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The Elements of Experimental Embryology
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
536 pages, Hardcover
First published August 12, 2015
About the author
Gavin de Beer
43 books3 followersSir Gavin Rylands de Beer FRS (1 November 1899 – 21 June 1972) was a British evolutionary embryologist. He was Director of the British Museum (Natural History), President of the Linnean Society, and received the Royal Society's Darwin Medal for his studies on evolution.
Born on 1 November 1899 in Malden, Surrey (now part of London), de Beer spent most of his childhood in France, where he was educated at the Parisian École Pascal. During this time, he also visited Switzerland, a country with which he remained fascinated for the rest of his life. His education continued at Harrow and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in zoology in 1921, after a pause to serve in the First World War in the Grenadier Guards and the Army Education Corps. He soon became a Fellow of Merton College and began to teach at the university's zoology department. In 1938, he was made Reader in Embryology at University College, London. During the Second World War De Beer again served with the Grenadier Guards reaching the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel. He worked in intelligence, propaganda and psychological warfare. Also during the war, in 1940, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1945, de Beer became Professor of Zoology and was, from 1946 to 1949, President of the Linnean Society. Then he was Director of the British Museum (Natural History) (now the Natural History Museum), from 1950 until his retirement in 1960. He was knighted in 1954, and awarded the Darwin Medal of the Royal Society in 1957.
After his retirement, de Beer moved to Switzerland and worked on several publications on Charles Darwin and his own seminal Atlas of Evolution. He also wrote a series of books about Switzerland and the Alps. De Beer returned to England in 1971 and died at Alfriston, Sussex on 21 June 1972.
De Beer's early work at Oxford was influenced by J. B. S. Haldane and by Julian Huxley and E. S. Goodrich (two of his teachers). His early work was in experimental embryology; some of it was done in collaboration with Julian Huxley, who would go on to be one of the leading figures of the modern synthesis. The Elements of experimental embryology, written with Huxley, was the best summary of the field at that time (1934).
In Embryos and Ancestors (1930) de Beer stressed the importance of heterochrony,[5] and especially paedomorphosis in evolution. According to his theories, paedomorphosis (the retention of juvenile features in the adult form) is more important in evolution that gerontomorphosis, since juvenile tissues are relatively undifferentiated and capable of further evolution, whereas highly specialised tissues are less able to change. He also conceived the idea of clandestine evolution, which helped to explain the sudden changes in the fossil record which were apparently at odds with Darwin's gradualist theory of evolution. If a novelty were to evolve gradually in an animal's juvenile form, then its development would not appear in the fossil record at all, but if the species were then to undergo neoteny (a form of paedomorphosis in which sexual maturity is reached while in an otherwise juvenile form), then the feature would appear suddenly in the fossil record, despite having evolved gradually.
De Beer worked on paleornithology and general evolutionary theory, and was largely responsible for elucidating the concept of mosaic evolution, as illustrated by his review of Archaeopteryx in 1954. De Beer's also reviewed Haeckel's concept of heterochrony, with particular emphasis on its role in avian evolution, especially that of the ratites, in 1956. Dedicated to the popularisation of science, he received the Kalinga Prize from UNESCO.
Born on 1 November 1899 in Malden, Surrey (now part of London), de Beer spent most of his childhood in France, where he was educated at the Parisian École Pascal. During this time, he also visited Switzerland, a country with which he remained fascinated for the rest of his life. His education continued at Harrow and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in zoology in 1921, after a pause to serve in the First World War in the Grenadier Guards and the Army Education Corps. He soon became a Fellow of Merton College and began to teach at the university's zoology department. In 1938, he was made Reader in Embryology at University College, London. During the Second World War De Beer again served with the Grenadier Guards reaching the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel. He worked in intelligence, propaganda and psychological warfare. Also during the war, in 1940, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1945, de Beer became Professor of Zoology and was, from 1946 to 1949, President of the Linnean Society. Then he was Director of the British Museum (Natural History) (now the Natural History Museum), from 1950 until his retirement in 1960. He was knighted in 1954, and awarded the Darwin Medal of the Royal Society in 1957.
After his retirement, de Beer moved to Switzerland and worked on several publications on Charles Darwin and his own seminal Atlas of Evolution. He also wrote a series of books about Switzerland and the Alps. De Beer returned to England in 1971 and died at Alfriston, Sussex on 21 June 1972.
De Beer's early work at Oxford was influenced by J. B. S. Haldane and by Julian Huxley and E. S. Goodrich (two of his teachers). His early work was in experimental embryology; some of it was done in collaboration with Julian Huxley, who would go on to be one of the leading figures of the modern synthesis. The Elements of experimental embryology, written with Huxley, was the best summary of the field at that time (1934).
In Embryos and Ancestors (1930) de Beer stressed the importance of heterochrony,[5] and especially paedomorphosis in evolution. According to his theories, paedomorphosis (the retention of juvenile features in the adult form) is more important in evolution that gerontomorphosis, since juvenile tissues are relatively undifferentiated and capable of further evolution, whereas highly specialised tissues are less able to change. He also conceived the idea of clandestine evolution, which helped to explain the sudden changes in the fossil record which were apparently at odds with Darwin's gradualist theory of evolution. If a novelty were to evolve gradually in an animal's juvenile form, then its development would not appear in the fossil record at all, but if the species were then to undergo neoteny (a form of paedomorphosis in which sexual maturity is reached while in an otherwise juvenile form), then the feature would appear suddenly in the fossil record, despite having evolved gradually.
De Beer worked on paleornithology and general evolutionary theory, and was largely responsible for elucidating the concept of mosaic evolution, as illustrated by his review of Archaeopteryx in 1954. De Beer's also reviewed Haeckel's concept of heterochrony, with particular emphasis on its role in avian evolution, especially that of the ratites, in 1956. Dedicated to the popularisation of science, he received the Kalinga Prize from UNESCO.
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