The tragic sense of life : Ernst Haeckel and the struggle over evolutionary thought /

Richards, Robert J. 1942-,

The tragic sense of life : Ernst Haeckel and the struggle over evolutionary thought / [print] Robert J. Richards. - Chicago, Illinois : University of Chicago Press ; 2009. - xx, 551 pages, 8 pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm

Originally published: 2008.

Includes bibliographies and index.

Introduction -- Formation of a romantic biologist -- Research in Italy and conversion to Darwinism -- Triumph and tragedy at Jena -- Evolutionary morphology in the Darwinian mode -- Travel to England and the Canary Islands : experimental justification of evolution -- The popular presentation of evolution -- The rage of the critics -- The religious response to evolutionism : ants, embryos, and Jesuits -- Love in a time of war -- Conclusion : the tragic sense of Ernst Haeckel.

Prior to World War I, more people learned of evolutionary theory from the works of Ernst Haeckel than through any other source. Haeckel gave currency to the idea of the 'missing link' between apes and man and formulated the concept of ecology. While his legacy has been controversial, this study stresses his importance.



9780226712161 9780226712147

2007039155

GBA969012 bnb

015326316 Uk


Haeckel, Ernst, 1834-1919.


Biologists--Germany--Biography.
Zoologists--Germany--Biography.
Evolution (Biology)--History.

QH31.R517.T734 2009