Ernst Haeckel: Kunstformen der Natur 1899-1904
September 30, 2009 11:03 AM Subscribe
Google translation: This electronic edition was created using an original edition of the Haeckel'schen work, which kindly provided by Prof. Dr. von Sengbusch was made available. All the panels were at a resolution of 300 dpi and scanned 16 million colors. The scanning was conducted with great care not to damage the bound original. Therefore I ask your understanding if see large at the edges of a small shadow is created.
Background: Ernst Haeckel was an eminent German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology, including phylum, phylogeny, ecology and the kingdom Protista. Haeckel promoted and popularized Charles Darwin's work in Germany and developed the controversial recapitulation theory ("ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny") claiming that an individual organism's biological development, or ontogeny, parallels and summarizes its species' entire evolutionary development, or phylogeny.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:13 AM on September 30, 2009
Background: Ernst Haeckel was an eminent German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology, including phylum, phylogeny, ecology and the kingdom Protista. Haeckel promoted and popularized Charles Darwin's work in Germany and developed the controversial recapitulation theory ("ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny") claiming that an individual organism's biological development, or ontogeny, parallels and summarizes its species' entire evolutionary development, or phylogeny.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:13 AM on September 30, 2009
This are on Wikipedia? Commons? and downloadable in a decent res. I've lost the link but yes, absolutely gorgeous.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:21 AM on September 30, 2009
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:21 AM on September 30, 2009
Yes, they are indeed available through wikipedia
posted by sciencegeek at 11:29 AM on September 30, 2009
posted by sciencegeek at 11:29 AM on September 30, 2009
That would be infinite recursion, nickyskye.
Disclaimer: I am a computer scientist.
posted by krilli at 11:42 AM on September 30, 2009
Disclaimer: I am a computer scientist.
posted by krilli at 11:42 AM on September 30, 2009
ich vermisse die altdeutsche Schrift. Warum muss alles heute so langweilig sein?
posted by dunkadunc at 11:50 AM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by dunkadunc at 11:50 AM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
beautiful stuff.
nota bene, the famed "animal embryo" drawings, which were formerly (as in, 1917 or so) cited to advance "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," are known to have been fudged to look more similar than they appear to our 20th century cameras.
This is one of those concerns people should have about referencing older scientific materials as science-the discipline will always be in flux and may have disproven a study or advanced so far beyond the state of knowledge available in the older period to make published materials from that period nonsensical.
posted by eustatic at 11:59 AM on September 30, 2009
nota bene, the famed "animal embryo" drawings, which were formerly (as in, 1917 or so) cited to advance "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," are known to have been fudged to look more similar than they appear to our 20th century cameras.
This is one of those concerns people should have about referencing older scientific materials as science-the discipline will always be in flux and may have disproven a study or advanced so far beyond the state of knowledge available in the older period to make published materials from that period nonsensical.
posted by eustatic at 11:59 AM on September 30, 2009
I now have a few of these on the walls of my office, thanks to sciencegeek's suggestion in an AskMe I posted seeking sciencey eyecandy for my office.
posted by not_on_display at 12:16 PM on September 30, 2009
posted by not_on_display at 12:16 PM on September 30, 2009
oh but wait, it gets even better...
Haekel's artistic interpretation of the biological forms he studied have a clarity of symmetry and detail that has been a source of inspiration for many artists and engineers over the years. They provide the perfect subject matter for the Fractal Explorer plugin.
yes. Haekel. Fractals.
posted by sexyrobot at 12:24 PM on September 30, 2009 [2 favorites]
Haekel's artistic interpretation of the biological forms he studied have a clarity of symmetry and detail that has been a source of inspiration for many artists and engineers over the years. They provide the perfect subject matter for the Fractal Explorer plugin.
yes. Haekel. Fractals.
posted by sexyrobot at 12:24 PM on September 30, 2009 [2 favorites]
Here is the double to which Nickyskye intended to refer.
Still, this is lovely stuff.
posted by sciencegeek at 12:26 PM on September 30, 2009
Still, this is lovely stuff.
posted by sciencegeek at 12:26 PM on September 30, 2009
If he is so smart how come he doesn't know English?
posted by Postroad at 12:51 PM on September 30, 2009
posted by Postroad at 12:51 PM on September 30, 2009
Fun fact: The metadata in the PDF gives its title as Las Aventuras de Tom Bombadil, author JRR Tolkein.
posted by adamrice at 1:16 PM on September 30, 2009
posted by adamrice at 1:16 PM on September 30, 2009
Thanks sciencegeek for correcting my double comment.
posted by nickyskye at 2:40 PM on September 30, 2009
posted by nickyskye at 2:40 PM on September 30, 2009
Two of my good friends have Haeckel tattoos. They're married; she has an orchid [original] and he has a brittle star [of which I can't find a photo].
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:06 PM on September 30, 2009
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:06 PM on September 30, 2009
sexyrobot: Wow, Fractal Explorer Orbit Trapping is cool stuff. And, that plugin plus the Häckel illustrations of trilobites and isopods and the like some sort of Lovecraft monster construction kit. I think I could give myself nightmares with this.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:39 PM on September 30, 2009
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:39 PM on September 30, 2009
There's also a new biography of Haeckel, out now in paperback.
posted by cRamsay at 4:16 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by cRamsay at 4:16 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
It's actually like a quadruple or something by now. Deserves every repost it gets, imho.
posted by mediareport at 7:37 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by mediareport at 7:37 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
Yep, this is one of those subjects that is worth reposting now and then.
See also: Scott Draves' sampling/isolation of individual illustrations derived from Kunstformen der Natur. Excellent large image files.
posted by peacay at 9:34 PM on September 30, 2009
See also: Scott Draves' sampling/isolation of individual illustrations derived from Kunstformen der Natur. Excellent large image files.
posted by peacay at 9:34 PM on September 30, 2009
Also previously: Ernst Haeckel: Die Radiolarien.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:27 AM on October 1, 2009
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:27 AM on October 1, 2009
I posted all these images to flickr a while back, and boy do people love their Haeckel:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/origomi/sets/72157601323433758/
I find a lot of inspiration in this work, and it's always pleasing to know others do too.
(and I have to say that if I found a woman with a Haeckel tattoo I would marry her in a heartbeat.)
posted by EricGjerde at 1:25 AM on October 1, 2009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/origomi/sets/72157601323433758/
I find a lot of inspiration in this work, and it's always pleasing to know others do too.
(and I have to say that if I found a woman with a Haeckel tattoo I would marry her in a heartbeat.)
posted by EricGjerde at 1:25 AM on October 1, 2009
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posted by found missing at 11:05 AM on September 30, 2009