- German zoologist
and philosopher. His theory of 'recapitulation', expressed as 'ontogeny
repeats phylogeny' (or that embryonic stages represent past stages in
the organism's evolution), has been superseded, but it stimulated research
in embryology.
Haeckel was born in Potsdam, Prussia, and studied at Würtzburg
and Berlin. He was professor at Jena 1865-1909.
In 1866, the same year that he met
Charles Darwin, Haeckel introduced
a method, still used today, of representing evolutionary history, or
phylogeny, by means of treelike diagrams.
Haeckel tried to apply Darwin's doctrine of evolution to philosophy
and religion. He denied the immortality of the soul, the freedom of
the will, and the existence of a personal God. His view that the origin
of life lies in the chemical and physical factors of the environment,
such as sunlight, oxygen, water, and methane, has been shown to be likely.
He coined the term 'ecology', and published best-selling general scientific
works such as Welträtsel/The Riddles of the Universe 1899.
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