Karl Ernst Baer contribution to biology. Biomedical and Agricultural Sciences

(1792-1876) Russian naturalist, founder of embryology

Karl Maksimovich Baer was born on February 28, 1792 in the town of Pipa, Estonian province, in a poor large family retired lieutenant. The boy received his primary education at home, after which he studied at high school in Reval (Tallinn), after graduating from which he entered the medical faculty of the University in Derit (Tartu). Student years Karl Baer matched with Patriotic War 1812

The young man, seized with a patriotic impulse, took part in it as a medical volunteer. In 1814 he graduated from the university with the title of doctor of medicine, having defended a dissertation on the topic of diseases common in Estonia. Considering university education insufficient for independent medical practice, Karl Baer went to Vienna and then to Germany in order to acquire practical medical knowledge.

In 1817 he was invited to work in Koenigsberg, to Professor KF Burdakh, and in 1819 he became a professor of zoology at the University of Koenigsberg. It was here in 1819-1830. Karl Maksimovich Baer conducts his work on embryology, which has earned him worldwide fame. He begins by studying the development of the chick embryo. In less than 4 years, the scientist examined more than two thousand embryos, spreading them in water with thin needles and examining them under a magnifying glass and microscope. Later, the embryos of crustaceans, insects, and mammals are studied in the same way.

The works of Karl Baer are rich in new discoveries. Among them, first of all, is the discovery of the egg in mammals, in particular in humans, the discovery of the dorsal string in vertebrates. In addition, it was he who managed in his research to expand knowledge about the formation of germ layers in the process individual development animals.

Of particular interest in biology is the so-called law of germline similarity formulated by Baer. The essence of this law is as follows. In the early phase of development, the embryos of all vertebrates, regardless of their belonging to one class or another, are so similar to each other that it is difficult to distinguish them from each other. Later, in a certain sequence, the embryos begin to show signs of a class, order, family, and genus. Species specificity appears only at the end of embryogenesis. These conclusions, based on rich experimental material, convincingly refuted the prevailing early XIX centuries, the position that the embryos of higher animals go through stages in their development corresponding to the adult forms of lower organisms.

The law of germline similarity was adopted by Charles Darwin when substantiating the theory of evolution.

In 1834, Karl Maksimovich Baer returned to Russia, to St. Petersburg. With the move, the young academician's scientific interests and lifestyle. In a new place, he is attracted by the boundless expanses of Russia. Huge, but little explored Russia of that time required a comprehensive study. And the biologist becomes a geographer-traveler and explorer natural resources countries. He leads expeditions to New Earth, islands of the Gulf of Finland, Kola Peninsula, Volga region. He studies geography, flora and fauna of the Black, Azov, Caspian Seas.

Investigating the patterns of formation of river valleys, the scientist found that the rivers flowing along the meridian always have a steeper western bank due to the fact that it is washed away by the current, which deviates under the influence of the Earth's rotation. This position is known in geography as Baer's law. Karl Baer was one of the initiators and founders of the Russian geographical society, which still exists and in which he was chosen as the first vice president.

Since the beginning of the 50s, Karl Maksimovich Baer has been fond of ethnography and anthropology, especially craniology (the study of the skull). Using improved methods for measuring skulls, which made it possible to objectively compare the craniological characteristics of people of different races, the scientist came to important, fundamental conclusions about the nature of racial differences. His main conclusion was the assertion of the unity of origin of all human races, undoubtedly belonging to the same species. The existing racial characteristics - skin and hair color, the difference in facial features and the shape of the skull, in his opinion, are of little importance and do not give grounds for division human race for different types.

In 1864, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, celebrating its 50th anniversary scientific activity scientist, presented him with a large medal and established the Baer Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of natural sciences. Its first laureates were the young Russian embryologists A. O. Kovalevsky and I. I. Mechnikov, the brilliant creators of comparative evolutionary embryology.

A cape on Novaya Zemlya, an island in the Taimyr Bay, a range of hills in Caspian lowland(Baer's hillocks).

