Article ID: CBB016206696

René-Edouard Claparède (1832–1871), Genevan naturalist and early adopter of Darwin's theory of evolution (2023)

unapi

René-Edouard Claparède was a ground-breaking Swiss naturalist specializing primarily in invertebrate embryology and the study of Protista and Annelida. While a student in Berlin he was encouraged by Christian Ehrenberg to use the latest microscopes and became renowned as a skilful observer and illustrator of the smallest organisms then known and of tiny anatomical details. A popular lecturer in zoology and comparative anatomy in his home town of Geneva, he nonetheless encountered difficulties in that city, still considered the “Protestant Rome”, due to his strong support for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. His involvement in the first French translation of On the origin of species (Darwin 1862) proved problematic too, although his remark, “It is better to be an improved ape than a degenerate Adam,” became a catchphrase in discussions of this contentious debate. Premature death meant that Claparède's work was quickly surpassed in many areas, but the diversity of his many publications, given here in the most complete bibliography compiled to date, is a testament to a widely respected, although overshadowed, naturalist.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB016206696/

Similar Citations

Article Kathryn Tabb; (2016)
Darwin at Orchis Bank: Selection after the Origin (/isis/citation/CBB704610076/)

Article Hooker, Cliff; (2013)
Georg Simmel and Naturalist Interactivist Epistemology of Science (/isis/citation/CBB001320260/)

Article Rieppel, Olivier; Williams, David M.; Ebach, Malte C.; (2013)
Adolf Naef (1883--1949): On Foundational Concepts and Principles of Systematic Morphology (/isis/citation/CBB001320041/)

Article Anderson, Lyall I.; Lowe, Mathew; (2010)
Charles W. Peach and Darwin's Barnacles (/isis/citation/CBB001231387/)

Article Thierry Hoquet; (2021)
Pluralizing Darwin: Making Counter-Factual History of Science Significant (/isis/citation/CBB581465929/)

Book Grosz, Elizabeth; (2011)
Becoming Undone: Darwinian Reflections on Life, Politics, and Art (/isis/citation/CBB001221153/)

Book Sober, Elliott; (2011)
Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards? Philosophical Essays on Darwin's Theory (/isis/citation/CBB001230081/)

Article Alter, Stephen G.; (2007)
Darwin's Artificial Selection Analogy and the Generic Character of “Phyletic” Evolution (/isis/citation/CBB000831352/)

Article Derek Partridge; (2018)
Darwin’s Two Theories, 1844 and 1859 (/isis/citation/CBB074913080/)

Article Holterhoff, Kate; (2014)
The History and Reception of Charles Darwin's Hypothesis of Pangenesis (/isis/citation/CBB001422092/)

Essay Review Ana Barahona; (2016)
Non-Darwinian Evolutionary Thought in the 19th Century (/isis/citation/CBB575980081/)

Article Chancellor, Gordon; (2015)
Levels of Selection in Darwin's Origin of Species (/isis/citation/CBB001510219/)

Article Richards, Robert J.; (2012)
Darwin's Principles of Divergence and Natural Selection: Why Fodor Was Almost Right (/isis/citation/CBB001221609/)

Article Theunissen, Bert; (2012)
Darwin and His Pigeons. The Analogy Between Artificial and Natural Selection Revisited (/isis/citation/CBB001221001/)

Authors & Contributors
Alter, Stephen G.
Anderson, Lyall I.
Barahona, Ana Echeverría
Canseco, Juan
Chancellor, Gordon
Ebach, Malte C.
Journals
Journal of the History of Biology
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology
Archives of Natural History
Journal for General Philosophy of Science
Publishers
Duke University Press
Liguori Editore
Prometheus Books
World Scientific
Concepts
Evolution
Natural selection
Naturalists
Darwinism
Science and religion
Biology
People
Darwin, Charles Robert
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Lorenz, Konrad
Naef, Adolf
Ruskin, John
Simmel, Georg
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
Places
Great Britain
Germany
Malay; Malaysia
Switzerland
Scotland
Institutions
Linnean Society of London
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment