DOCSLIB.ORG

Goethe's Plant Morphology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Goethe's Plant Morphology JIDRJournalofInterdisciplinaryResearch Goethe’s Plant Morphology: The Seeds of Evolution TANYA KELLEY It has long been debated whether botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), and the scientific writing of Johann the continuous view of nature, as Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) exemplified in the work of the English provided the seeds for the theory of naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). evolution. Scholars have argued both Although best known for his sides with equal passion. German literary works, such as Faust, Die Leiden biologist and philosopher, Ernst Haeckel des jungen Werther, and Wilhelm (1834-1919) wrote, “Jean and Lamarck Meister, Goethe was also deeply and Wolfgang Goethe stand at the head involved with the sciences. Some of his of all the great philosophers of nature biographers lament that Goethe’s literary who first established a theory of organic productivity was impeded by all the time development, and who are the illustrious he spent pursuing his interests in fellow workers of Darwin.”1 Taking the comparative anatomy, metallurgy, opposite stance was Chancellor of Berlin meteorology, color theory and botany.3 University, Emil du Bois Reymond Goethe himself said that he valued his (1818-1896). Du Bois was embarrassed work as a scientist more than his poetic by Goethe’s forays into science. He work.4 He pursued a wide range of wrote, “Beside the poet, the scientist interests over the course of his 83 years Goethe fades into the background. Let of life. Until the very end of his life he us at long last put him to rest.”2 I argue was vitally interested in science. In his that Goethe’s scientific writings carry in last letter, Goethe wrote about the them the seeds of the theory of evolution. debates on fixity of species taking place Goethe’s works on plant morphology in the French Royal Academy of reflects the conflicting ideas of his era on Science. Goethe’s thoughts on science the discreteness and on the stability of are both original but also reflect the spirit species. Goethe’s theory of plant of the times. morphology provides a link between the Goethe is described sometimes as discontinuous view of nature, as an Enlightenment and sometimes as a exemplified in works of the Swedish Romantic thinker, for indeed his life spans both of these periods. In many 1 Goethe, Wolfgang Johann von. Goethe’s Botanical respects, Goethe’s approach to science Writings, translated by Bertha Mueller. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1952. 15. 2 Magnus, Rudolf. Goethe as a Scientist. translated by 3 Goethe’s Botanical Writings, 6. Heinz Norden. Leipzig: Henry Schuman, 1947. xi. 4 Magnus, 42. 1 Goethe’sPlantMorphology:TheSeedsofEvolution reflects those typical of eighteenth more accurate and suitable for science by century Europe. Goethe, as were most of adopting universal languages either, as in his contemporaries, was swept up in the case of Linnaeus, by using Latin in a geometrical spirit ushered in by the systematic way, or, as in the case of German mathematician Gottfried György Kalmár, by using calculus as a Wilhelm Leibnitz (1646-1716) who is basis for an invented universal language. credited with the dissemination of Goethe was also interested in the debates calculus.5 Scientists of the eighteenth about accuracy in scientific language. century embraced mathematical method, On his journey to Italy from 1786-1788, exact definition, and proof of Goethe wrote about the arbitrariness of propositions, and applied these rigorous nomenclature and played with the methods of analysis to the development descriptive and labeling functions they of systematic. The Enlightenment fulfill.7 Goethe is often described as an ushered in an era wherein people turned Enlightenment thinker who was fully away from religion to explain the natural immersed in the age of quantifications world, and sought explanation instead and, as we shall see, his work in the through the search for the laws of nature. sciences reflects much of the geometrical These effects could be felt not just in the spirit of that era. sciences but also in the daily lives of the Goethe’s work in the sciences, eighteenth century Europeans. People however, also reflects the subsequent were witnessing the rapid dissection and Zeitgeist or spirit of the times. Although classification of the world around them. he partook in the spirit of quantification Since 1673 the measure of time had of the Enlightenment, the following era become more accurate through the of Romanticism equally influenced him. invention of Christian Huygens’ “Goethe’s Faust spurns knowledge pendulum clock. ‘extorted with levers and screws’, Goethe was also affected by the longing instead for a grasp of Nature’s controversies surrounding the adoption secret elements, her hidden active forces, of a more accurate and uniform system the harmony of the whole of her parts.”8 of measure, the decimal system. In Instead of the geometrical spirit, which Faust Goethe has the witches toy with strove to dissect, systematize and find alternate numbering systems not based the mechanisms of