Haeckel
German evolution popularizer
Ernst Haeckel was a nineteenth-century German biologist and naturalist who championed Darwin's theory of evolution in Germany.
He coined numerous scientific terms still in use—ecology, phylum, phylogeny—and produced elaborate illustrations of marine organisms.
His recapitulation theory, summarized as "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," proposed that embryonic development replays evolutionary history.
Though influential, some of his ideas have been discredited.
Summarizing what came before
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
- ontogenyIndividual's developmental history
- embryologyStudy of prenatal development
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
evolution · biogenesis · protista · cell theory · descent · organism · classification · kingdom
Study of environmental relations
- phylumMajor classification rank
- protistUnicellular eukaryotic organism
- ontogenyIndividual's developmental history
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
stem cell · coinage · nomenclature · scientific terms · taxonomy · classification · neologism · kingdom
Drifting marine stinger
- medusaeMotile cnidarian life stage
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- lithographsStone-surface printed images
- scientific illustrationAccurate visual for research
natural forms · specimens · microscopic · ornamental · plates · engravings · sea creatures · intricate patterns
Single-substance metaphysics
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- pantheismReality itself is holy
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- atheismRejection of deities
mechanistic · worldview · anticlericalism · substance · cosmic · determinism · unity · metaphysics
Misapplied natural selection to society
- eugenicsControlled human reproduction theory
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
- scientific racismPseudoscience justifying ethnic hierarchy
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
misrepresentation · pseudoscience · debunked · falsification · ethics
recapitulation
Summarizing what came before
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
- ontogenyIndividual's developmental history
- embryologyStudy of prenatal development
morphology · evolution · biogenesis · protista · cell theory · descent · organism · classification · kingdom · phylum
ecology
Study of environmental relations
- phylumMajor classification rank
- protistUnicellular eukaryotic organism
- ontogenyIndividual's developmental history
phylogeny · stem cell · coinage · nomenclature · scientific terms · taxonomy · classification · neologism · kingdom · gastrula
jellyfish
Drifting marine stinger
- medusaeMotile cnidarian life stage
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- lithographsStone-surface printed images
scientific illustration · natural forms · specimens · microscopic · ornamental · plates · engravings · sea creatures · intricate patterns · naturalistic
monism
Single-substance metaphysics
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- pantheismReality itself is holy
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
atheism · mechanistic · worldview · anticlericalism · substance · cosmic · determinism · unity · metaphysics · secularism
social Darwinism
Misapplied natural selection to society
- eugenicsControlled human reproduction theory
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
- scientific racismPseudoscience justifying ethnic hierarchy
nationalism · misrepresentation · pseudoscience · debunked · falsification · ethics
- 1800s FiguresDarwin, Marx, Dickens, Beethoven, Napoleon
- Biology HistoryDarwin, Mendel, evolution, natural selection, cell theory
- Environmental Topicsconservation, biodiversity, extinction, climate change, habitat loss
- scientistsbiologist, Einstein, anthropologist, Darwin, chemist
- taxonomygenus, species, taxon, kingdom, phylum