Chemistry
Biographies of biologists. Karl Ernst von Baer. presentation for a biology lesson on the topic. Baer Karl Ernst von - Biography Biography of Baer

Biographies of biologists. Karl Ernst von Baer. presentation for a biology lesson on the topic. Baer Karl Ernst von - Biography Biography of Baer

The largest biologist of the first half of the 19th century V., the founder of modern embryology. Great-grandson's name is Max von Lingen. Last year he was in our city and participated in a seminar held by the BAN, dedicated to the memory of his great great-great-grandfather.

Karl Ernst von Baer
Karl Ernst von Baer

Karl Maksimovich Baer (1792-1876) - an outstanding natural scientist, stands, according to V.I. Vernadsky, among the greatest minds of mankind. Throughout the world, Karl Baer is considered practically the founder of embryology as a science. He also owned the discovery of a geographical phenomenon in the Caspian lowland, which I now call Baer Hills. Bera Island is located in the Laptev Sea. Karl Baer was the first to establish the existence of such a phenomenon as permafrost. Entomologist and anthropologist. A researcher of the works of Homer, who proved in practice that the journey of Odysseus actually took place and passed from Ithaca to the eastern shores of the Black Sea. Historian who wrote a work about the polar expeditions of Peter the Great. Anthropologist. Entomologist. Zoologist. Botanist. Ichthyologist. Anatomist. Doctor. Darwinist even before the appearance of Darwin's works. Poet. Polar explorer. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society.
How did it happen that the interests and, most importantly, the successes of one scientist are so diverse?

Let's start the story about him with a brief summary of what Embryology is, of which Baer is considered one of the creators.

Embryology(from Ancient Greek ἔμβρυον, embryo, "embryo"; and -λογία, -logy) is the science that studies the development of the embryo. Interesting History of embryology. Embryological research in India, China, Egypt and Greece until the 5th century. BC e. largely reflected religious and philosophical teachings. However, the views that prevailed at that time had a certain influence on the subsequent development of ethics, the founders of which should be considered Hippocrates (as well as the authors of the so-called “Hippocratic Collection”) and Aristotle who followed him. Hippocrates and his followers paid the greatest attention to the study of the development of the human embryo, recommending only for comparison to study the formation of a chicken in an egg. Aristotle made extensive use of observations and in the works that have come down to us, “The History of Animals” and “On the Origin of Animals,” he reported data on the development of humans, mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, as well as many invertebrates. Aristotle studied the development of the chick embryo in the most detail. Aristotle's embryological views persisted throughout the Middle Ages until the 16th century. without significant changes. An important stage in the development of ecology was the publication of the works of the Dutch scientist W. Koiter (1573) and the Italian scientist Fabrizius of Acquapendente (1604), which contained new observations on the development of the chick embryo. A significant shift in the development of ecology occurred only in the mid-17th century, when W. Harvey’s work “Studies on the Origin of Animals” (1651) appeared, the material for which was the study of the development of the chicken and mammals. Harvey generalized ideas about the egg as the source of development of all animals, however, like Aristotle, he believed that the development of vertebrates occurs mainly through epigenesis, argued that not a single part of the future fetus “exists in the egg actually, but all parts are in it potentially "; however, for insects, he assumed that their body arises through “metamorphosis” of the initially preceding parts. Harvey did not see mammal eggs, nor did the Dutch scientist R. de Graaf (1672), who mistook ovarian follicles for eggs, which were later called Graafian vesicles. The Italian scientist M. Malpighi (1672) using a microscope discovered organs at those stages of chicken development at which it was previously impossible to see the formed parts of the embryo. Malpighi joined the preformist ideas , dominant in embryology almost until the end of the 18th century; their main defenders were the Swiss scientists A. Haller and C. Bonnet. A decisive blow to the ideas of preformation, inextricably linked with the idea of the immutability of living beings, was dealt by K. F. Wolf in his dissertation “The Theory of Generation” (1759, published in Russian in 1950). In Russia, the influence of Wolf's ideas was felt in the embryological studies of L. Tredern, H. I. Pander and K. M. Baer.

