Ernst Haeckel Versuch einer Chronik seines Lebens und Wirkens

Abstract

THERE are already two biographies of Haeckel, but Prof. May's book is complementary to these, and written in a different mood. It aims at showing what the great naturalist has accomplished, from his first research in 1855 to the institution of the Phyletic Museum in 1907. The author gives a careful account of the chief results of Haeckel's books, including the “Generelle Morphologic,” and shows us—rather by a statement of facts than by any formal estimate—the influence Haeckel has had on modern biology and on the intellectual outlook generally. He does not hesitate to quote the hardest things that have been said of Haecke's physics and metaphysics, and even of his biology, but he gives us something of the defence as well. The quotations from irresponsible authors might have been left out, as well as all the verses from “Jugend,” “Kladder-adatsch,” and the like, which seem out of keeping with the serious character of the book. It is a restrained and careful piece of work, tending, perhaps, to exaggerate the importance of Haeckel's later writings, but marked by unusual objectivity and impartiality of statement. There is an excellent bibliography.

Ernst Haeckel. Versuch einer Chronik seines Lebens und Wirkens.

By Prof. Walther May. Pp. vii+301. (Leipzig: J. A. Barth, 1909.) Price 5.60 marks; bound, 6.60 marks.