Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1493

KARL ERNST VON BAER (1792-1876) De ovi mammalium et hominis genesi. Sumptibus L. Vossii 1827 [4] 40 [1] pp., col. plate. 27.5 cm.

Baer was an early pioneer of modern embryology who, through painstaking and patient effort, investigated germ cell lineage of a variety of species, firmly establishing embryology as a comparative science. It was during his professorship at Königsberg that Baer wrote this most significant work, describing for the first time the mammalian ovum. In this epoch-making book Baer also made reference to the germ layer theory, suggested the similarity of the early stages of embryonic development in related species, and observed the first rudiment of the dorsal spine, later called the notochord. He broadened and confirmed his findings and observations in Über Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere (see No. 1494). Baer is also considered to be one of the founders of modern morphology as a result of his work in comparative embryology.

See Related Record(s): 1494

Cited references: Cushing B23; Garrison-Morton 477; Waller 594

Gift of John Martin, M.D.