Baer Karl Maksimovich is one of the most versatile and outstanding natural scientists of modern times, the founder of embryology. However, he is known not only as an embryologist, but also as an outstanding ichthyologist, geographer-traveler, anthropologist and ethnographer. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. Baer was born on February 17 (29), 1792 in Estonia, not far from Tallinn. He received his secondary education at the Revel noble school. Beginning in 1810, he studied medicine in Dorpat (now Tartu) and comparative anatomy in Würzburg.

After graduating from the medical faculty of the University of Dorpat, Baer worked in Austria and Germany, since 1819 he has been a professor at the University of Koenigsberg. Here Baer worked first as a dissector at the Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, and then as a professor and director of the anatomical theater at a local university. During this period, Baer was engaged in invertebrate zoology, embryology and comparative anatomy. He was especially active in embryological research. In 1819 he was appointed a member of the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg, but soon Baer returned to his former job in Koenigsberg, where in 1826 he received the chair of anatomy. In the same year, Baer returned to St. Petersburg, where he took up the post of professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

In 1837, Baer led a scientific expedition to Novaya Zemlya on the schooner Krotov. The main task of this expedition, unlike all the previous ones to Novaya Zemlya, was to study its geological structure, to get acquainted with the fauna and flora. The expedition received excellent scientific results, becoming an important step in the study of the Arctic. Collections of up to 90 plant species and up to 70 invertebrate species were collected. Geological research allowed us to conclude that Novaya Zemlya was formed in the Silurian and Devonian epochs. In 1838 Baer published the results of his research. He developed projects for new expeditions to the Arctic, pointing out the importance of studying its climate and the need for geophysical observations. Baer along with F. P. Litke (see) and F. P. Wrangel (see) was one of the founders of the IRGO. In 1861, he received the highest award of the IRGO - the Great Konstantinovsky Medal. Baer's works had not only purely scientific, but also applied value. In particular, this applies to his work on the study and rationalization of fisheries on Lake Peipsi, in the Azov and Caspian Seas.

Baer was the first to discover the egg in humans. He came to the conclusion about the germ plasm and about the similarity of the first stages of embryonic development in all multicellular animals, including humans, which later enabled him to create the foundations of a new scientific branch - comparative embryology. He discovered the egg in mammals, described the blastula stage, studied the embryogenesis of the chicken, established the similarity of the embryos of higher and lower animals, the theory of the consistent appearance in embryogenesis of signs of type, class, order, etc. He described the development of the main organs of vertebrates. Baer discovered a way to develop the most characteristic organ these animals - the spinal column. Comparing the embryos of vertebrates of various classes (fish, amphibians, mammals), he found that all of them are similar to each other in the early stages of development. Baer is rightfully considered one of the founders of physical anthropology. Expresses evidence-based ideas about the monophyletic origin of man and his races, about the impact on the physical type of environmental conditions. Baer was the first in Russia to apply the method of craniology to study the origin of ethno-territorial human groups. Special works devoted to the deformation of skulls, craniology of the medieval Slavic population. The craniological research program presented by K.M. Baer in 1861 formed the basis of modern techniques.

In 1828 Baer was awarded the title of ordinary professor. At this time, he had already become famous as one of the most prominent biologists in Europe. Baer was also interested in ecology - the science of the relationship between the organism and the environment.

Baer's scientific activity was closely connected with practice: he did a lot in the field of fishing and fish farming. In particular, K. M. Baer studied fishing on Lake Peipsi, the Baltic (1851-1852) and the Caspian Seas. Especially great importance have Baer's expeditions to the Caspian Sea (1853-1856). Here he explored the local fauna, studied the state of fisheries on the Volga and the Caspian. He found out the geological past of the Caspian Sea, its hydrochemical and temperature conditions and a number of other questions.

In 1862, the Academy of Sciences elected Baer an honorary member, and in 1864 solemnly celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his scientific activity. Karl Maksimovich Baer died on November 16, 1876.

