At the Deathbed of Darwinism: A Series of Papers

A collection of scholarly essays from the early twentieth‑century scientific community, this volume gathers the voices of botanists, zoologists, paleontologists and physiologists who were increasingly uneasy with Darwin’s doctrine of natural selection. The contributors present a wide array of alternative concepts—vital forces, heterogenesis, multiple origins, and the idea that evolution proceeds through defined physiological pathways rather than random variation.

Each chapter offers a snapshot of the heated debates then circulating in German and international circles. Readers hear a Viennese botanist defending a “return” to earlier evolutionary ideas, a professor of anatomy warning against materialistic explanations, and a paleontologist challenging Haeckel’s family trees, all while emphasizing the need for empirical proof that they felt Darwinism lacked.

For anyone curious about the history of evolutionary thought, the book provides a clear, contemporaneous portrait of a scientific crossroads. Its measured, citation‑rich style lets listeners explore how early critics shaped the questions that still animate biology today.