The Tragic Sense of Life: Ernst Haeckel and the Struggle over Evolutionary Thought. By Robert J. Richards. Chicago and London:The University of Chicago Press. 2008. Pp. xx þ 551. Cloth $39.00.

摘要

Robert J. Richards’s outstanding new biography of Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919)nshould be of much interest to all scholars of modern German history, above allnbecause it addresses head-on a number of allegations concerning the relationshipnof Haeckel’s thought to the rise of Nazism. If Richards is Haeckel’s defender, henhas much reason to be so: until now, scientists and their historians have portrayed Haeckel as, at best, a mere epigone and popularizer (Darwin’s bulldog innGermany), and, at worst, as a fraud, an ideologue, and a forerunner of thenNazis. This impressive biography rehabilitates Haeckel as a scientist andndefends him against charges of having contributed to the rise of the ThirdnReich.