Karl Maksimovich Baer(Karl Ernst) (1792-1876) - naturalist, founder of embryology, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society, foreign corresponding member (1826), academician (1828-30 and 1834-62; honorary member from 1862) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Born in Estonia. Worked in Austria and Germany; in 1829-30 and from 1834 - in Russia. Opened the egg in mammals, described the blastula stage; studied chick embryogenesis.

Karl Baer established the similarity of the embryos of higher and lower animals, the consistent appearance in embryogenesis of signs of type, class, order, etc.; described the development of all major organs of vertebrates. Explored Novaya Zemlya, the Caspian Sea. K. Baer - editor of a series of publications on the geography of Russia . He explained the pattern of river bank erosion (Baer's law: rivers flowing in the direction of the meridian in the Northern Hemisphere wash away the right bank, in the Southern Hemisphere - the left. It is explained by the influence of the daily rotation of the Earth on the movement of water particles in the river.).

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Carl Ernst von Baer Teacher of biology Kuzyaeva A.M. Nizhny Novgorod

Karl Ernst von Baer (February 17, 1792 - November 28, 1876) Karl Ernst von Baer, ​​or, as he was called in Russia, Karl Maksimovich Baer, ​​one of the founders of embryology and comparative anatomy, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, president of the Russian Entomological Society, one of the founders Russian Geographical Society. Ichthyologist, geographer, anthropologist and ethnographer.

Baer was born on February 28, 1792 in his father's estate Pin, Estland province (Tartu, Estonia); Baer's father, Magnus von Baer, ​​belonged to the Estonian nobility. Home teachers worked with Karl. In August 1807, the boy entered the noble school in Revel. in 1810 - 1814 he studied medicine at the University of Dorpat and in 1812 - 1813 he had the opportunity to do it practically in a large military infirmary in Riga. In 1814, Baer passed the examination for the degree of doctor of medicine.

To improve in the sciences, Karl Baer went to Germany, where, under the guidance of Dellinger, he studied comparative anatomy in Würzburg; met Nees von Esenbeck, who provided big influence to his mental direction. Since 1817 Baer has been Burdakh's prosector in Konigsberg. In 1819 he was appointed extraordinary, and shortly thereafter, ordinary professor of zoology. In 1826 he was appointed ordinary professor of anatomy and director of the anatomical institute. In the same year, Baer discovered the mammalian egg. In 1828, the first volume of the famous "History of the Development of Animals" appeared in print. In 1829 he was invited as an academician and professor of zoology at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Johann Dellinger Nes von Esenbeck

In the summer of 1837 he traveled to Novaya Zemlya, where no naturalist had ever been before. In 1839, Baer made a trip to explore the islands of the Gulf of Finland. In 1840 he visited the Kola Peninsula. Baer from 1840 began to publish, together with Gelmersen, a special journal at the academy, called "Materials for Knowledge Russian Empire ».

Since 1841, Baer was appointed to the chair of comparative anatomy and physiology specially founded for him at the Medico-Surgical Academy as an ordinary professor. Cheny works together with the surgeon N.I. Pirogov. In 1851, Baer submitted to the Academy of Sciences a large article "On Man", intended for Yu.I. Simashko and translated into Russian. K. Baer N.I. Pirogov

Since 1851, the system of Baer's travels across Russia began with practical purposes and carried, in addition to geographical and ethnographic research, in the field of applied zoology (to Lake Peipus, the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Volga and the Caspian Sea). In the spring of 1857, the scientist returned to St. Petersburg and became interested in anthropology. He commissioned and enriched the collection of human skulls in anatomical museum Academy of Sciences. In 1862 he retired and was elected an honorary member of the Academy. On August 18, 1864, a solemn celebration of his anniversary took place at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. After the anniversary, Baer considered his St. Petersburg career irrevocably completed and decided to move to Dorpat. In the early summer of 1867 he moved to a nearby campus.

