darwinism
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Reaction to Haeckeland#8217;s Generelle Morphologie
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusion
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Appendix: Haeckeland#8217;s Letter to Darwin
and#160;
6.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Travel to England and the Canary Islands: Experimental Justification of Evolution
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Visit to England and Meeting with Darwin
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Travel to the Canary Islands
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Research on Siphonophores
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Entwickelungsmechanik
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; A Polymorphous Sponge: The Analytical Evidence for Darwinian Theory
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusion: A Naturalist Voyaging
and#160;
7.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Popular Presentation of Evolution
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Haeckeland#8217;s Natural History of Creation
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusion: Evolutionary Theory and Racism
and#160;
8.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Rage of the Critics
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Critical Objections and Charges of Fraud
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Haeckeland#8217;s Responses to His Critics
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Epistemology of Photograph and Fact: Renewed Charges of Fraud
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Munich Confrontation with Virchow: Science vs. Socialism
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusion
and#160;
9.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Religious Response to Evolutionism: Ants, Embryos, and Jesuits
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Haeckeland#8217;s Journey to the Tropics: The Footprint of Religion
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8220;Science Has Nothing to Do with Christand#8221;and#8212;Darwin
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Erich Wasmann, a Jesuit Evolutionist
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Keplerbund vs. the Monistebund
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Response of the Forty-six
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusion
and#160;
10.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Love in a Time of War
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; At Long Lastand#160;Love
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The World Puzzles
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Consolations of Loveand#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Second Journey to the Tropicsand#8212;Java and Sumatra
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Growth in Love and Despair
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Lear on the Heath
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Great War
and#160;
11.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusion: The Tragic Sense of Ernst Haeckel
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Early Assessments of Haeckel Outside of Germany
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Haeckel in the English-Speaking World at Midcentury
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Haeckel Scholarship in Germany (1900and#8211;Present)
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Contemporary Evaluation: Haeckel and the Nazis Again
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Tragedy of Haeckeland#8217;s Life and Science
and#160;
Appendix 1: A Brief History of Morphology
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749and#8211;1832)and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Karl Friedrich Burdach (1776and#8211;1847)and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Lorenz Oken (1779and#8211;1851)and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Friedrich Tiedemann (1781and#8211;1861)and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Carl Gustav Carus (1789and#8211;1869)and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Heinrich Georg Bronn (1800and#8211;1862)and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Karl Ernst von Baer (1792and#8211;1876)and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Richard Owen (1804and#8211;1892)and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Charles Darwin (1809and#8211;1882)and#160;and#160;
and#160;
Appendix 2: The Moral Grammar of Narratives in the History of Biologyand#8212;the Case of Haeckel and Nazi Biology