The founder of modern E. K. M. Baer discovered and described in 1827 an egg in the ovary of mammals and humans. In his classic work “On the History of the Development of Animals,” Baer was the first to describe in detail the main features of the embryogenesis of a number of vertebrates. He developed the concept of germ layers as the main embryonic organs and clarified their subsequent fate. Comparative observations of the embryonic development of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish led Baer to theoretical conclusions, the most important of which is the law of similarity of embryos belonging to different classes of vertebrates; This similarity is even greater the younger the embryo. Baer associated this fact with the fact that in the embryo, as it develops, the properties of a type, then a class, an order, etc. appear first; species and individual characteristics appear last.

Karl Baer, in his works on embryology, formulated patterns that were later called "Baer's Laws":

most general signs of any large group of animals appear in the embryo earlier than less general characters;
after the formation of the most general characteristics, less general ones appear, and so on until the appearance of special characteristics characteristic of a given group;
the embryo of any species of animal, as it develops, becomes less and less similar to the embryos of other species and does not pass through the later stages of their development;
the embryo of a highly organized species may resemble the embryo of a more primitive species, but is never similar to the adult form of this species.

In the book “On the history of animal development. Observations and Reflections”, published in Königsberg in 1837, Karl Baer came to the conclusion that “The history of nature is only the history of the ongoing victory of spirit over matter... it makes individuals and ranks of creatures disappear from the face of the Earth and re-builds modernity on the ruins of an exorbitant past.”

Karl Ernst, or, as he was called in Russia, Karl Maksimovich Baer, was born on February 17 (28), 1792 in the town of Pip, in the Gervensky district of the Estonian province. Baer's father, Magnus von Baer, belonged to the Estonian nobility and was married to his cousin Julia von Baer.

Little Karl early began to be interested in various objects of nature and often brought home various fossils, snails and the like. As a seven-year-old boy, Baer not only did not yet know how to read, but also did not know a single letter. Subsequently, he was very pleased that “he was not one of those phenomenal children who, because of the ambition of their parents, are deprived of a bright childhood.”
In 1810 he entered the University of Dorpat (Tartu), from which he graduated in 1814. Baer passed the examination for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He presented and defended his dissertation “On endemic diseases in Estonia” (Dissertatio inaugurales medica de morbis inter esthonos endemicis. Auctor Carolus Ernestus Baer. Dorpat, litteris Schummanni. 1814. 88 pp.).

In the depths of the Internet I found interesting information about Estonians, allegedly taken from the materials of this dissertation:

« All of them, to the last, are German serfs - poor and tedious in using many things... Estonians are very greedy. The northern country itself makes it easy to assume this; however, their neighbors on the same geographic latitude they are far superior in this. Hence the reasons why, from childhood, the stomach is overfilled and stretched... These people also strive for a more joyful mood, in order to forget at least for a moment the oppressive conditions of life, although their rough soul finds solace only in wild and violent joy, and calm joy is alien to it... As for spiritual culture, most European peoples surpass them significantly, for very few Estonians have learned to write... Of the shortcomings, which cannot be denied in any way, I would list them: laziness, uncleanliness, excessive servility towards the strong and cruelty, savagery towards the weaker...”

However, Estonians in Tartu 10 years after Baer’s death, on November 16, 1886, a monument to the great scientist was erected using public money (sculptor Opekushin).

And on the 2-kroon Estonian banknote, Estonians also depicted a portrait of Baer.

After graduating from the University of Dorpat, Baer went abroad, choosing to continue his medical education Vienna, where such famous people as Hildebrand, Rust, Beer and others taught. In the fall of 1815, Baer arrived in Würzburg to visit another famous scientist, Dellinger, to whom he presented, instead of a letter of recommendation, a bag of mosses, explaining his desire to study comparative anatomy. The very next day, Karl, under the guidance of the old scientist, began to dissect a leech from the pharmacy. In this way he independently studied the structure of various animals. All his life, Baer remained deeply grateful to Dellinger, who spared neither time nor labor for his education. From then on, Baer’s teaching and scientific activities entered into their permanent rut. He led practical exercises students in the anatomical theater, taught courses on human anatomy and anthropology, and found time to prepare and publish special independent works.