Baer's laws are the most common features any large group of animals appear in the embryo earlier than less common signs; after the formation of the most general signs, less common ones appear, and so on until the appearance of special signs characteristic of this group; the embryo of any kind of animal, as it develops, becomes less and less like the embryos of other species and does not pass through the later stages of their development; the embryo of a highly organized species may resemble the embryo of a more primitive species, but never resembles adult form of this kind.

The law of germline similarity Karl Ernst von Baer showed that the development of all organisms begins with the egg. In this case, the following patterns are observed that are common to all vertebrates: at the early stages of development, a striking similarity is found in the structure of the embryos of animals belonging to different classes (in this case, the embryo of the highest form does not look like an adult animal form, but like its embryo); in the embryos of each large group animals, general signs are formed earlier than special ones; in the process of embryonic development, there is a divergence of signs from more general to special.

On November 16 (November 28), 1876, Baer died quietly, as if he had fallen asleep. In November 1886, a monument to Baer was erected in Tartu. Monuments are also installed at the entrance to the Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in the Library of the Academy of Sciences (BAN) in St. Petersburg. In 1864, the prize was approved to them. Baer. K. Baer on the Estonian banknote of 2 kroons Karl von Baer is depicted on the banknote of two Estonian kroons.

Carl Baer

Baer Karl Maksimovich (Karl Ernst) (1792-1876), naturalist, founder of embryology, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society, foreign corresponding member (1826), academician (1828-30 and 1834-62; honorary member from 1862) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences . Born in Estonia. Worked in Austria and Germany; in 1829-30 and from 1834 - in Russia. Opened the egg in mammals, described the blastula stage; studied chick embryogenesis. He established the similarity of embryos of higher and lower animals, the consistent appearance in embryogenesis of signs of type, class, order, etc .; described the development of all major organs of vertebrates. Investigated Novaya Zemlya, Caspian Sea. Editor of a series of publications on the geography of Russia. Explained the regularity of river bank erosion (Baer's law).

BER Karl Maksimovich (Karl Ernst) (1792–1876), Russian naturalist, embryologist. Honorary Member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. Member of expeditions to Novaya Zemlya (1837) and the Caspian Sea (1853–56). In 1857, Mr.. formulated a position on the erosion of the right banks of the rivers in the North. hemisphere and left - in the South, included in the literature under the name of Baer's law. The name of Baer is given to a cape on Novaya Zemlya and an island in the Taimyr Bay; the name of the Baer hillocks in the Caspian lowland was included as a term.

Modern illustrated encyclopedia. Geography. Rosman-Press, M., 2006.

Baer Carl

Baer Karl Maksimovich, Russian naturalist, founder of embryology. Graduated from Dorpat (Tartu) University (1814). From 1817 he worked at the Königsberg University. Member since 1826 Corr., from 1828 ordinary academician, from 1862 honorary member. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He returned to Russia in 1834. He worked in St. Petersburg. Academy of Sciences and at the Medical-Surgical Academy (1841-52). B. discovered the egg in mammals and humans (1827), studied in detail the embryogenesis of the chicken (1829, 1837), and studied the embryonic development of fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. He discovered an important stage of embryonic development - the blastula. He traced the fate of the germ layers and the development of the fetal membranes. He established that: 1) the embryos of higher animals do not resemble the adult forms of the lower ones, but are similar only to their embryos; 2) in the process of embryonic development, signs of a type, class, order, family, genus and species (Baer's laws) consistently appear. Investigated and described the development of all fundamentals. organs of vertebrates - chord, head and spinal cord, eyes, heart, excretory apparatus, lungs, digestive canal, etc. The facts discovered by B. in embryology were evidence of the failure of preformism. B. fruitfully worked in the field of anthropology, creating a system for measuring skulls. Member of expeditions to Novaya Zemlya (1837) and Casp. m. (1853-56). Their scientific the results were geogr. description of the Caspian, spec. a series of publications on the geography of Russia ["Materials for the knowledge of the Russian Empire and neighboring countries Asia", vol. 1-26, 1839-72 (editor)]. In 1857, he expressed a position on the regularities of undermining the right banks of rivers in the Northern Hemisphere and the left ones in the Southern (see Baer's law). B. - one of the founders of the Russian The name of B. was given to a cape on Novaya Zemlya and an island in the Taimyr Bay, as a term it was included in the name of the ridges (see Baer Hillocks) in the Caspian Lowland.

