by Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Haeckel was a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, and artist. He named many species, developed a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and is credited with many terms used in biology. Haeckel supported the work of Charles Darwin. His theory of 'recapitulation' claimed that al individual organism's biological development parallels and summarizes its species entire evolutionary development. Haeckel states his purpose for this address in the preface. 'The purpose of this candid confession of monistic faith is twofold. First, it is my desire to give expression to that rational view of the world which is being forced upon us with such logical rigour by the modern advancements in our knowledge of nature as a unity, a view in reality held by almost all unprejudiced and thinking men of science, although but few have the courage (or the need) to declare it openly. Secondly, I would fain establish thereby a bond between religion and science, and thus contribute to the adjustment of the antithesis so needlessly maintained between these, the two highest spheres in which the mind of man can exercise itself; in monism the ethical demands of the soul are satisfied, as well as the logical necessities of the understanding.