Who was Haeckel, and what was his theory?
Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was an extremely influential German scientist. He had an enviable reputation as a comparative embryologist, but his primary claim to fame was that he was an early adopter of Darwin’s theory who used the evidence of embryology to support evolution. Wells is quite correct to mention the importance of Haeckel in 19th century biology. There is no doubt that his efforts to popularize the theory were important in giving evolution credibility in the scientific establishment, and to laymen as well. Darwin and Haeckel met and corresponded, and each influenced the theories of the other strongly. However, Haeckel’s theories owed an even greater debt to an earlier philosophical tradition, in particular the work of Goethe and Lamarck. Although Darwin was appreciative of Haeckel’s support for natural selection, he was also tentative in using Haeckel’s ideas in his writings; Darwin relied far more on von Baer’s embryological data to support common descent. Furthermore, Haeck
