Ernst Haeckel (born February 16, 1834 died August 9, 1919) was a German biologist, physician, and professor. He coined several terms still used today such as: phylum, phylogeny, stem cell, and ecology. After r
Ernst Haeckel
eading Darwin's Origin of Species, Haeckel became one of the more well known and outspoken people to publically support the theory of evolution. Altough Heackel was a supporter of the theory of evolution, he did not support the theory of natural selection. Today he would be viewed more as an evolutionist, and less as a Darwinian. Haeckel is best known for his controversial "law of recapitulation".
Law of Recapitulation[]
Although Haeckel supported Darwin's theory of evolution, he did not support his theory of natural selection. Haeckel stressed the inheritance of acquired traits and proposed the idea of recapitulation. Recapitulation is a belief that early embryos of different species resemble each other. His theory was quoted as "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny". Haeckel believed that the human embryo first shows characteristics of a fish, then a reptile, then a human. This theory was Haeckel's most famous, but has since been found untrue and discredited.
References[]
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/haeckel.html
Pappas, S. (2013, September). Haekel, ernst (1834-1919) . Retrieved from http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Haekel.html