The tragic sense of life : Ernst Haeckel and the struggle over evolutionary thought / Robert J. Richards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richards, Robert J. (Robert John), 1942-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Haeckel, Ernst, 1834-1919.

Haeckel, Ernst.

Biologists--Germany--Biography.

Biologists.

Zoologists--Germany--Biography.

Zoologists.

Evolution (Biology)--History.

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (572 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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 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. 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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

1. Introduction

2. Formation of a Romantic Biologist

3. Research in Italy and Conversion to Darwinism

4. Triumph and Tragedy at Jena

5. Evolutionary Morphology in the Darwinian Mode

6. Travel to England and the Canary Islands: Experimental Justifi cation of Evolution

7. The Popular Presentation of Evolution

8. The Rage of the Critics

9. The Religious Response to Evolutionism: Ants, Embryos, and Jesuits

10. Love in a Time of War

11. Conclusion: The Tragic Sense of Ernst Haeckel

Appendix 1: A Brief History of Morphology

Appendix 2: The Moral Grammar of Narratives in the History of Biology-the Case of Haeckel and Nazi Biology

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 513-540) and index.

ISBN:

9786611966300

9781281966308

1281966304

9780226712192

0226712192

OCLC:

309071386