THE BIRTH OF THE LIVING - EMBRYOGENESIS O F FORMS OR EMBRYOGENESIS OFNATURE - NOTES ON THE RELATION OF EMBRYOLOGY AND THE THEORIES OF ORGANISM BEFORE 1800

A brief outline of the conceptual background of the discussion in deve lopmental biology of the 18th century demonstrates the impacts of C. F . WOLFF'S theoria generationis on the ideas of ''nature'' and ''life'' . WOLFFS observations clearly demonstrated that organisms develop from very simple ''anlagen'', that did not show the pecuIarities of the la ter adults. Thus, WOLFF introduced a dynamic perspective into natural sciences. His concept became of importance in contemporary approaches to understand the order of nature and the specificity of organic organ isations. It stimulated discussions about self organization in nature, and, thus, anticipated ideas of the natural philosophy of the early 1 9th century.