What to make of all this commentary on Haeckel?(Ernst Haeckel)(Editorial) From: The American Biology Teacher | Date: March 1, 2007| Author: | COPYRIGHT 2007 National Association of Biology Teachers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Ernst Haeckel's doctrine of embryonic recapitulation (that ontogeny provides a brief review of phylogeny) seems a harmless enough topic; however, few biologists have remained neutral to it (Blackwell, 2001). Haeckel's idea has historically received more attention than one might expect, and discussion has continued (Pickett et al., 2005). Controversy centers on Haeckel's (1874) drawings of various vertebrate embryos, composed partly from memory. Though not mentioned by Pickett et al. (2005), Haeckel initially stated his theory of recapitulation ("biogenetic law") in 1866 (see ...