Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species in 1859 and sent complimentary copies to perhaps a dozen German scientists. One of those who received a copy was Heinrich Georg Bronn, ...
More
Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species in 1859 and sent complimentary copies to perhaps a dozen German scientists. One of those who received a copy was Heinrich Georg Bronn, Germany’s most prominent paleontologist, whose research had strangely paralleled that of Darwin. The two men were even consulting each other’s work at times in the 1840s. Bronn’s German translation of The Origin of Species appeared only a few months after the original. This book examines the translation and early interpretation of Darwin’s book and theory and how German Darwinism relates to his own version. It argues that Ernst Haeckel, Darwin’s most famous German interpreter, followed Bronn very closely on important matters of interpretation and terminology concerning Darwinian evolution. In comparing German and British biology and Darwinism, the book juxtaposes Darwin and Bronn, their careers and intellectual commitments, before analyzing the Bronn translation and Haeckel’s use of it.Less
Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species in 1859 and sent complimentary copies to perhaps a dozen German scientists. One of those who received a copy was Heinrich Georg Bronn, Germany’s most prominent paleontologist, whose research had strangely paralleled that of Darwin. The two men were even consulting each other’s work at times in the 1840s. Bronn’s German translation of The Origin of Species appeared only a few months after the original. This book examines the translation and early interpretation of Darwin’s book and theory and how German Darwinism relates to his own version. It argues that Ernst Haeckel, Darwin’s most famous German interpreter, followed Bronn very closely on important matters of interpretation and terminology concerning Darwinian evolution. In comparing German and British biology and Darwinism, the book juxtaposes Darwin and Bronn, their careers and intellectual commitments, before analyzing the Bronn translation and Haeckel’s use of it.
Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The German translation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species appeared in 1860, just months after the original, thanks to Heinrich Georg Bronn, a distinguished German paleontologist whose work ...
More
The German translation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species appeared in 1860, just months after the original, thanks to Heinrich Georg Bronn, a distinguished German paleontologist whose work in some ways paralleled Darwin’s. Bronn’s version of the book (with his own notes and commentary appended) did much to determine how Darwin’s theory was understood and applied by German biologists, for the translation process involved more than the mere substitution of German words for English. This book tells the story of how On the Origin of Species came to be translated into German, how it served Bronn’s purposes as well as Darwin’s, and how it challenged German scholars to think in new ways about morphology, systematics, paleontology, and other biological disciplines. It traces Bronn’s influence on German Darwinism through the early career of Ernst Haeckel, Darwin’s most famous nineteenth-century proponent and popularizer in Germany, who learned his Darwinism from the Bronn translation. The book argues, contrary to most interpretations, that the German authors were not attempting to “tame” Darwin or assimilate him to outmoded systems of romantic Naturphilosophie. Rather, Bronn and Haeckel were participants in Darwin’s project of revolutionizing biology. We should not, the book cautions, read pre-Darwinian meanings into Bronn’s and Haeckel’s Darwinian words. The book describes interpretive problems faced by Bronn and Haeckel that range from the verbal (how to express Darwin’s ideas in the existing German technical vocabulary) to the conceptual.Less
The German translation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species appeared in 1860, just months after the original, thanks to Heinrich Georg Bronn, a distinguished German paleontologist whose work in some ways paralleled Darwin’s. Bronn’s version of the book (with his own notes and commentary appended) did much to determine how Darwin’s theory was understood and applied by German biologists, for the translation process involved more than the mere substitution of German words for English. This book tells the story of how On the Origin of Species came to be translated into German, how it served Bronn’s purposes as well as Darwin’s, and how it challenged German scholars to think in new ways about morphology, systematics, paleontology, and other biological disciplines. It traces Bronn’s influence on German Darwinism through the early career of Ernst Haeckel, Darwin’s most famous nineteenth-century proponent and popularizer in Germany, who learned his Darwinism from the Bronn translation. The book argues, contrary to most interpretations, that the German authors were not attempting to “tame” Darwin or assimilate him to outmoded systems of romantic Naturphilosophie. Rather, Bronn and Haeckel were participants in Darwin’s project of revolutionizing biology. We should not, the book cautions, read pre-Darwinian meanings into Bronn’s and Haeckel’s Darwinian words. The book describes interpretive problems faced by Bronn and Haeckel that range from the verbal (how to express Darwin’s ideas in the existing German technical vocabulary) to the conceptual.
Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.003.0051
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter offers a sampling of individual infelicities and “errors” in Heinrich Georg Bronn’s German translation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and examines the issues that arose ...
