EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -150 years ago, in 1866, Ernst Haeckel published a book in two volumes called “Generelle Morphologie der Organismen” (General Morphology of Organisms) in which he formulated his biogenetic law, famously stating that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.

Detailed explanation-2: -The biogenetic law is a theory of development and evolution proposed by Ernst Haeckel in Germany in the 1860s. It is one of several recapitulation theories, which posit that the stages of development for an animal embryo are the same as other animals’ adult stages or forms.

Detailed explanation-3: -Biography of Haeckel Although best known for the famous statement “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", he also coined many words commonly used by biologists today, such as phylum, phylogeny, and ecology. On the other hand, Haeckel also stated that “politics is applied biology", a quote used by Nazi propagandists.

Detailed explanation-4: -biogenetic law, also called Recapitulation Theory, postulation, by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny-i.e., the development of the animal embryo and young traces the evolutionary development of the species.

Detailed explanation-5: -Despite von Baer’s objections to Haeckel’s biogenetic law and recapitulation in general, the biogenetic law persisted in biology until the turn of the twentieth century when new experimental and comparative evidence rendered it untenable.