C. (Carl Heinrich) Apstein

Born on September 19, 1862, in Stettin, Carl Heinrich Apstein became a German scientist known for work in both zoology and botany. He is especially associated with research on plankton, algae, and aquatic organisms, fields that were becoming increasingly important as marine biology developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Apstein studied a wide range of animal life, but his name is most often linked with investigations of phytoplankton and the small drifting organisms that form the base of marine food webs. His work helped deepen scientific understanding of life in the water at a time when researchers were still building the foundations of modern ocean and freshwater biology.

He died in Berlin on November 14, 1950. Remembered as a careful and wide-ranging natural scientist, Apstein belongs to the generation of researchers who turned the close observation of tiny organisms into an important part of biological and environmental science.