Materials used Large Soviet encyclopedia. In 30 tons. Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. Ed. 3rd. T. 4. Brasos - Vesh. - M., Soviet Encyclopedia. - 1971. - 600 p. with illustration, 39 sheets. ill., 8 sheets. maps (630.000 copies).

Karl Ernst, or, as he was called in Russia, Karl Maksimovich Baer, ​​was born on February 17, 1792 in the town of Pip, in the Gerven district of the Estland province. Baer's father, Magnus von Baer, ​​belonged to the Estonian nobility and was married to his cousin Julia von Baer.

Home teachers worked with Karl. He studied mathematics, geography, Latin and French and other items. Eleven-year-old Karl has already become familiar with algebra, geometry and trigonometry.

In August 1807, the boy was taken to a noble school at the city cathedral in Revel. In the first half of 1810, Karl completed the course of the school. He enters Dorpat University. In Dorpat, Baer decided to choose a medical career.

In 1814, Baer passed the examination for the degree of doctor of medicine. He presented and defended his dissertation "On Endemic Diseases in Estonia".

Baer went abroad, choosing to continue his medical education in Vienna.

Professor Burdakh offered Baer to join him as a dissector at the Department of Physiology at the University of Königsberg. As a dissector, Baer opened a course on the comparative anatomy of invertebrates, which was of an applied nature, since it consisted mainly of showing and explaining anatomical preparations and drawings.

In 1826, Baer was appointed ordinary professor of anatomy and director of the anatomical institute, relieving him of his duties as a dissector until now.

In 1828, the first volume of the famous "History of the Development of Animals" appeared in print. Baer, ​​studying the embryology of a chicken, observed that early stage development, when two parallel rollers are formed on the germinal plate, subsequently closing and forming a brain tube. Baer believed that in the process of development, each new formation arises from a simpler pre-existing basis. Thus, general bases first appear in the embryo, and more and more special parts are isolated from them. This process of gradual movement from the general to the specific is known as differentiation. In 1826 Baer discovered the eggs of mammals. This discovery was made public by him in the form of a message addressed to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which elected him as its corresponding member.

Another very important discovery made by Baer is the discovery of the dorsal string, the basis of the internal skeleton of vertebrates.

At the end of 1834, Baer was already living in St. Petersburg.

From the capital summer scientist In 1837, he traveled to Novaya Zemlya, where no naturalist had ever been before.

In 1839, Baer made a trip to explore the islands of the Gulf of Finland, and in 1840 visited the Kola Peninsula. Baer from 1840 began to publish, together with Gelmersen, a special journal at the academy, called "Materials for the Knowledge of the Russian Empire."

Since 1841, the scientist was appointed ordinary professor of comparative anatomy and physiology at the Medico-Surgical Academy.

In 1851, Baer submitted to the Academy of Sciences a large article "On Man", intended for Semashko's "Russian Fauna" and translated into Russian.

Since 1851, a series of Baer's travels around Russia began, undertaken for practical purposes and involving Baer, ​​in addition to geographical and ethnographic research, in the field of applied zoology. He conducted expeditions to Lake Peipsi and the shores of the Baltic Sea, to the Volga and the Caspian Sea. His "Caspian studies" in eight parts are very rich in scientific results. In this work of Baer, ​​the eighth part is most interesting - "On universal law In the spring of 1857, the scientist returned to St. Petersburg. Now Baer devoted himself mainly to anthropology. He put in order and enriched the collection of human skulls in the anatomical museum of the Academy, gradually turning it into an anthropological museum. was elected an honorary member of the Academy.

