ERNST HAECKEL: BIOGRAPHY, CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING THINGS AND CONTRIBUTIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was a noted German philosopher, naturalist, and passionate evolutionist, known for being a faithful follower of the postulates of Charles Darwin. Although he was a strong defender of the Darwinian Theory of Natural Selection, his work remained influenced by some ideas of the French Baptiste Lamarck.

Haeckel is credited with exposing and spreading the Recapitulation Theory, which indicates that the embryonic progress of each specimen constantly repeats the evolutionary history of that organism. Ontogeny describes this embryonic progress, while the kinship relationship that exists between species is called phylogeny.

Ernst Haeckel, 1860. By UnknownUnknown author, via Wikimedia Commons

Furthermore, influenced by his knowledge of philosophy, Ernst Haeckel established that all living beings should proceed in a unique ancestral way. This means that, according to Haeckel, there is an inorganic origin for each of the specimens on Earth.

All these theories and studies helped him to anticipate in 1866 that the answer to hereditary factors is found in the nucleus of cells. Haeckel also devoted himself to studying the characteristics of marine biology.

Ernst Haeckel was the first scientist to establish a family tree among the various orders of animals. He also tried (unsuccessfully) to apply the doctrine of evolution to the different problems that arose in religion and philosophy.

Biography

Birth and early years

Ernst Haeckel was born on February 16, 1834 in Potsdam, a German city located in the vicinity of Berlin. Not only was he a philosopher and naturalist, but he also devoted himself to teaching zoology and also had knowledge of medicine.

In 1866 he traveled to England in order to visit Charles Darwin, a character whom Haeckel greatly admired. After becoming his disciple, Haeckel dedicated himself to popularizing the doctrines of his teacher through various lectures and manuscripts.

Haeckel undertook trips around the world in order to describe and name the different species that he managed to observe. According to connoisseurs, his contribution to marine invertebrates was particularly notable, dedicating himself with special dedication to sea sponges and jellyfish.

Likewise, his numerous trips allowed him to become familiar with numerous and different marine fauna, which allowed him to collect material that later helped him to write his great work known as Monografia de los radiolaria (1862), along with other descriptive texts.

Applied studies

Pedigree of man (Haeckel, 1874).

He studied at several major universities such as Würzburg, Vienna, and Berlin, where he devoted himself to learning about medicine.

Later he began to work as a zoology assistant at the University of Jena, this institution being one of the oldest in Germany. In 1965 he was a professor at this university until his retirement in 1909.

Foundation of the Philnetic museum in Germany

The naturalist had the initiative to found on August 28, 1907, the Philosophical Museum - also known as the Museum of Phylogeny (Phyletistches Museum) - located in the cultural city of Jena. Its exhibitions are permanent and in these different kinds of zoological objects are shown; that is, a great variety of animal organisms.

Furthermore, in this institution biological evolution is reconstructed from phylogenesis, which means that the progress of organisms is shown through kinship and the relationships between specimens, from the origin of life on Earth to the present.

Death

At the age of 85, on August 9, 1919, Ernst Haeckel died in the German city of Jena, located in the state of Thuringa.

Classification of living beings according to Haeckel

Tree of life according to Haeckel

Importantly, Haeckel did not focus on large mammals in his studies, but preferred to focus on smaller specimens and lesser-known creatures, such as microscopic cellular organisms, including mineral skeletons, anemones, corals, and jellyfish.

In other words, their studies placed particular emphasis on lower organisms, comparing them with higher organisms, as can be seen in their distinction between Protozoa and Metazoa.

The use of the microscope, invented in 1590 but improved in the nineteenth century, brought with it a new vision of living beings and opened more than one window into the field of biology.

The Protista or Protoctista kingdom

Before this improvement of the microscope and Haeckel's research, only two classifications were recognized for living beings, such as fauna (zoology) and flora (botany).

Within this order, the evolutionist Ernst Haeckel introduced a third kingdom known as that of the Protists, which attempted to group all the microorganisms present in terrestrial life.

This means that to the kingdom Protista (also known as Protoctista) belong those eukaryotic organisms, both unicellular and multicellular, of simple tissues.

These specimens can be divided into three classifications: the Fungi, which correspond to fungi; the Animalia, belonging to animals; and the Plantae, of plants.

Protozoa and Metazoa

Haeckel was also the first to differentiate between multicellular and unicellular organisms, as well as between Protozoa and Metazoa.

As for the Protozoa, these are microscopic organisms that do not have germ layers or intestines. They usually develop in aquatic or humid environments, both in fresh water and in salt water, and they stay alive thanks to the fact that they are parasites of other specimens.

For their part, the Metazoans (also known as the Animalia) are characterized by having germ layers and by having a wide ability to move; in addition, they are endowed with embryonic development. Human beings belong to this classification.

Generelle Morphology of the Organism

In his book General Morphology of Organisms (1866) Haeckel proposes a tree-like representation, in which the kinship relationships between specimens are established.

For some scholars, this work by the evolutionist is considered "the first evolutionary tree of life", quoting the words of renowned paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould.

