- Richard Hertwig
Richard Wilhelm Karl Theodor Ritter von Hertwig (
September 23 ,1850 -October 3 ,1937 ), also Richard Hertwig or Richard von Hertwig, was a Germanzoologist and professor of 50 years, notable as the first to describezygote formation as the fusing ofspermatozoa inside the membrane of an egg cell during fertilization. "Richard von Hertwig - Wikipedia" (German), German Wikipedia, 2006-10-29, de.wikipedia.org webpage: GermanWP-Richard_von_Hertwig.] Richard Hertwig was the younger brother ofOskar Hertwig , who also analyzed zygote formation. The two Hertwig brothers worked together until 1883 (more at:Oskar Hertwig ).]The Hertwig brothers were the most eminent scholars of
Ernst Haeckel (andCarl Gegenbaur ), each brother becoming a long-term professor inGermany . They were independent of Haeckel's philosophical speculations but took his ideas in a positive way to widen their concepts inzoology . Initially, between 1879-1883, they worked together and performedembryological studies, especially on the theory of thecoelom (1881). These problems were based on thephylogenetic theorems of Haeckel, specifically, the "biogenic theory " ( _de. biogenetisches Grundgesetz) and the "gastraea theory " of Haeckel.Within 10 years, the two brothers moved apart to the north and south of
Germany . Richard's brother Oskar later became a professor ofanatomy in 1888 inBerlin ; however, Richard Hertwig had moved 3 years prior, becoming a professor of zoology inMunich from 1885-1925, atLudwig Maximilians University , where he served the last 40 years of his 50-year career as a professor at 4 universities.The later research of Richard Hertwig focused on
protist s (with the relationship between the nucleus and the plasma = "Kern-Plasma-Relation"), as well as on developmental physiological studies onsea urchin s andfrog s. Richard Hertwig also wrote a leading textbook of zoology, published in 1891.Life
Hertwig was born in Friedberg in the
Grand Duchy of Hesse . He began studying medicine at theUniversity of Jena , and under the influence of professorErnst Haeckel (16 years older), he shifted his interest more tozoology andbiology .In 1872, he received a doctorate at theUniversity of Bonn and worked there as an assistant to anatomistMax Schultze . In 1875, he moved to theUniversity of Jena in the Department of Zoology, and in 1878, Hertwig became extraordinary professor there.As a successor of
Franz Hermann Troschel , Richard Hertwig was appointed in 1881 to theUniversity of Königsberg as a professor of zoology. In 1883, he moved to the same role as professor at theUniversity of Bonn , where he remained only a short while, however, since in 1885, he was called to theLudwig Maximilians University inMunich , where Hertwig remained until 1925, also working as a director of the zoological institute and director/conductor of the zoological national collection.Hertwig belonged to the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences ,beginning in 1885, as an extraordinary member, and then starting in 1889 as a full member.Hertwig died on
October 3 ,1937 inSchlederlohe ,Germany .His pupil
Otto Koehler became one of the founders ofEthology inGermany .Research
At the beginning of his career, Richard Hertwig worked along with his brother,
Oskar Hertwig .Together they developed, in 1881, theCoelom Theory (German: "Coelomtheorie"), of the fluid-filled body cavity (the "coelom"), as an explanation of the middle Keimblatts, which brought important realizations in the field ofembryology .The theory assumes that all organs and tissues develop differently from three primary tissue layers, during animalembryogenesis .Hertwig worked systematically on several groups of
protozoa andmetazoa (German: "Wirbellosen") and provided fundamental work on the development of animals. His contributions are most well-known toprotozoa research.Hertwig was also first, on the basis of examining
sea urchin s, to have discovered and explained thezygote fertilization process for the first time correctly as a fusion of egg andspermatozoon (sperm cell) penetrating the egg membrane. Later, Hertwig examined the effect of radium jets, along with his children Günther and Paula, for animal germ cells.Publications
* "Das Nervensystem und die Sinnesorgane der Medusen", 1878 ("The nervous system and the sensory organs of the Medusa").
* "Die Actinien", 1879.
* "Chätognathien", 1880.
* "Die Coelomtheorie: Versuch einer Erklärung des mittleren Keimblattes",Jena , 1881 ("The Coelom Theory. Attempt of an explanation of the middle Keimblattes").
* "Lehrbuch der Zoologie",Jena , 1891 ("Textbook of Zoology").
* "Abstammungslehre und neuere Biologie", 1927 ("Descending teachings and newer biology").Notes
References
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External links
* [http://www.google.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_von_Hertwig Auto-translation of German-WP page for "Richard von Hertwig"] .
* German-WP page for "Richard von Hertwig"
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* [http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/library/data/lit38321 Photograph of Richard von Hertwig, 1894] in theVirtual Laboratory of theMax Planck Institute for the History of Science
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