The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel. 40th Ed

Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) was a German biologist, naturalist, artist, philosopher, and physician who dedicated his life to exploring the animal and plant worlds from the highest mountain peaks to the deepest oceans. As a passionate advocate and developer of Darwin's theories, he wrote philosophical treatises, earned a doctorate in zoology, and coined scientific terms that have entered everyday language, such as ecology and stem cell. Like the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, Haeckel sought not only to discover but also to explain. To this end, he created hundreds of detailed drawings, watercolors, and sketches of his research findings, which he published in several volumes in the 19th and 20th centuries, including a series of marine biological monographs and his magnificent Art Forms of Nature, which can be seen as a summary of his life's work. The prints were not only significant for natural research but also influenced generations of artists and architects in the 20th century, particularly those associated with the Art Nouveau movement. This volume showcases 300 of his most beautiful plates from his most famous work, Art Forms of Nature, and from the marine biological atlases The Radiolarians, Monograph of the Jellyfish, and The Calcareous Sponges: A Monograph. In a time when biodiversity is increasingly threatened by human actions, this book is not only a visual delight but also a poignant reminder of the importance of the diversity of life.