In 1819, he became an extraordinary professor of zoology at the University of Königsberg with instructions to set up a zoological museum at the university. In general, this year was a happy one in Baer’s life: he married one of the residents of Königsberg, Augusta von Medem. Gradually, in Königsberg, Baer became one of the prominent and beloved members of intelligent society - not only among professors, but also in many families that were not directly related to the university.

Fluent in German literary language Baer sometimes wrote German poetry, which was quite good and smooth. “I must repent,” says Baer in his autobiography, “that one day it seriously occurred to me that there might not be a poet in me. But my attempts revealed to me that Apollo was not sitting at my cradle. If I did not write humorous poetry, then the ridiculous element still involuntarily crept in in the form of empty pathos or tearing elegy.”

In the fall of 1829, Baer went to Russia. But after a short stay in St. Petersburg, which made an unfavorable impression on him, the scientist again settled in Königsberg, to the great joy of his family and friends. His situation continued to improve: the government allocated funds for the construction of a new building for the zoological museum, in which Baer was allocated an apartment.

Baer continued his scientific studies with extraordinary zeal. He sat over the microscope all day long and, in the end, greatly upset his naturally strong health. While Beer was thinking about how he could change his situation, an unforeseen event entailed new turn in his career. The elder brother Ludwig fell ill and died; the family estate he managed in Estland was burdened with debts and required good management, which could nowhere else be expected except from Karl. Thus, Baer had to go to Estland again.

He decides to send a request to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences: is there any free space for him in it? The Academy responded by electing Baer back to its membership, and thus Baer’s final resettlement to Russia was decided. At the end of 1834, Baer was already living in St. Petersburg.

From the capital, the scientist in the summer of 1837 traveled to New Earth, where no naturalist had ever been before. Behr was delighted with the abundance and novelty of the impressions made on him by this poor and brutally harsh country.

This journey entailed a desire for new similar enterprises. In 1839, Baer traveled with his eldest son Karl to explore the islands of the Gulf of Finland, and in 1840, together with his future famous traveler Middendorf visited the Kola Peninsula. Thus, Baer became more and more involved in the study of geography, and from 1840 he began to publish, together with Helmersen, a special journal at the academy, entitled “Materials for Knowledge Russian Empire».

His travels, however, were temporarily interrupted by the new responsibilities assigned to him. Since 1841, the scientist was appointed ordinary professor of comparative anatomy and physiology at the Medical-Surgical Academy. But the position of professor, although it significantly increased his salary, was so burdensome for him, leaving at the same time no convenience for independent zoological work, that Baer resigned this title in 1852.

In 1851, Baer presented to the Academy of Sciences a large article “On Man,” intended for Semashko’s “Russian Fauna” and translated into Russian.

Since 1851, a series of Baer's travels to different places in Russia began, undertaken for practical purposes and involving Baer, in addition to geographical and ethnographic research, in the field of applied zoology. He conducted expeditions to Lake Peipsi and the shores of Baltic Sea, to the Volga and the Caspian Sea. His “Caspian Research” in eight parts is very rich in scientific results. In this work by Baer, the eighth part is most interesting - “ On the universal law of formation of river channels" We are talking about a remarkable phenomenon, which later received the name Beer's law, under this name it was included in geography textbooks. Baer, during his numerous travels, could not help but notice that on Russian rivers the right bank (if you look in the direction of the river flow) is usually high, and the left bank is low. Thinking about the reason for this phenomenon, he came to the following theory. If flowing water is directed approximately parallel to the meridian, from the equator to the pole, then due to the rotation of the globe from west to east, the water brings with it a greater rotation speed than in northern latitudes, will press with particular force on the eastern, that is, right bank, which will therefore be steeper and higher than the left.