nature, the guiding on ten.6 Even people’s vernacular spirit of the Romantic era became known language was slated for improvement in the German-speaking world as during the age of quantification. There Naturphilosophie or natural philosophy. were several proposals to make language The Romantic scientists revolted against the analytical methods of their 5 Leibnitz vies with English physicist Isaac Newton (1642- predecessors and sought to apply more 1727) for credit for the invention of calculus. It is Leibnitz’ synthetic methods; instead of looking for system of notation, however, that came into widespread use. 6 “Desired Reconciliations: On Language as Experiment,” 7 “Italienische Reise” Werke, 11: 461. MLN, Vol. 103, No. 5. Comparative Literature. (Dec., 8 Andrew Cunningham and Nicholas Jardine in their 1988) 1056-1071. Preface to Romanticism and the Sciences, xix. 2 JIDRJournalofInterdisciplinaryResearch fine differences Romantic scientists the bean counters and aggregators, we looked for similarities. The German will take as our example the field of biologist Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus botany. Goethe devoted many years to (1776-1837) wrote that in the new the study of plants and in his voluminous science of life “the observations of the writings on the topic, we will see, vital phenomena of animals and plants portrayed the struggle to come to terms … receive their proper place and unite with perhaps the most pregnant question themselves into a whole…”9 The French of his generation, namely the anatomist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire discontinuity or continuity of nature. (1772-1844) believed that nature made Some botanists believed species to be all living beings with one unique plan. discrete and stable, whereas others Immanuel Kant (1723-1804) emphasized believed that species blended from one to that scientists should examine the idea of the next with difficult-to-discern a whole in its natural context. Kant’s boundaries and that species also changed thought guided the German explorer and over time. Goethe’s work on plant naturalist Alexander von Humboldt morphology reflects the conflicting ideas (1769-1859) to describe the vegetation of of his era. After a brief look at the new world in its native geography contemporary ideas on fixity of species instead of merely bringing back plant held by prominent Enlightenment and specimens in order to classify their parts. Romantic natural scientists, we will Just as he had been intimately immersed place Goethe’s botanical work in context in scientific developments of the by examining primarily the botanical Enlightenment, Goethe was involved systems and of Carl Linnaeus. with the scientific enterprises of Goethe’s contemporaries all came Romantic thinkers, and is credited by from a tradition of natural history that some as one of the leading figures in the placed high value on accurately passing promotion of synthetic method. on information collected by ancient At the heart of the difference authorities, whether Biblical or between the Enlightenment and Christianized knowledge of the ancient Romantic worldview lies the question of Greeks. Over the centuries ancient how much of the world is knowable to authority was passed down through man. Many scientists of the manuscripts, which were repeatedly Enlightenment believed that it was just a copied by hand. Such manual copying matter of time until every last word, led to the perpetuation and accumulation mollusc, tuber, and compound was of mistakes. Scientists of the cataloged whereas many scientists of the Renaissance paved the way for Romantic era doubted that this feat could Enlightenment science in that they began ever be achieved. Although there are to look for answers in nature instead of many fascinating studies in in written documents. By turning to the encyclopedism and the backlash against natural world with a fresh eye, scientists found that neither the Bible nor the 9 My translation from Biologie, oder Philosophie der ancients had fully accounted for all of lebenden Naturfür Naturforscher und Aertzte, 7-8. 3 Goethe’sPlantMorphology:TheSeedsofEvolution nature. In the Renaissance science specialization, natural selection and became the hobby and occupation of evolution of species are accepted and are numerous upper class men. Much of the seemingly obvious, but in Goethe’s era scientific work these people did had to creationists and transmutationalists were be done in secret because new on more equal footing. Enlightenment discoveries and interpretations could scientists who placed great store in the propose a threat to church order. One past, generally held views of natural famous example of such a case is that of history based on religion and Galileo, who was tried for heresy Aristotelianism. There were those who because of his views. By the eighteenth believed in remnants of the ancient century the belief in the absolute authorities and the creation story, others authority of the Bible and of the ancients who were, with varying degrees of had begun to wane, and it had become vociferousness, secular possible for men of varied classes to transmutationalists, and a whole range in engage in science without the fear of between.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Konturen VI (2014) 1
