Karl Ernst von Baer 17304 223698210 2008-07-05T09:23:02Z JackofOz 33566 fixed dates as per source, and used os/ns [[Image:Baer Karl von 1792-1876.jpg|thumb|225px|right|Karl Ernst von Baer]] '''Karl Ernst von Baer''' ({{OldStyleDate|28 February|1792|17 February}} - {{OldStyleDate|28 November|1876|16 November}}) was a [[Baltic German]] [[biologist]] and a founding father of [[embryology]]. [[Image:KarlErnstVonBaer.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Statue of Karl Ernst von Baer on [[Toome Hill]], [[Tartu]]. As a tradition, students wash the head of statue with champagne every [[Walpurgis Night]]<ref>[http://www.postimees.ee/180207/esileht/ak/245420.php Kõik algab munast]</ref>.]] ==Life== Karl Ernst von Baer was born in [[Piibe]] manor ({{lang-de|Piep}}), Russia (now [[Estonia]]); many of his ancestors had come from [[Westphalia]]. A knight by birthright, his full name was ''Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer, Edler von Huthorn''. He was educated at the Cathedral School in [[Reval]] (Tallinn) and the [[University of Dorpat]] ([[Tartu]]). He continued his education in [[Berlin]], [[Vienna]], and Würzburg where Döllinger introduced him to the new field of [[embryology]]. In 1812, Baer was a volunteer in the war against [[Napoleon]]'s invasion, serving as doctor[http://www.booksite.ru/department/center/vel/iki/yel/udi/5.htm]. In 1817, he became a professor at [[Königsberg University]] (Kaliningrad) and full professor of [[zoology]] in 1821, and of [[anatomy]] in 1826. In 1829 he taught briefly in [[St Petersburg]], but returned to Königsberg. In 1834 Baer moved back to St Petersburg and joined the [[St Petersburg Academy of Sciences]], first in zoology (1834-46) and then in [[comparative anatomy]] and [[physiology]] (1846-62). His interests while there were anatomy, [[ichthyology]], [[ethnography]], [[anthropology]] and [[geography]]. The last years of his life (1867-76) were spent in Dorpat (Tartu), where he became one of the leading critics of the theories of [[Charles Darwin]]. A statue honouring him can be found on [[Toome Hill]] (''Toomemägi'') in [[Tartu]]. The two [[estonian kroon|kroons]] (2 ''krooni'') Estonian banknote bears his portrait. ==Contributions== [[Image:Vonbaer.jpg|thumb|230px|left|Karl Ernst von Baer.]] ===Embryology=== He studied the embryonal development of animals, discovering the blastula stage of development and the [[notochord]]. Together with [[Heinz Christian Pander]] and based on the work by [[Caspar Friedrich Wolff]] he described the [[germ layer]] theory of development (ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm) as a principle in a variety of species laying the foundation for comparative embryology in the book ''Über Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere'' (1828). In [[1826]] Baer discovered the mammalian [[ovum]]. The first human ovum was described by Allen in [[1928]].(1) In [[1827]] he completed research "Ovi Mammalium et Hominis genesi" for Saint-Petersburg's Academy of Science (published at Leipzig[http://safety.spbstu.ru/book/hrono/hrono/biograf/bio_b/ber_karl.html][http://www.allpersona.ru/people/72032.html]) and established that mammals develop from eggs. ===Baer's laws (embryology)=== He formulated what would later be called the ''Baer's laws'' for embryology: # The general characters of the group to which an embryo belongs appear in development earlier than the special characters. # The less general structural relations are formed after the more general, and so on, until the most specific appear. # The embryo of any given form, instead of passing through the state of other definite forms, on the contrary, separates itself from them. # Fundamentally the embryo of a higher animal form never resembles the adult of another animal form, but only its embryo. {{seealso|Recapitulation theory}} [[Image:KEvonBaer.jpg|thumb|In old age]] ===Anthropology=== At St Petersburg, Baer established an extensive skull collection and became a proponent and contributor to the (pseudo)science of [[craniology]]. === Baer's law (geology) === The term ''[[Baer's law]]'' also refers to the proposition that in the [[northern hemisphere]], [[erosion]] occurs mostly on the right banks of rivers, and in the [[southern hemisphere]] on the left banks. ===Explorer=== Baer was interested in the Northern part of Russia and explored [[Novaya Zemlya]] in 1837 collecting biologic specimen. Other travels led him to the [[Caspian Sea]], the [[North Cape]], and [[Sápmi (area)|Lapland]]. He was a founder and the first president of the [[Russian Geographical Society]]. ===Entomology=== Baer contributed to studies in [[entomology]] and was a cofounder of the [[Russian Entomological Society]]. ===Meteorology=== [[Taymyr Gulf|Baer Island]] in the Kara Sea was named after Karl Ernst von Baer for his important contributions to the research of Arctic meteorology between 1830 and 1840.<ref>http://www.meteohistory.org/2004polling_preprints/docs/abstracts/tammiksaar_abstract.pdf</ref> ===Subjective biology=== Baer was a pioneer in studying biological time - the perception of time in different organisms. This approach was further developed by [[Jakob von Uexküll]]. ==References== <references /> # Wood C, Trounson A. ''Clinical In Vitro Fertilization''. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1984, Page 6. # [http://www.whonamedit.com/ Medical eponyms] # Baer, K E v. "Über ein allgemeines Gesetz in der Gestaltung der Flußbetten", ''Kaspische Studien'', 1860, VIII, S. 1–6. ==External links== * [http://www.mois.ee/jarva/piibe.shtml Overview of Piibe (Piep) manor in Estonian Manors Portal (with a picture of a memorial stone)] * [http://www.zbi.ee/baer/biography.htm Short biography of K.E.v.Baer] * [http://www.bankofestonia.info/pub/en/yldine/pangatahed/pangatahed/_2.html Estonian banknotes] *[http://www.nndb.com/people/026/000100723/ NNDB Profile of K.E.v.Baer] ==Further reading== * {{cite encyclopedia | last = Oppenheimer | first = Jane | title = Baer, Karl Ernst von | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]] | volume = 1 | pages = 385-389 | publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons | location = New York | date = 1970 | isbn = 0684101149 }} == Baer's works == * [[Karl Ernst von Baer]], Grigoriĭ Petrovich Gelʹmersen. "Beiträge zur Kenntniss des russischen Reiches und der angränzenden Länder Asiens". Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1839. [http://books.google.com/books?id=uN0GAAAAYAAJ On Google Books] {{de icon}} <!--- Use the DEFAULTSORT magic word to sort this article in all categories ---> {{DEFAULTSORT:Baer, Karl Ernst von}} [[Category:1792 births]] [[Category:1876 deaths]] [[Category:Baltic Germans]] [[Category:German biologists]] [[Category:Russian biologists]] [[Category:Estonian biologists]] [[Category:German entomologists]] [[Category:Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]] [[Category:Novaya Zemlya]] [[Category:Explorers of the Arctic]] [[Category:University of Tartu alumni]] [[Category:People from the Governorate of Estonia]] [[Category:People from Saint Petersburg]] [[Category:People from Tartu]] [[Category:University of Königsberg faculty]] [[Category:German people of the Napoleonic Wars]] [[cs:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[de:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[et:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[es:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[fr:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[gl:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[hr:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[lv:Karls Ernsts fon Bērs]] [[pl:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[pt:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[ro:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[ru:Бэр, Карл Эрнст фон]] [[sk:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[fi:Karl Ernst von Baer]] [[uk:Бер Карл Максимович]]