K.M. Baer is also known as one of the largest anthropologists of his time, as an organizer of anthropological and ethnographic research in Russia. Of particular interest is his work “On the Origin and Distribution of Human Tribes” (1822), which develops the view of the origin of humanity from a common root, that the differences between human races developed after their settlement from a common center, under the influence of various natural conditions in their habitat areas. Perhaps, for the first time, this work is not just a collection of anthropological information, and does not boil down to a simple postulation of some idea, but is an attempt at a demonstrative logical conclusion of a certain hypothesis. In 1824 K.M. Baer published his lectures on anthropology. Of the three parts conceived by the author, only the first was published—anthropography, which sets out the fundamentals of human anatomy and physiology. The other two parts were to be devoted to the comparison of man with animals, his position in the system of the animal world, as well as a description of the differences within humanity, the question of divisions within the species, and the influence of climatic factors and living conditions on the structure of man. Unfortunately, the work never saw the light of day in its completed form. Partially his ideas K.M. Baer outlined it in a number of popular articles published in the 50s and 60s. In Petersburg.
Since 1842 K.M. Baer heads the Anatomical Cabinet of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, where a small craniological collection, the famous Peter's collection of freaks and anatomical preparations acquired by Peter I from the Dutch anatomist Ruysch. Thanks to Baer, this office becomes the basis of a future major museum. Baer led him and devoted a lot of effort to replenishing and systematizing, first of all, his craniological collections. In the process of studying them, Baer published a number of articles on craniology. The first of them dates back to 1844 and is devoted to the description of the Karagas skull, which he compares with the Samoyed and Buryat skulls. This is not only the first craniological work in Russia, but, undoubtedly, one of the first craniological studies, in which many methodological and general issues anthropology.
An article by K.M. dates back to 1859. Baer "On the Papuans and Alfurs", which sets out in detail his views on the origin human races. He also owns special works - on deformed skulls, on the craniological type of the Slavs and a number of others. K.M. Baer was the founder of the study of the anthropological type of the Kurgan Slavic population of Russia and the direct predecessor of the outstanding works of A.P. Bogdanov in this area.
It should be noted especially the merits of Baer in the development programs and methods of anthropological, primarily craniological research. Already in the works of the 40s and 50s, he points out the need to develop uniform principles of measurement human body(primarily skulls). K.M. Baer initiated the Congress of Anthropologists, which took place in Göttingen in 1861. The methods and program of craniological research he proposed at the congress formed the basis for further work craniologists both in Russia and abroad.
From theoretical problems anthropology the greatest attention to K.M. Baer was interested in questions of the origin of human races and factors in the emergence of racial characteristics. The main point that he developed in his works is that differences, both in the physical type and in the culture of peoples, are due to the peculiarities of the geographical environment, the influence of climate and terrain (the tradition of J.B. Lamarck). He consistently develops the hypothesis of a single origin of humanity and its settlement from a single center (the theory monocentrism). These views stemmed from the recognition of the variability of forms in the animal world and the common origin of related species. Throughout his entire career, K.M. Baer adhered to the theory transformism.

In 1835 K.M. Baer, in addition to his main activities at the Academy, showed a desire to work on the Library. He was appointed director of the Foreign Department of the academic library and remained in this post until his retirement in 1862.

The largest event to improve the organization of book collections and catalogs was the creation of a new scientific library classification, thanks to which library collections began to form and arrange themselves in accordance with the level of development of precise natural and humanities. In accordance with this scheme, all foreign books and magazines were encrypted and arranged until 1929. Currently, this fund is part of the main foreign fund of the BAN and is called the “Baer Fund”, being an active, actively used book collection.

Baer made a huge contribution to solving practical problems in studying and rationalizing fisheries on Lake Peipsi, the Caspian and Seas of Azov. He spent 4 years (1853-1856) on expeditions in the Caspian Sea. Predatory fishing by private industrialists at the mouth of the Volga and in the Caspian Sea, the main region of fish production in Russia at that time, led, as it does today, to a catastrophic drop in fish catches and threatened the loss of this major fishing base. To accomplish this task, Baer decided to first conduct a detailed study of the hydrological and hydrobiological features of the Caspian Sea, which had been completely unstudied before. Wherein. he furrowed the Caspian Sea in several directions from Astrakhan to the shores of Persia. He established that the reason for the decline in catches was not at all in the impoverishment of nature, but in the acquisitive and selfish interests of private fish farmers, predatory methods of fishing and irrational primitive methods of processing them, which he called “insane waste of nature’s gifts.” You cannot catch fish before and during spawning, you cannot avoid reproducing fish using artificial methods: nature is not a bottomless barrel. Baer demanded the introduction state control for the protection of fish stocks and their restoration.