    Konturen VI (2014) 1 Introduction: Defining the Human and the Animal Alexander Mathäs University of Oregon Foreword: First, I would like to thank the contributors to this special volume of Konturen: Defining the Human and the Animal. All the authors presented drafts of their manuscripts at a conference on this topic, which took place on May 2 and 3, 2013 at the University of Oregon. I am grateful to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Oregon Humanities Center, the Journal of Comparative Literature, the Univeristy of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Philosophy, Department of Comparative Literature, the German Studies Committee, and the Department of German and Scandinavian for their generous support. Without them both the conference and the ensuing publication would not have been possible. Special thanks go to my departmental colleagues, and foremost to my Department Head and Chair of the German Studies Committee, Jeffrey Librett, who gave me the opportunity to publish this volume. I am grateful for the support of Alexis Smith, Eva Hofmann, Stephanie Chapman, and Judith Lechner, who assisted me at various stages of the project. I am also indebted to the graduate students who participated in a class on Human-Animal borders that I taught in Winter 2013. Sarah Grew’s assistance with the web design is greatly appreciated. And I would like to thank our office staff, above all Barbara Ver West and Joshua Heath, who were of great help in organizing and advertising the conference. Introduction: In recent years the fairly new field of Animal Studies has received considerable attention (see bibliography).
    [Show full text]
  • Plant Life Magill’S Encyclopedia of Science
    MAGILLS ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE PLANT LIFE MAGILLS ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE PLANT LIFE Volume 4 Sustainable Forestry–Zygomycetes Indexes Editor Bryan D. Ness, Ph.D. Pacific Union College, Department of Biology Project Editor Christina J. Moose Salem Press, Inc. Pasadena, California Hackensack, New Jersey Editor in Chief: Dawn P. Dawson Managing Editor: Christina J. Moose Photograph Editor: Philip Bader Manuscript Editor: Elizabeth Ferry Slocum Production Editor: Joyce I. Buchea Assistant Editor: Andrea E. Miller Page Design and Graphics: James Hutson Research Supervisor: Jeffry Jensen Layout: William Zimmerman Acquisitions Editor: Mark Rehn Illustrator: Kimberly L. Dawson Kurnizki Copyright © 2003, by Salem Press, Inc. All rights in this book are reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner what- soever or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address the publisher, Salem Press, Inc., P.O. Box 50062, Pasadena, California 91115. Some of the updated and revised essays in this work originally appeared in Magill’s Survey of Science: Life Science (1991), Magill’s Survey of Science: Life Science, Supplement (1998), Natural Resources (1998), Encyclopedia of Genetics (1999), Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues (2000), World Geography (2001), and Earth Science (2001). ∞ The paper used in these volumes conforms to the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48-1992 (R1997). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Magill’s encyclopedia of science : plant life / edited by Bryan D.
    [Show full text]
  • The Philosophical and Historical Roots of Evolutionary Tree Diagrams
    Evo Edu Outreach (2011) 4:515–538 DOI 10.1007/s12052-011-0355-0 HISTORYAND PHILOSOPHY Depicting the Tree of Life: the Philosophical and Historical Roots of Evolutionary Tree Diagrams Nathalie Gontier Published online: 19 August 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract It is a popularly held view that Darwin was the were the result of this blend would, from the nineteenth first author to draw a phylogenetic tree diagram. However, century onward, also include the element of time. The as is the case with most popular beliefs, this one also does recognition of time would eventually lead to the recognition not hold true. Firstly, Darwin never called his diagram of of evolution as a fact of nature, and subsequently, tree common descent a tree. Secondly, even before Darwin, tree iconographies would come to represent exclusively the diagrams were used by a variety of philosophical, religious, evolutionary descent of species. and secular scholars to depict phenomena such as “logical relationships,”“affiliations,”“genealogical descent,”“af- Keywords Species classification . Evolutionary finity,” and “historical relatedness” between the elements iconography. Tree of life . Networks . Diagram . Phylogeny. portrayed on the tree. Moreover, historically, tree diagrams Genealogy. Pedigree . Stammbaum . Affinity. Natural themselves can be grouped into a larger class of diagrams selection that were drawn to depict natural and/or divine order in the world. In this paper, we trace the historical roots and cultural meanings of these tree diagrams. It will be Introduction demonstrated that tree diagrams as we know them are the outgrowth of ancient philosophical attempts to find the In this paper, we focus on the “why” of tree iconography.
