The Riddle of the Universe: At the Close of the Nineteenth Century

Ernst Haeckel mounts a bold and resounding defense of the Theory of Evolution, while considering its wide-ranging implications for mankind and biological science. The Riddle of the Universe offers readers an overview of evolutionary science, considering aspects such as natural selection and embryology. Haeckel expands his arguments toward the very creation of the universe; arriving at a monistic belief that the university is comprised solely of matter, rather than matter and spirit as posited by the world's religions. In explaining such topics of enormity, Haeckel offers a thought-provoking and compelling narration which weaves science and philosophy. There is ample example of pre-genetic thought processes in this work, as Haeckel contemplates how a human soul and physical traits are hereditary and passed on through generations. Not discounting belief in God, he discusses how the divine is felt to interact with the physical world, and how religions - particularly Christianity - interact with scientific developments. Finally, Haeckel proposes a series of solutions to problems borne by the various social, scientific and religious interplay. Already working in biological science at the time Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, Ernst Haeckel was stunned by the rational and cogent manner in which his contemporary argued for evolution. As further studies bore the validity of evolutionary theory, he felt moved to author this document as an overview of where biological science stood at the turn of the 20th century. This edition carries the original translation to English by Joseph McCabe, a freethinker who successfully and accurately replicates Haeckel's treatise.