A unique publication was discovered in the depths of the Internet: Baer, Karl Maksimovich “Drawings for the study of the Caspian fisheries”. Published by the Ministry of State Property. St. Petersburg, in the printing house of V. Bezobrazov, 1861. Numerous color and tone lithographs, in addition to scientific ones, also have artistic significance. Rarity!

Although Baer enjoyed general respect and had no shortage of friendly company, he did not particularly like life in St. Petersburg. Therefore, he looked for an opportunity to leave St. Petersburg and go somewhere to live out the rest of his life in peace, devoting himself exclusively to his scientific inclinations, without any official duties. In 1862, he retired and was elected an honorary member of the academy.

On August 18, 1864, a solemn celebration of his anniversary took place at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The Emperor granted the hero of the day a lifelong annual pension of 3 thousand rubles, and the Baer Prize was established at the Academy of Sciences for outstanding research in the natural sciences.

Baer was very witty, and his apt, cheerfully, kindly humor came through both in his speeches and in his writings, sometimes even in articles of a special nature. As an example of this humor, it is worth quoting the following excerpt from his speech, said in response to Middendorf’s greeting during the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Baer’s scientific activity:

“In closing,” Baer said, “let me once again thank everyone present for their participation and try to repay them for this new theory. Death, as everyone knows, has been proven by experience, and this experience has been repeated very often, but the necessity of death has still not been proven at all. Lower organisms often live only during one specific season of the year, and their life does not extend beyond these limits, unless they leave the embryos of new individuals; These are, for example, annual plants. But that organisms that survive winter and summer and have the means to accumulate food materials, that these organisms must necessarily die - this, I repeat, has not been proven. The famous Harvey once dissected a man who died in the 152nd year of his life, and found all his organs completely healthy, so that this man probably could have lived even longer if he had not been moved from the village for better care , to the capital, where he died from too good care. I am therefore inclined to consider death merely a manifestation of imitation, something like fashion - and fashion is completely unnecessary. This conviction is also strengthened by the philosophy of Schopenhauer, which considers everything that exists as a manifestation of will. If a stone falls, it is only a consequence of the will inherent in it, causing it to fall, just as I walk as a result of my will, prompting me to walk. And so I set myself the task of not wishing for death, and if my organs do not want to fulfill their duties, then I will oppose my will to their will, to which they will have to submit. I advise everyone present to do the same and invite you all to my second doctoral anniversary in 50 years at the same place and only ask you to give me the honor of allowing you to receive you as guests, as a host."

These words, coming from the mouth of a 72-year-old man, amaze as much with their witty humor as with their cheerfulness, which is rarely found in young man. They eloquently testify to the fullness of spiritual strength and clarity of mind characteristic of Baer even in his advanced years!

Karl Baer belonged to those scientists whose inspiration connects science with poetry.

After the anniversary, Behr considered his St. Petersburg career to be completely over and decided to move to Dorpat, since if he went abroad, he would be too far away from his children. By this time, Baer's family had shrunk greatly: his only daughter Maria married Dr. von Lingen in 1850, and of his six sons only three survived; Baer's wife died in the spring of 1864. In the early summer of 1867, he moved to his native university town.

The elderly scientist continued to be interested in science here, in retirement. He prepared his unpublished works for publication and, whenever possible, followed the progress of knowledge. His mind was still clear and active, but his physical strength began to betray him more and more. On November 16 (28), 1876, Baer died quietly, as if he had fallen asleep.

Karl Maksimovich Baer(Karl Ernst) (1792-1876) - naturalist, founder of embryology, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society, foreign corresponding member (1826), academician (1828-30 and 1834-62; honorary member since 1862) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Born in Estland. Worked in Austria and Germany; in 1829-30 and from 1834 - in Russia. Discovered the egg cell in mammals, described the blastula stage; studied chick embryogenesis.

Karl Baer established the similarity of embryos of higher and lower animals, the sequential appearance in embryogenesis of characters of type, class, order, etc.; described the development of all major organs of vertebrates. Explored Novaya Zemlya and the Caspian Sea. K. Baer - editor of a series of publications on Russian geography . Explained the pattern of erosion of river banks (Beer's law: rivers flowing in the direction of the meridian, in the Northern Hemisphere, wash away the right bank, in the Southern Hemisphere, the left bank. Explained by the influence of the daily rotation of the Earth on the movement of water particles in the river.).