More
This chapter offers a sampling of individual infelicities and “errors” in Heinrich Georg Bronn’s German translation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and examines the issues that arose from his interpretation. Some of these issues had to do with language, specifically Bronn’s choice of wordings for “origin,” “natural selection,” “favoured races,” and “struggle for life.” In his translation, Bronn changed “psychology” to “physiology” (Physiologie) and omitted the entire line “Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history” found in the original. In addition to linguistic ambiguities, Bronn’s translation of Darwin’s work was colored by differences between the two men’s knowledge and experiences in natural history, as well as between German and British conceptions of biology as a science. This chapter also considers Bronn’s laws of organic change, including progress toward greater perfection and adaptation and survival, and his views about creation and evolution of species.Less
This chapter offers a sampling of individual infelicities and “errors” in Heinrich Georg Bronn’s German translation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and examines the issues that arose from his interpretation. Some of these issues had to do with language, specifically Bronn’s choice of wordings for “origin,” “natural selection,” “favoured races,” and “struggle for life.” In his translation, Bronn changed “psychology” to “physiology” (Physiologie) and omitted the entire line “Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history” found in the original. In addition to linguistic ambiguities, Bronn’s translation of Darwin’s work was colored by differences between the two men’s knowledge and experiences in natural history, as well as between German and British conceptions of biology as a science. This chapter also considers Bronn’s laws of organic change, including progress toward greater perfection and adaptation and survival, and his views about creation and evolution of species.
Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.003.0040
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Charles Darwin did not share all of Heinrich Georg Bronn’s concerns about the status of biology and paleontology as independent Wissenschaften. Unlike Bronn, Darwin was not interested in patterns in ...
More
Charles Darwin did not share all of Heinrich Georg Bronn’s concerns about the status of biology and paleontology as independent Wissenschaften. Unlike Bronn, Darwin was not interested in patterns in taxonomic or paleontological data from which to derive general laws of change. In fact, laws played a limited role in his theory of evolution. Darwin was influenced by many scientists such as Jean-Baptist de Lamarck, Johann Friedrich Meckel, William Paley, Adam Sedgwick, John Stevens Henslow, Richard Owen, and even his own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. There were many important points of convergence between Darwin and Bronn that made the latter take such a lively interest in On the Origin of Species. This chapter examines the points of divergence between Darwin and Bronn, the most important of which can be attributed, directly or indirectly, to the former’s experiences and connections at the University of Cambridge. In particular, it looks at Darwin’s reading of Paley and his rejection of the laws of adaptation, progress, and change such as Bronn’s.Less
Charles Darwin did not share all of Heinrich Georg Bronn’s concerns about the status of biology and paleontology as independent Wissenschaften. Unlike Bronn, Darwin was not interested in patterns in taxonomic or paleontological data from which to derive general laws of change. In fact, laws played a limited role in his theory of evolution. Darwin was influenced by many scientists such as Jean-Baptist de Lamarck, Johann Friedrich Meckel, William Paley, Adam Sedgwick, John Stevens Henslow, Richard Owen, and even his own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. There were many important points of convergence between Darwin and Bronn that made the latter take such a lively interest in On the Origin of Species. This chapter examines the points of divergence between Darwin and Bronn, the most important of which can be attributed, directly or indirectly, to the former’s experiences and connections at the University of Cambridge. In particular, it looks at Darwin’s reading of Paley and his rejection of the laws of adaptation, progress, and change such as Bronn’s.
Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.003.0030
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Heinrich Georg Bronn developed his approach to the history of life in Handbuch einer Geschichte der Natur (Handbook of a history of nature) in the 1840s, as well as in the mature reformulation of his ...
More
Heinrich Georg Bronn developed his approach to the history of life in Handbuch einer Geschichte der Natur (Handbook of a history of nature) in the 1840s, as well as in the mature reformulation of his theories in 1858. This approach adhered to the ideals of Wissenschaft that Bronn had been developing throughout his career. Bronn was also searching for multiple and preferably quantifiable measures of progress and perfection that he could use in paleontology. This chapter examines Bronn’s intellectual commitments in order to explain his interpretation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and the issues he raised in response to it. It first considers Bronn’s views on the principle of adaptation and the external causes of change before turning to his assumptions about law and order in nature, along with his experience of individuality and variation and his notion of the evolution of species. It also discusses his ideas about the laws and forces of morphology.Less
Heinrich Georg Bronn developed his approach to the history of life in Handbuch einer Geschichte der Natur (Handbook of a history of nature) in the 1840s, as well as in the mature reformulation of his theories in 1858. This approach adhered to the ideals of Wissenschaft that Bronn had been developing throughout his career. Bronn was also searching for multiple and preferably quantifiable measures of progress and perfection that he could use in paleontology. This chapter examines Bronn’s intellectual commitments in order to explain his interpretation of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and the issues he raised in response to it. It first considers Bronn’s views on the principle of adaptation and the external causes of change before turning to his assumptions about law and order in nature, along with his experience of individuality and variation and his notion of the evolution of species. It also discusses his ideas about the laws and forces of morphology.
Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.003.0061
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Ernst Haeckel not only promoted, defended, and elaborated upon Charles Darwin’s theory, but also unified biology within a historical framework and developed a practical program of research into ...
