Ernst Haeckel e il “rompicapo” dello sviluppo embrionale tra arte e scienza

Abstract

Every biological form can be explained as the product of two different processes: the development from the egg (also known as “ontogenesis”) and the evolution from the ancestors (the “phylogenesis”). Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionism, recognized the importance of both processes to explain the variety of living creatures and their relationship, but only a few of his followers were aware of this theoretical connection. In this article we will try to understand how the evolutionist scientist Ernst Haeckel elaborate his embryological theories and, in particular, the well-known “theory of recapitulation”, also known as “biogenetic law”. Furthermore, we will try to discover the value of his famous drawings (real icons of embryological knowledge) and to recognize their philosophical references.