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Karl Ernst von Baer Biology teacher Kuzyaeva A.M. Nizhny Novgorod

Karl Ernst von Baer (February 17, 1792 - November 28, 1876) Karl Ernst von Baer, or, as he was called in Russia, Karl Maksimovich Baer, one of the founders of embryology and comparative anatomy, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, president of the Russian Entomological Society, one of the founders Russian Geographical Society. Ichthyologist, geographer, anthropologist and ethnographer.

Baer was born on February 28, 1792 on his father’s estate Pin, Estonian province (Tartu, Estonia); Baer's father, Magnus von Baer, belonged to the Estonian nobility. Home teachers taught Karl. In August 1807, the boy entered a noble school in Revel. in 1810 - 1814 he studied medicine at the University of Dorpat and in 1812 - 1813 he had the opportunity to study it practically in a large military hospital in Riga. In 1814, Baer passed the examination for the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

To improve his science, Karl Baer went to Germany, where, under the leadership of Dellinger, he studied comparative anatomy in Würzburg; met Nees von Esenbeck, who had a great influence on his mental direction. Since 1817, Baer has been Burdach's prosector in Königsberg. In 1819 he was appointed extraordinary, and soon after that ordinary professor of zoology. In 1826 he was appointed ordinary professor of anatomy and director of the anatomical institute. In the same year, Baer discovered the mammalian egg. In 1828, the first volume of the famous “History of Animal Development” appeared in print. In 1829 he was invited as an academician and professor of zoology at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Johann Döllinger Nes von Esenbeck

In the summer of 1837 he made a trip to Novaya Zemlya, where no naturalist had ever been before. In 1839, Baer traveled to explore the islands of the Gulf of Finland. In 1840 he visited the Kola Peninsula. Since 1840, Baer began to publish, together with Helmersen, a special journal at the academy, called “Materials for the Knowledge of the Russian Empire.”

Since 1841, Baer was appointed to the department of comparative anatomy and physiology at the Medical-Surgical Academy, specially founded for him, as an ordinary professor. The scientist works together with surgeon N.I. Pirogov. In 1851, Baer presented to the Academy of Sciences a large article “About Man”, intended for “Russian Fauna” by Yu.I. Simashko and translated into Russian. K. Beer N.I. Pirogov

Since 1851, Baer began traveling around Russia with practical purposes and, in addition to geographical and ethnographic research, in the field of applied zoology (to Lake Peipsi, the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Volga and the Caspian Sea). In the spring of 1857, the scientist returned to St. Petersburg and became interested in anthropology. He brought into operation and enriched the collection of human skulls in the anatomical museum of the Academy of Sciences. In 1862, he retired and was elected an honorary member of the Academy. On August 18, 1864, a solemn celebration of his anniversary took place at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. After the anniversary, Baer considered his St. Petersburg career irrevocably completed and decided to move to Dorpat. In the early summer of 1867, he moved to a nearby university town.

Baer's Laws The most general characteristics of any large group of animals appear in the embryo earlier than less general characters; after the formation of the most general characteristics, less general ones appear, and so on until the appearance of special characteristics characteristic of a given group; the embryo of any species of animal, as it develops, becomes less and less similar to the embryos of other species and does not pass through the later stages of their development; the embryo of a highly organized species may resemble the embryo of a more primitive species, but is never similar to the adult form of this species.

The law of germinal similarity Karl Ernst von Baer showed that the development of all organisms begins with the egg. In this case, the following patterns are observed, common to all vertebrates: at the early stages of development, a striking similarity is found in the structure of the embryos of animals belonging to different classes (in this case, the embryo of the highest form is similar not to the adult animal form, but to its embryo); in the embryos of each large group of animals, general characteristics are formed earlier than special ones; in progress embryonic development there is a divergence of signs from more general to special.