More
Ernst Haeckel not only promoted, defended, and elaborated upon Charles Darwin’s theory, but also unified biology within a historical framework and developed a practical program of research into phylogeny. This chapter examines Haeckel’s indebtedness to both Darwin and Heinrich Georg Bronn, his responses to Bronn’s challenges, and his differences from the older morphological tradition. Haeckel read Bronn’s German translation of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1861 and came up with a complete system of evolution, morphology, systematics, and monist philosophy, detailed in Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (General morphology of organisms), five years later. This chapter also looks at Haeckel’s collaboration with Carl Gegenbaur on a program of evolutionary morphology, his introduction to Darwinism in 1860, and his views on adaptation, heredity, creativity, and constraint. In addition, it considers his views on the Gastraea theory and his answers to the arguments of Karl Ernst von Baer regarding species transformation.Less
Ernst Haeckel not only promoted, defended, and elaborated upon Charles Darwin’s theory, but also unified biology within a historical framework and developed a practical program of research into phylogeny. This chapter examines Haeckel’s indebtedness to both Darwin and Heinrich Georg Bronn, his responses to Bronn’s challenges, and his differences from the older morphological tradition. Haeckel read Bronn’s German translation of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1861 and came up with a complete system of evolution, morphology, systematics, and monist philosophy, detailed in Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (General morphology of organisms), five years later. This chapter also looks at Haeckel’s collaboration with Carl Gegenbaur on a program of evolutionary morphology, his introduction to Darwinism in 1860, and his views on adaptation, heredity, creativity, and constraint. In addition, it considers his views on the Gastraea theory and his answers to the arguments of Karl Ernst von Baer regarding species transformation.
Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.003.0072
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This book has examined the texts, the translation process, and especially the intellectual context in which Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was written and interpreted. The result is a very ...
More
This book has examined the texts, the translation process, and especially the intellectual context in which Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was written and interpreted. The result is a very different picture, not only of Heinrich Georg Bronn and Ernst Haeckel but also of the older morphology with which they were associated. This new picture of Haeckel has implications for our understanding of later developments in evolution and evolutionary thought and sheds new light on his conflicts over “mechanistic” and experimental approaches to embryology, particularly with Wilhelm His or Wilhelm Roux, and with August Weismann. Haeckel’s dispute with Weismann to define and defend Darwinism persisted into the twentieth century.Less
This book has examined the texts, the translation process, and especially the intellectual context in which Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was written and interpreted. The result is a very different picture, not only of Heinrich Georg Bronn and Ernst Haeckel but also of the older morphology with which they were associated. This new picture of Haeckel has implications for our understanding of later developments in evolution and evolutionary thought and sheds new light on his conflicts over “mechanistic” and experimental approaches to embryology, particularly with Wilhelm His or Wilhelm Roux, and with August Weismann. Haeckel’s dispute with Weismann to define and defend Darwinism persisted into the twentieth century.
Sander Gliboff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262072939
- eISBN:
- 9780262273923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262072939.003.0018
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the continuities and discontinuities from pre- to post-Darwinian biology in Germany and situates Heinrich Georg Bronn and Ernst Haeckel in between. It first describes the ...
More
This chapter examines the continuities and discontinuities from pre- to post-Darwinian biology in Germany and situates Heinrich Georg Bronn and Ernst Haeckel in between. It first describes the pre-Darwinian period and shows that early-nineteenth-century German biology was more than just about morphology, and that morphology was more than just about transcendentalism. It then considers the growth and diversification of natural history collections during the nineteenth century, along with the proliferation of comparative studies of anatomy and embryology. It offers a new interpretation of pre-Darwinian (and especially pre-Baerian) thought on evolution and morphology and looks at the common interests between Charles Darwin and the German scientists. In addition, the chapter discusses Bronn and Haeckel’s concern with establishing a Wissenschaft of life as well as their applications of Darwinism; the views of Immanuel Kant and Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer on the complexity of life; Johann Friedrich Meckel’s system of recapitulational embryology; and Karl Ernst von Baer’s work on descriptive embryology.Less
This chapter examines the continuities and discontinuities from pre- to post-Darwinian biology in Germany and situates Heinrich Georg Bronn and Ernst Haeckel in between. It first describes the pre-Darwinian period and shows that early-nineteenth-century German biology was more than just about morphology, and that morphology was more than just about transcendentalism. It then considers the growth and diversification of natural history collections during the nineteenth century, along with the proliferation of comparative studies of anatomy and embryology. It offers a new interpretation of pre-Darwinian (and especially pre-Baerian) thought on evolution and morphology and looks at the common interests between Charles Darwin and the German scientists. In addition, the chapter discusses Bronn and Haeckel’s concern with establishing a Wissenschaft of life as well as their applications of Darwinism; the views of Immanuel Kant and Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer on the complexity of life; Johann Friedrich Meckel’s system of recapitulational embryology; and Karl Ernst von Baer’s work on descriptive embryology.
