Abstract
This paper raises the general question of whether there are any national peculiarities that characterize the scientific and philosophical roots of Russian-language evolutionary developmental biology. The researchers and theories are surveyed which, with hindsight, have been crucial for the Russian tradition when it comes to general methodological principles and constituting concepts. Based on published works and archival documents the main concepts of the "founding fathers" of the Russian tradition with their "Western analogues" are compared. The focus is on A. O. Kowalevsky (1840-1901), I. I. Metschnikov (1945-1916), A. N. Sewertzoff (1866-1936), I. I. Schmalhausen (1884-1963) and the parallelisms between them and E. Haeckel (1834-1919), V. Franz (1883-1950), and C. H. Waddington (1905-1977). In addition, the problem of specific influences constituting the Russian-language context of the Modern Synthesis is addressed. The major thesis of this paper is that the very character of the Russian developmental biology and its intellectual environment predisposed a strong bias towards environmentalist interpretations and thus anticipated what we now call "ecological developmental biology".
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.