On November 16 (November 28), 1876, Baer died quietly, as if he had fallen asleep. In November 1886, a monument to Baer was erected in Tartu. Monuments were also installed at the entrance to the Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in the Library of the Academy of Sciences (BAN) in St. Petersburg. In 1864, the prize was approved. Bera. K. Bär on the Estonian 2 kroon banknote Karl von Bär is depicted on the two Estonian kroon banknote.

Karl Maksimovich Baer (Karl Ernst) (1792-1876) - naturalist, founder of embryology, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society, foreign corresponding member (1826), academician (1828-30 and 1834-62; honorary member from 1862) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences . Born in Estland. Worked in Austria and Germany; in 1829-30 and from 1834 - in Russia. Discovered the egg cell in mammals, described the blastula stage; studied chick embryogenesis.

Alcohol takes away more human lives than the worst epidemic.

Bär Karl Ernst von

Karl Baer established the similarity of embryos of higher and lower animals, the sequential appearance in embryogenesis of characters of type, class, order, etc.; described the development of all major organs of vertebrates. Explored Novaya Zemlya and the Caspian Sea. K. Baer is the editor of a series of publications on Russian geography. Explained the pattern of erosion of river banks (Beer's law: rivers flowing in the direction of the meridian, in the Northern Hemisphere, wash away the right bank, in the Southern Hemisphere, the left bank. Explained by the influence of the daily rotation of the Earth on the movement of water particles in the river.).

Karl Ernst, or, as he was called in Russia, Karl Maksimovich Baer, was born on February 17, 1792 in the town of Pip, in the Gerven district of the Estonian province. Baer's father, Magnus von Baer, belonged to the Estonian nobility and was married to his cousin Julia von Baer.

Little Karl early began to be interested in various objects of nature and often brought home various fossils, snails and the like. As a seven-year-old boy, Karl Baer not only could not read, but also did not know a single letter. Subsequently, he was very pleased that “he was not one of those phenomenal children who, because of the ambition of their parents, are deprived of a bright childhood.”

Science is eternal in its source, not limited in its activity by either time or space, immeasurable in its appearance, infinite in its task...

Bär Karl Ernst von

Then home teachers taught Karl. He studied mathematics, geography, Latin and French and other items. Eleven-year-old Karl has already become familiar with algebra, geometry and trigonometry.

In August 1807, Karl was taken to the noble school at the city cathedral in Revel. After questioning, which took the form of an exam, the school director assigned him to the senior class (prima), ordering him to attend only lessons in the lower classes. Greek language, in which Baer was completely unprepared.

In the first half of 1810, Karl completed his school course. He enters the University of Dorpat. In Dorpat, Baer decided to choose a medical career, although, by his own admission, he himself did not know well why he was making this choice.

When Napoleon's invasion of Russia followed in 1812 and MacDonald's army threatened Riga, many of the Dorpat students, including Baer, went, like true patriots, to the theater of war in Riga, where typhus was raging in the Russian garrison and in the city population. Karl also fell ill with typhus, but survived the disease safely.

I have always been filled with the desire not to say anything that I could not prove.

Bär Karl Ernst von

In 1814, Karl Baer passed the examination for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He presented and defended his dissertation “On endemic diseases in Estonia.” But still realizing the inadequacy of the knowledge he had acquired, he asked his father to send him abroad to complete his medical education. His father gave him a small amount, on which, according to Baer's calculations, he could live for a year and a half, and his older brother lent him the same amount.

K. Beer went abroad, choosing Vienna to continue his medical education, where such famous people as Hildebrand, Rust, Beer and others taught. In the fall of 1815, Baer arrived in Würzburg to visit another famous scientist, Döllinger, to whom he presented, instead of a letter of recommendation, a bag of mosses, explaining his desire to study comparative anatomy. The very next day, Karl Baer, under the guidance of an old scientist, began dissecting a leech from a pharmacy. In this way, he independently studied the structure of various animals. Throughout his life, Baer remained deeply grateful to Dellinger, who spared neither time nor labor for his education.

Meanwhile, Karl Baer's funds were coming to an end, so he was delighted with the offer of Professor Burdach to join him as a dissector at the Department of Physiology at the University of Königsberg. As a dissector, Baer immediately opened a course in the comparative anatomy of invertebrate animals, which was of an applied nature, since it consisted mainly of showing and explaining anatomical preparations and drawings.