In this tree figure, the theory supported by the author that there is a common origin for all organisms that make up life on Earth is implicitly expressed. This is known as the monophyletic hypothesis.

However, this is not the only solution proposed by the author, since the polyphyletic hypothesis is also proposed in the same book.

In this he did not use the arboreal figure but preferred the use of parallel lines with different lengths to denote the existence of organisms with different lineages, the longest lines being those of plants and animals.

Ernst Haeckel's tree

As this is a monophyletic hypothesis, the author's tree only consists of one trunk. Furthermore, in the first instance it is striking that it is a tree that does not have a root, since this is not represented in the illustration.

Despite this lack, Haeckel placed on the left side of the drawing some Latin words that meant "common root of organisms."

On the right side, the author wrote Moneres autogonum, which in Latin means "generating himself"; that is, spontaneous generation. In other words, the author proposed in his illustration that in life it was possible to carry out self-generation.

The interesting thing about this statement is that, by then, this theory was contradicting the already approved theories of Pasteur, who had assured that the spontaneous generation of organisms was not possible.

Stephen J. Gould's Critique of Ernst Haeckel

Despite being a regular follower of Haeckel's theories, paleontologist Stephen J. Gould was relentless in the face of some mistakes made by the author.

For example, quoting Gould's words, Haeckel was the most imaginative and speculative evolutionist, as he tried to encompass all indeterminate spaces, sometimes forcefully.

According to the paleontologist, one of Haeckel's mistakes was to propose the existence of an organism even older than the amoebas. He called these organisms moneras, which were composed of unorganized protoplasm.

The error manifested itself when Haeckel placed the Autogonum monera as the base of the tree, since this meant that for the author the self-generation of life (Autogonum) was possible.

Other contributions

Terminologies

Haeckel contributed a considerable amount of terminology to the biological sciences, such as the everyday names such as ecology, Darwinism, stem cell, phyum, ontogeny, phylogeny, monophyletic, polyphyletic, Protist, Metazoan, and metameria.

Kunstformen der Natur:

Haeckel was a precise and detailed painter. In his work Artistic forms of nature, from 1899, he shows an arduous compilation made up of more than 100 engravings, which are characterized by being colorful, detailed and symmetrical. According to connoisseurs, his engravings are visually pleasing for their artistic precision.

Thanks to this collection of drawings, Haeckel was able to illuminate the world through paper. The author is considered to have made the most beautiful pages of biology through detailed observation of nature.

In this work you can see a large scale of different patterns, which range from the scales of the boxfish to the spirals of the snails.

You can also glimpse the perfect symmetry of the different microorganisms and jellyfish. Therefore, it is necessary to establish that these drawings were carried out in order to generate a great visual impact.

The collection of Works of Art in Nature was so popular with the public that it became an influence in the world of art, design and architecture, especially during the first decades of the 20th century. In fact, some Art Nouveau artists, such as Émile Gallé and Karl Blossfeldt, took their aesthetics to make their own designs.

Falsification of drawings and controversy

Haeckel's lie

According to Haeckel, all animals are similar during gestation. With this, the author wanted to prove that there was a certain similarity between the appearance of the fish embryo and the rest of the embryos. Haeckel believed that these similarities should demonstrate the common ancestor that the author was seeking.

This theory was discredited, since mammalian embryos lack the marine gills of the fish embryo. The "rolls of skin" that can be observed in the embryo develop later in the ear and neck, without having anything to do with the breathing that the author mentioned.

According to some insiders, Haeckel so fervently wanted to prove Darwinian theory that he chose to carry out a little lie, which would end up costing him dearly in the future.

The scientist had access to a large number of embryos of all species within the university, so he took a human embryo and a dog embryo and drew them, but this time designing some modifications to make them look more similar.

Although Haeckel made his mistake 129 years ago, some biology books today still maintain the evolutionist's designs. The author indicated that, because the investigative material was incomplete, he was forced to complete the missing information.

Relationship with fascism and Nazi ideals

Ernst Haeckel believed in the theory that there was a distinction between the human races, being classified as the primitive race and the superior race.

For the author, primitive races needed the supervision of more mature communities since, according to him, the former were still in an infant stage and had not completed their development.

These arguments by Haeckel served as justification to carry out terrible acts of racism and to increase nationalism. Daniel Gasman, a well-known historian, proposes that the Haeckelian ideology promoted fascism in countries like Italy and France, also serving the racist ideals of the Nazi party.

References

1. Schleicher, A. (2014) Darwin's theory and Linguistics. Open letter to Dr. Ernst Haeckel, Extraordinary Professor of Zoology and director of the Zoological Museum at the University of Jena. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from RAHL: rahl.com.ar
2. Spivak, E. (2006) The tree of life: a representation of the evolution and evolution of a representation. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from Ciencia hoy: fcnym.unlp.edu.ar
3. AUPEC, (1998) Lies in science. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from: aupec.univalle.edu.co
4. Haeckel, E. (1974) Art Forms in Nature. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from Google books: books.google.es
5. Haeckel, E. (1905) Die Lebenswunder; The Wonders of Life. Retrieved on October 16, 2018 from PhillPapers: philpapers.or