    [Show full text]
  • Nomenclatural Studies Toward a World List of Diptera Genus-Group Names
    Nomenclatural studies toward a world list of Diptera genus-group names. Part V Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart Evenhuis, Neal L.; Pape, Thomas; Pont, Adrian C. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4172.1.1 Publication date: 2016 Document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Document license: CC BY Citation for published version (APA): Evenhuis, N. L., Pape, T., & Pont, A. C. (2016). Nomenclatural studies toward a world list of Diptera genus- group names. Part V: Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart. Magnolia Press. Zootaxa Vol. 4172 No. 1 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4172.1.1 Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 Zootaxa 4172 (1): 001–211 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Monograph ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2016 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4172.1.1 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:22128906-32FA-4A80-85D6-10F114E81A7B ZOOTAXA 4172 Nomenclatural Studies Toward a World List of Diptera Genus-Group Names. Part V: Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart NEAL L. EVENHUIS1, THOMAS PAPE2 & ADRIAN C. PONT3 1 J. Linsley Gressitt Center for Entomological Research, Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-2704, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Natural History Museum of Denmark, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. E-mail: [email protected] 3Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK. E-mail: [email protected] Magnolia Press Auckland, New Zealand Accepted by D. Whitmore: 15 Aug. 2016; published: 30 Sept. 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 NEAL L.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    Chapter 1 History Systematics has its origins in two threads of biological science: classification and evolution. The organization of natural variation into sets, groups, and hierarchies traces its roots to Aristotle and evolution to Darwin. Put simply, systematization of nature can and has progressed in absence of causative theories relying on ideas of “plan of nature,” divine or otherwise. Evolutionists (Darwin, Wallace, and others) proposed a rationale for these patterns. This mixture is the foundation of modern systematics. Originally, systematics was natural history. Today we think of systematics as being a more inclusive term, encompassing field collection, empirical compar- ative biology, and theory. To begin with, however, taxonomy, now known as the process of naming species and higher taxa in a coherent, hypothesis-based, and regular way, and systematics were equivalent. Roman bust of Aristotle (384–322 BCE) 1.1 Aristotle Systematics as classification (or taxonomy) draws its Western origins from Aris- totle1. A student of Plato at the Academy and reputed teacher of Alexander the Great, Aristotle founded the Lyceum in Athens, writing on a broad variety of topics including what we now call biology. To Aristotle, living things (species) came from nature as did other physical classes (e.g. gold or lead). Today, we refer to his classification of living things (Aristotle, 350 BCE) that show simi- larities with the sorts of classifications we create now. In short, there are three featuresCOPYRIGHTED of his methodology that weMATERIAL recognize immediately: it was functional, binary, and empirical. Aristotle’s classification divided animals (his work on plants is lost) using Ibn Rushd (Averroes) functional features as opposed to those of habitat or anatomical differences: “Of (1126–1198) land animals some are furnished with wings, such as birds and bees.” Although he recognized these features as different in aspect, they are identical in use.
    [Show full text]
  • BIOLOGICAL CONTROL of the BLACK CUTWORM, <Em>AGROTIS IPSILON</Em> (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE), and ENDOPHYTE MEDIATED T
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2011 BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE BLACK CUTWORM, AGROTIS IPSILON (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE), AND ENDOPHYTE MEDIATED TRITROPHIC INTERACTIONS IN TURFGRASS Andrea Jeanne Bixby-Brosi University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Bixby-Brosi, Andrea Jeanne, "BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE BLACK CUTWORM, AGROTIS IPSILON (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE), AND ENDOPHYTE MEDIATED TRITROPHIC INTERACTIONS IN TURFGRASS" (2011). University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations. 183. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/183 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Andrea Jeanne Bixby-Brosi The Graduate School University of Kentucky 2011 BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE BLACK CUTWORM, AGROTIS IPSILON (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE), AND ENDOPHYTE MEDIATED TRITROPHIC INTERACTIONS IN TURFGRASS ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky By Andrea Jeanne Bixby-Brosi Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Daniel A. Potter, Professor of Entomology Lexington, Kentucky 2011 Copyright © Andrea Jeanne Bixby-Brosi 2011 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE BLACK CUTWORM, AGROTIS IPSILON (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE), AND ENDOPHYTE MEDIATED TRITROPHIC INTERACTIONS IN TURFGRASS Components of successful pest management programs must be complementary and not antagonistic. This project examined interactions between natural enemies of the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), an important turfgrass pest, and host plant resistance by endophytic grass.
