Ernst Haeckel and the Beauty of Science

Ernst Haeckel, the 19th century German biologist, physician and naturalist, discovered and named thousands of new animal species over a lifetime of work and travels.  Through his work in zoology and evolution, he introduced important  terms such as stem cell, phylum and Protista, he also created stunningly beautiful images of the new scientific worlds he studied.

Haeckel as an artist created flamboyant images of the natural world and as a scientist and public figure, he was no less colorful.  One of the earliest proponents in Europe of Darwinism and the evolution of man, Professor Haeckel shocked the scientific community by announcing that man’s ancestors (whose remains were yet to be discovered) would be found in Indonesia.  He challenged his students to a globe-trotting quest of being the first to find the ‘missing link’.  In 1891 one of his students Eugene Dubois would unearth Java Man in the very region Haeckel had predicted.

Haeckel’s amazing illustrations, over 100 colorized images in all, are part of a hidden heritage of science that is both beautiful and revealing.  As an image resource, Pictoscope hopes to help uncover these historic works for today’s students and researchers.  Better understanding the lengths that the men and women of the past went to in their quest for knowledge and learning is easily perceived through past publications that often included artwork, illustrations and images of every description.

Through the vivid artwork created by Ernst Haeckel, the beauty of science and the natural world is rediscovered through Pictoscope and its visual discovery services.