48 ~ ONE HUMAN FAMILY
conviction that the morphological differences between them are much more important than those by which, for instance, the various species of bears, wolves, or cats are distinguished in the zoological system.”
But then, that should not surprise us. Most of the German scientists of the time also rejected evolution. From an admiring biography of Haeckel comes the following:
“Darwin’s ominous book [Origin of Species] had been available in Bronn’s translation for two years. The German professional zoologists, botanists and geologists almost all regarded it [Darwin’s theory] as absolute nonsense. Agassiz, Geibel, Keferstein, and so many others, laughed until they were red in the face...”31
Despite this failure to impress scientists, Haeckel’s books, aimed at lay audiences, became hugely popular. They were laced with all manner of visual and literary deceit in addition to his faked embryo diagrams; for example, drawings and detailed descriptions of a whole group of creatures (the so-called Monera) that never existed. Also, a depiction of a similarly non-existent ‘speechless ape-man’ (hence his name for it, Pithecanthropus alalus).32
It is not unrealistic to suggest that through his books,
he was almost single-handedly responsible, far and above any other individual factor, for turning Germany into an evolution- believing country.
The rise of Social Darwinism following the acceptance of evolutionary biology caused a resurgence of antisemitism, too. A book by two BBC journalists about the history of philosophy
31. Bölsche, W. Haeckel—his life and work,
1906.Translated by Joseph McCabe (1867–1955) Philadelphia, George W. Jacobs & Co. Publishers, p. 138. 32. Grigg, R, Ernst Haeckel: Evangelist for evolution and apostle of deceit, Creation 18(2):33–36, 1996,
creation.com/haeckel.
Ernst Haeckel in
1860, aged 26. Public domain
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17