    [Show full text]
  • Ernst Haeckel and the Morphology of Ethics Nolan Hele
    Document généré le 26 sept. 2021 19:41 Journal of the Canadian Historical Association Revue de la Société historique du Canada Ernst Haeckel and the Morphology of Ethics Nolan Hele Volume 15, numéro 1, 2004 URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/012066ar DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/012066ar Aller au sommaire du numéro Éditeur(s) The Canadian Historical Association/La Société historique du Canada ISSN 0847-4478 (imprimé) 1712-6274 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Hele, N. (2004). Ernst Haeckel and the Morphology of Ethics. Journal of the Canadian Historical Association / Revue de la Société historique du Canada, 15(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.7202/012066ar Tous droits réservés © The Canadian Historical Association/La Société Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des historique du Canada, 2004 services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l’Université de Montréal, l’Université Laval et l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. https://www.erudit.org/fr/ chajournal2004.qxd 12/01/06 14:11 Page 1 Ernst Haeckel and the Morphology of Ethics NOLAN HEIE n 10 May 1907, Johannes Reinke,1 a Professor of botany at the University Oof Kiel and member of the Prussian upper chamber, the
    [Show full text]
  • Joseph Krauskopf's Evolution and Judaism
    The University of Manchester Research Joseph Krauskopf’s Evolution and Judaism: One Reform Rabbi’s Response to Scepticism and Materialism in Nineteenth-century North America DOI: 10.31826/9781463237141-012 Document Version Final published version Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer Citation for published version (APA): Langton, D. (2015). Joseph Krauskopf’s Evolution and Judaism: One Reform Rabbi’s Response to Scepticism and Materialism in Nineteenth-century North America. Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies, 12, 122-130. https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463237141-012 Published in: Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Explorer are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Takedown policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please refer to the University of Manchester’s Takedown Procedures [http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo] or contact [email protected] providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:10. Oct. 2021 EDITOR Daniel R. Langton ASSISTANT EDITOR Simon Mayers Title: Joseph Krauskopf’s Evolution and Judaism: One Reform Rabbi’s Response to Scepticism and Materialism in Nineteenth-century North America Author(s): DANIEL R.
    [Show full text]
  • Ernst Haeckel's Embryological Illustrations
    Pictures of Evolution and Charges of Fraud Ernst Haeckel’s Embryological Illustrations By Nick Hopwood* ABSTRACT Comparative illustrations of vertebrate embryos by the leading nineteenth-century Dar- winist Ernst Haeckel have been both highly contested and canonical. Though the target of repeated fraud charges since 1868, the pictures were widely reproduced in textbooks through the twentieth century. Concentrating on their first ten years, this essay uses the accusations to shed light on the novelty of Haeckel’s visual argumentation and to explore how images come to count as proper representations or illegitimate schematics as they cross between the esoteric and exoteric circles of science. It exploits previously unused manuscripts to reconstruct the drawing, printing, and publishing of the illustrations that attracted the first and most influential attack, compares these procedures to standard prac- tice, and highlights their originality. It then explains why, though Haeckel was soon ac- cused, controversy ignited only seven years later, after he aligned a disciplinary struggle over embryology with a major confrontation between liberal nationalism and Catholicism—and why the contested pictures nevertheless survived. INETEENTH-CENTURY IMAGES OF EVOLUTION powerfully and controversially N shape our view of the world. In 1997 a British developmental biologist accused the * Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RH, United Kingdom. Research for this essay was supported by the Wellcome Trust and partly carried out in the departments of Lorraine Daston and Hans-Jo¨rg Rheinberger at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. My greatest debt is to the archivists of the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus, Jena: the late Erika Krauße gave generous help and invaluable advice over many years, and Thomas Bach, her successor as Kustos, provided much assistance with this project.
