The S. Kuffler Lecture

Abstract

The Germans have a penchant for condensing their collective wisdom in proverbs: “All is well that ends well,” “Pride comes before the downfall,” and “that which wants to become a hook, bends early.” At age 14 I was exploring the countryside around the small German town in which I grew up. I collected plants, animals, fossils, and brought home salamander and frog eggs and watched them develop and metamorphose. There was never any doubt in my mind that I would become a naturalist. Years later, I made the conscious choice to study Zoology. I felt that the Natural Sciences brought me closer to their subject matter than the Cultural Sciences, as the Humanities were then called. Animals and plants could be ordered in a rational taxonomic system, and frog embryos displayed a reassuring regularity. There was hope to understand some of the rules that govern these phenomena. Surely, others would find history more dramatic. No doubt, the lives of Caesar, Napoleon, or George Washington could be more fascinating than those of my tadpoles. But to unravel the mysteries of their genius seemed to me beyond my ken.