Darwin's Corals: A New Model of Evolution and the Tradition of Natural History

Horst Bredekamp

Published by De Gruyter 2019

Darwin's Corals

A New Model of Evolution and the Tradition of Natural History

Horst Bredekamp

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110680317

Overview
Contents

About this book

To this day Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory of the "survival of the fittest" has been visualized with the universal model of a tree of life. But early on in Darwin’s thinking the coral provided a fascinating alternative to the tree as a depiction of the evolution of the species.

Horst Bredekamp shows how Darwin, a coral enthusiast and collector, found in it a more adequate illustration of evolution through natural selection: It grows anarchically in all directions and no longer upholds mankind as the "crown of creation." Using this example Darwin is proving himself to be both a destroyer and consummator of traditional natural philosophy. Since antiquity the coral had been a symbol of nature as a whole.

Author / Editor information

Horst Bredekamp, Humboldt University Berlin.

Supplementary Materials

Bildnachweise

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface to the English Edition Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface(2005) Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
I. The Find (1834) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
II. From tree to coral (1837) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
III. Strickland’s alternatives (1840) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
IV. From the circle drawings to the diagram (1851–1858) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
V. The fold-out diagram in the Origin of Species (1859) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
VI. Coral: Tradition and Encounter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
Conclusion: The lure of the “endless” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Picture Credits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics (history of art, visual sciences, philosophy, cultural studies)
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 118
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 45
Keywords: Evolution; Kunst; Biologie; Darwin

eBook

Published: September 23, 2019
ISBN: 9783110680317

Hardcover

Published: September 23, 2019
ISBN: 9783110643343