To this day Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory of the "survival of the fittest" has been visualized with the universal model of a tree of life. But early on in Darwin’s thinking the coral provided a fascinating alternative to the tree as a depiction of the evolution of the species.
Horst Bredekamp shows how Darwin, a coral enthusiast and collector, found in it a more adequate illustration of evolution through natural selection: It grows anarchically in all directions and no longer upholds mankind as the "crown of creation." Using this example Darwin is proving himself to be both a destroyer and consummator of traditional natural philosophy. Since antiquity the coral had been a symbol of nature as a whole.
- ISBN10 3110643340
- ISBN13 9783110643343
- Publish Date 23 September 2019
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country DE
- Imprint De Gruyter
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 128
- Language English
- URL https://degruyter.com/isbn/9783110643343