On August 18, 1864, a solemn celebration of his anniversary took place at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. After the anniversary, Baer considered his career in St. Petersburg finally completed and decided to move to Dorpat. In the early summer of 1867 he moved to his native university town.

Site materials used http://100top.ru/encyclopedia/

BER (Baer) Karl Ernst (Karl Maksimovich) (February 29, 1792, Pip, Estonia - November 28, 1876, Dorpat, now Tartu, Estonia) - naturalist and philosopher. He graduated from the medical faculty of the University in Dorpat (1814), in 1817-34 he taught in Königsberg, from 1832 he was a professor. In 1819-25 he developed the foundations of the natural system of animals and expressed his thoughts on their evolution (works were published only in 1959). Baer's "History of the Development of Animals" (vols. 1-2, 1828-36) laid new foundations for embryology. In 1834-67 he worked in St. Petersburg (a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences from 1826), became a biogeographer, anthropologist and forerunner of ecology. He wrote in German. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society (1848). Baer discovered that traits of the type appear in the embryo before the traits of the class, the latter - before the traits of the detachment, etc. (Baer's law). He developed the theory of types of J. Cuvier, in which he took into account the generality of not only the structural plan, but also the development of the embryo. He built the system of animals on the concept of the core and periphery (clear and fuzzy forms) of each taxon, while relying not on signs, but on general structure(“the essence of things”, according to K. Linnaeus). Like C. Darwin, he saw material for evolution in variability, but denied the evolutionary role of competition: field data convinced Baer (as Maya Walt showed) that the redundancy of reproduction is necessary for the stability of communities and does not entail the preferential survival of individual variants. Baer considered the main fact of evolution to be the "forward victory of spirit over matter", approaching Lamarck's interpretation of progress (which Baer avoided mentioning). He formulated the "law of thrift" of nature: once having got into living matter, the atom remains in the life cycle for millions of years. Baer deeply investigated the phenomenon of expediency, proposing to distinguish between good, durable (dauerhaft), aspiring to a goal (zielstrebig) and corresponding to a goal, expedient (zweckmassig).

Compositions: What a look at wildlife right. - In the book: Notes of the Russian Entomological Society. SPb., 1861, no. one; Fav. works (Note by Yu. A. Filipchenko). L., 1924; History of Animal Development, vols. 1-2. L., 1950-53; Unpublished manuscripts. - In the book: Annals of Biology, vol. I. M., 1959; Correspondence of Karl Baer on problems of geography. L., 1970; Entwicklung und Zielstrebigkeit in derNatur. Stuttg., 1983.

Literature: Raikov B. E. Russian evolutionary biologists before Darwin, vol. 2. M.-L., 1951; He is. Carl Baer. M.-L., 1961; Walt (Remmel) M. Immanent teleology and teleology of universal mutual utility in the works of C. Darwin and K. E. von Baer. - In the book: Scientific Notes of Tartu State University. 1974, no. 324; She is. Ecological studies of K. Baer and the concept of the struggle for existence. - In the book: St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and Estonia. Tallinn, 1978; Varlamov VF Karl Baer - a tester of nature. M., 1988; Voeikov VL Vitalism and biology: on the threshold of the third millennium. - "Knowledge is power", 1996, No. 4.

Yu. V. Tchaikovsky

New Philosophical Encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy RAS. Scientific ed. advice: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Huseynov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Thought, 2010, vol. I, A - D, p. 351.

Compositions:

In Russian per. : History of the development of animals, vol. 1 - 2, M. - L., 1950-53 (there is a bibliography of B.'s works on embryology);

Selected works, L., 1924;

Autobiography, M., 1950;

Correspondence on problems of geography, vol. 1-, L., 1970-.

Literature:

Vernadsky V.I., In memory of acad. K. M. von Baer, ​​L., 1927;

Raikov B. E., Karl Baer, ​​his life and works, M. - L., 1961.