A Conceptual History of Modern Embryology: Volume 7: A Conceptual History of Modern Embryology (Developmental Biology (7))

"Glory to the science of embryology!" So Johannes Holtfreter closed his letter to this editor when he granted permission to publish his article in this volume. And glory there is: glory in the phenomenon of animals developing their complex morphologies from fertilized eggs, and glory in the efforts of a relatively small group of scientists to understand these wonderful events. Embryology is unique among the biological disciplines, for it denies the hegemony of the adult and sees value (indeed, more value) in the stages that lead up to the fully developed organism. It seeks the origin, and not merely the maintenance, of the body. And if embryology is the study of the embryo as seen over time, the history of embryology is a second-order derivative, seeing how the study of embryos changes over time. As Jane Oppenheimer pointed out, "Sci­ ence, like life itself, indeed like history, itself, is a historical phenomenon. It can build itself only out of its past. " Thus, there are several ways in which embryology and the history of embryology are similar. Each takes a current stage of a developing entity and seeks to explain the paths that brought it to its present condition. Indeed, embryology used to be called Entwicklungsgeschichte, the developmental history of the organism. Both embryology and its history interpret the interplay between internal factors and external agents in the causation of new processes and events. "Glory to the science of embryology!" So Johannes Holtfreter closed his letter to this editor when he granted permission to publish his article in this volume. And glory there is: glory in the phenomenon of animals developing their complex morphologies from fertilized eggs, and glory in the efforts of a relatively small group of scientists to understand these wonderful events. Embryology is unique among the biological disciplines, for it denies the hegemony of the adult and sees value (indeed, more value) in the stages that lead up to the fully developed organism. It seeks the origin, and not merely the maintenance, of the body. And if embryology is the study of the embryo as seen over time, the history of embryology is a second-order derivative, seeing how the study of embryos changes over time. As Jane Oppenheimer pointed out, "SciƯ ence, like life itself, indeed like history, itself, is a historical phenomenon. It can build itself only out of its past." Thus, there are several ways in which embryology and the history of embryology are similar. Each takes a current stage of a developing entity and seeks to explain the paths that brought it to its present condition. Indeed, embryology used to be called Entwicklungsgeschichte, the developmental history of the organism. Both embryology and its history interpret the interplay between internal factors and external agents in the causation of new processes and events Front Matter....Pages i-xiv The Rise of Classical Descriptive Embryology....Pages 1-29 Laurent Chabry and the Beginnings of Experimental Embryology in France....Pages 31-41 The Origins of Entwicklungsmechanik ....Pages 43-61 Curt Herbst’s Contributions to the Concept of Embryonic Induction....Pages 63-89 Spemann Seen through a Lens....Pages 91-108 Reminiscences on the Life and Work of Johannes Holtfreter....Pages 109-127 The Conceptual and Experimental Foundations of Vertebrate Embryonic Cell Adhesion Research....Pages 129-158 The Philosophical Background of Joseph Needham’s Work in Chemical Embryology....Pages 159-180 Induction and the Origins of Developmental Genetics....Pages 181-206 Boris Ephrussi and the Synthesis of Genetics and Embryology....Pages 207-227 Concepts of Organization the Leverage of Ciliate Protozoa....Pages 229-258 Back Matter....Pages 259-266