    [Show full text]
  • Ernst Haeckel's Monistic Religon
    ERNST HAECKEL'S MONISTIC RELIGION BY NILESR. HOLT For some of his contemporaries, the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was the "nihilistic yet superstitious prophet of a new religion."' Others saw him as a vindicator who would confirm the triumph of science in its nineteenth-century warfare with religion. For still others, he was the "apostle of Darwinism," the major crusader on the European continent for the acceptance of Darwinism. Charles Darwin wrote that if one of Haeckel's works had appeared before his own The Descent of Man (1871), "I should probably never have com- pleted it. Almost all of the conclusions at which I have arrived I find confirmed by ... this naturalist, whose knowledge on many points is fuller than mine."2 Unlike some exponents of Darwinism, Haeckel's own consequential achievements in morphology and embryology pre- vented him from being dismissed as merely another of "Darwin's bull- dogs." From a position of scientific eminence, as professor of zoology at the University of Jena, Haeckel combined his activities to promote Darwinism with popularizations of his own "Monism." He presented Monism as a scientific movement which was based on Darwinism and 'This particular description is from "Popular Science in Germany," The Nation, DCXV (1879), 179-80. Haeckel's hopes to make of his Monism an international move- ment were heightened by interest in his Monistic system in the United States to the point that Paul Carus, editor of the Monist, attempted to distinguish between Haeckel's and that journal's "Monism." See the early correspondence between Carus and Haeckel, published as "Professor Haeckel's Monism and the Ideas of God and Im- mortality," Open Court, V (1891), 2957-58.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural History of the Gila Symposium October 14–16, 2010 Western New Mexico University Silver City, New Mexico
    the new mexico botanist Special Issue Number 3 October 2012 proceedings of the third Natural History of the Gila Symposium October 14–16, 2010 Western New Mexico University Silver City, New Mexico edited by William Norris Department of Natural Sciences, Western New Mexico University Richard Felger University of Arizona Herbarium and Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona 2012 Proceedings of the Third Natural History of the Gila Symposium, October 2010 / The New Mexico Botanist, Special Issue No. 3, October 2012 Contents Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Some Things Going On in the Gila National Forest That You May Find Interesting Richard Markley .............................................................................................. 2 For Birds: Dale and Marian Zimmerman Gene Jercinovic ............................................................................................... 6 Visions of Dulcinea Mike Fugagli .................................................................................................15 Box Canyon Road Sharman Apt Russell ........................................................................................17 Exploring the Late Prehistoric Occupation of the Upper Gila Region Through Preservation Archaeology Katherine Dungan, Deborah Huntley, Jeffery Clark, Robert Jones, and Andrew Laurenzi ..............20 Review of Tachinid Fly Diversity in the Gila National Forest, New Mexico James E.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Did Goethe and Schelling Endorse Species Evolution?
    Did Goethe and Schelling Endorse Species Evolution? Robert J. Richards University of Chicago Charles Darwin was quite sensitive to the charge that his theory of species transmutation was not original but had been anticipated by earlier authors, most famously by Lamarck and his own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. The younger Darwin believed, however, his own originality lay in the device he used to explain the change of species over time and in the kind of evidence he brought to bear to demonstrate such change. He was thus ready to concede and recognize predecessors, especially those that caused only modest ripples in the intellectual stream. In the historical introduction that he included in the third edition of the Origin, he acknowledged Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as “an extreme partisan” of the transmutation view. He had been encouraged to embrace Goethe as a fellow transmutationist by Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Ernst Haeckel.1 Scholars today think that Darwin’s recognition of Goethe was a mistake. They usually deny that the Naturphilosophen, especially Friedrich Joseph Schelling, held anything like a theory of species evolution in the manner of Charles Darwin—that is, a conception of a gradual change of species in the empirical world over long periods of time. Dietrich von Engelhardt, for instance, in commenting on an enticing passage from Schelling’s Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie (First sketch of a system of nature philosophy,1799), declares “Schelling is no forerunner of Darwin.” Schelling, 1 Darwin mentions in his historical introduction to the Origin that Geoffroy St. Hilaire had recognized Goethe as a transmutationist.
    [Show full text]