Karl Ernst von Baer.

Karl Ernst von Baer (February 17, 1792 - November 26, 1876) was a Baltic German biologist and a founding father of embryology. Karl Ernst von Baer http://www. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The Baltic Germans (Baltendeutsche, Balten, and Deutschbalten respectively), were the ethnically German inhabitants of that area on the Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea which forms today the countries of Estonia and Latvia. ... A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of organisms. ... Embryology is the subdivision of developmental biology that studies embryos and their development. ...

Life

Karl Ernst von Baer was born in Piibe, Estonia, many of his ancestors had come from Westphalia. A knight by birthright, his full name was Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer, Edler von Huthorn. He was educated at the Cathedral School in Reval (Tallinn) and the University of Dorpat (Tartu). He continued his education in Berlin, Vienna, and Würzburg where Döllinger introduced him to the new field of embryology. In 1817, he became a professor at Königsberg University (Kaliningrad) and full professor of zoology in 1821, and of anatomy in 1826. In 1829 he taught briefly in St Petersburg, but returned to Königsberg. In 1834 Baer moved back to St Petersburg and joined the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, first in zoology (1834-46) and then in comparative anatomy and physiology (1846-62). His interests while there were anatomy, ichthyology, ethnography, anthropology and geography. The last years of his life (1867-76) were spent in Dorpat (Tartu), where he became one of the leading critics of the theories of Charles Darwin. Westphalia (in German, Westfalen) is a (historic) region in Germany, centred on the cities of Dortmund, Münster, Bielefeld, and Osnabrück and now included in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia (and the (south-)west of Lower Saxony). ... The city of Tallinn is the capital city and main seaport of Estonia. ... The University of Tartu (Estonian: Tartu Ülikool, German: Universität Dorpat) is the national university of Estonia, and the one classical university in Estonia, located in the city of Tartu. ...   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ... The Königsberg University Albertina was opened in 1544 by Albrecht or Albert of Brandenburg Prussia, first duke of a Protestant Prussia. ... Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... Anatomical drawing of the human muscles from the Encyclopédie. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in organisms. ... Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ... Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish. ... Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphein = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Charles Darwin in 1854, five years prior to the publication of The Origin of Species Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809–19 April 1882) was a British naturalist who achieved lasting fame as originator of the theory of evolution through natural selection. ...

A statue honouring him can be found on Toome Hill (Toomemägi) in Tartu. The two kroons (2 krooni) Estonian banknote bears his portrait. The Kroon is the official currency of Estonia. ...

Contributions

Karl Ernst von Baer.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (650x747, 80 KB) Subject : Karl von Baer (1792-1876) German biologist, father of embryology. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (650x747, 80 KB) Subject : Karl von Baer (1792-1876) German biologist, father of embryology. ...

Embryology

He studied the embryonal development of animals, discovering the blastula stage of development and the notochord. Together with Heinz Christian Pander and based on the work by Caspar Friedrich Wolff he described the germ-layer theory of development (ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm)as a principle in a variety of species laying the foundation for comparative embryology in the book Über Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere (1828). In 1826 Baer discovered the mammalian ovum. The first human ovum was described by Allen in 1928.(1) In 1827 he published "Ovi Mammalium et Hominis genesi" and established that mammals develop from eggs. The notochord consists of a rod of cells situated on the ventral aspect of the neural tube; it constitutes the foundation of the axial skeleton, since around it the segments of the vertebral column are formed. ... Caspar Friedrich Wolff (January 18, 1734 _ February 22, 1794) was a significant German anatomist. ... The ectoderm is outermost of the three germ layers of the developing embryo, the other two being the mesoderm and the endoderm. ... Mesoderm is one of the three germ layers in the early developing embryo, the other two layers being the ectoderm and the endoderm. ... The endoderm is one of the three germ layers of the developing embryo, the other two being the ectoderm and the mesoderm. ... 1826 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A human ovum An ovum (also oocyte, ovocyte, or loosely, egg or egg cell) is a female sex cell or gamete. ... 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Baer's laws

He formulated what would later be called the Baer's laws for embryology:

1. The general characters of the group to which an embryo belongs appear in development earlier than the special characters.
2. The less general structural relations are formed after the more general, and so on, until the most specific appear.
3. The embryo of any given form, instead of passing through the state of other definite forms, on the contrary, separates itself from them.
4. Fundamentally the embryo of a higher animal form never resembles the adult of another animal form, but only its embryo.

Anthropology

At St Petersburg, Baer established an extensive skull collection and became a proponent and contributor to the (pseudo)science of craniology. This article needs cleanup. ...

Explorer

Baer was interested in the Northern part of Russia and explored Novaya Zemlya in 1837 collecting biologic specimen. Other travels led him to the Caspian Sea, the North Cape, and Lapland. He was a founder and the first president of the Russian Geographical Society. Novaya Zemlyas position on the map The archipelago of Novaya Zemlya (Russian: Но́вая Земля́, New Land; formerly known as Nova Zembla) consists of two major islands in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia, separated by the narrow Matochkin Strait, and a number of smaller ones. ... Caspian Sea viewed from orbit The Caspian Sea or Mazandaran Sea is a landlocked sea between Asia and Europe (European Russia). ... North Cape is the name of several capes: North Cape is a cape in Prince Edward Island, Canada North Cape is a cape in northern New Zealand North Cape is a cape in northern Norway, also known as Nordkapp The North Cape was a barge which ran aground in Rhode... Languages Sami, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Russian Area - Population  - Sami  - Non-Sami - (Year) - (Year) Independence None¹ Time zone UTC +1 to +3 ¹/ Integrated parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia respectively, but with varying degrees of autonomy for the Sami population. ...

Entomology

Baer contibuted to studies in entomology and was a cofounder of the Russian Entomological Society. Entomology is the scientific study of insects. ...

Evolution

Baer was evolutionist, however critical towards Darwin's theory. Baer has established a major alternative to the darwinian paradigm in biology.

Subjective biology

Baer was a pioneer in studying biological time - the perception of time in different organisms. This approach was further developed by Jakob von Uexküll. Jakob von Uexküll (September 8, 1864 - July 25, 1944) was an Estonian biologist who had important achievements in the fields of muscular physiology and the cybernetics of life. ...

References

1. Wood C, Trounson A. Clinical In Vitro Fertilization. Springer-verlag, berlin 1984, page 6.
2. Medical eponyms

External links

• Short biography of K.E.v.Baer
• Estonian banknotes