Since then, Karl Baer's teaching and scientific activities have entered into their permanent rut. He supervised practical classes for students in the anatomical theater, taught courses in human anatomy and anthropology, and found time to prepare and publish special independent works.

In 1819, Karl Baer managed to get a promotion: he was appointed extraordinary professor of zoology with instructions to set up a zoological museum at the university. In general, this year was a happy one in Baer’s life: he married one of the residents of Koenigsberg, Augusta von Medem.

Gradually, in Konigsberg, Baer became one of the prominent and beloved members of intelligent society - not only among professors, but also in many families that were not directly related to the university. Having an excellent command of the German literary language, Karl Baer sometimes wrote German poetry, which was quite good and smooth. “I must repent,” says Baer in his autobiography, “that one day it seriously occurred to me that there might not be a poet in me. But my attempts revealed to me that Apollo was not sitting at my cradle. If I did not write humorous poetry, then the ridiculous element still involuntarily crept in in the form of empty pathos or tearing elegy.”

In 1826, Baer was appointed ordinary professor of anatomy and director of the anatomical institute, relieved of his duties as a prosector. It was a time of growth in the creative scientific activity of the scientist. In addition to the lectures on zoology and anatomy that he gave at the university, he wrote a number of special works on the anatomy of animals, and made many reports in scientific societies on natural history and anthropology. The author of the theory of types, based on comparative anatomical data, by right of priority, is Georges Cuvier, who published his theory in 1812. Baer independently came to similar conclusions, but published his work only in 1826. However, the theory of types would have much less significance if it were based solely on anatomy and was not supported by data from the history of the development of organisms. The latter was done by Baer, and this gives him the right to be considered, along with Cuvier, the founder of the theory of types.

But Baer's greatest success came from embryological research. In 1828, the first volume of his famous “History of Animal Development” appeared in print. Baer, while studying chick embryology, observed that early stage development, when two parallel ridges form on the germinal plate, subsequently closing and forming the brain tube. The scientist was struck by the idea that “the type guides development, the embryo develops, following the basic plan according to which the body of organisms of a given class is structured.” He turned to other vertebrate animals and in their development he found brilliant confirmation of his thought.

The enormous significance of the “History of Animal Development” published by Baer lies not only in the clear clarification of the basic embryological processes, but mainly in the brilliant conclusions presented at the end of the first volume of this work under common name"Scholia and Corollaria". The famous zoologist Balfour said that all research on vertebrate embryology that came out after Karl Baer can be considered as additions and amendments to his work, but cannot provide anything as new and important as the results obtained by Baer.

Asking himself a question about the essence of development, Karl Baer answered it: all development consists in the transformation of something previously existing. “This position is so simple and artless,” says another scientist, “that it seems almost meaningless. And yet it has great importance" The fact is that in the process of development, each new formation arises from a simpler pre-existing basis. Thus, an important law of development is revealed - in the embryo it appears approximately parallel to the meridian, from the equator to the pole, then due to the rotation of the globe from west to east, water, bringing with it a greater speed of rotation than in northern latitudes, will press with particular force on the eastern , that is, the right bank, which will therefore be steeper and higher than the left.

In the spring of 1857, Karl Baer returned to St. Petersburg. He felt too old for long and tedious wanderings. Now Baer devoted himself primarily to anthropology. He tidied up and enriched the collection of human skulls in the Academy's anatomical museum, gradually turning it into an anthropological museum. In 1858, he traveled to Germany in the summer, took part in a congress of naturalists and doctors in Karlsruhe and was engaged in craniological research at the Basel Museum.

In addition to anthropology, Karl Baer, however, did not cease to be interested in other branches of natural science, trying to promote their development and dissemination in Russia. Thus, he took an active part in the creation and organization of the Russian Entomological Society and became its first president. Although Baer enjoyed general respect and had no shortage of friendly company, he did not particularly like life in St. Petersburg. Therefore, he looked for an opportunity to leave St. Petersburg and go somewhere to live out the rest of his life in peace, devoting himself exclusively to his scientific inclinations, without any official duties. In 1862, he retired and was elected an honorary member of the Academy.

After the anniversary, Karl Baer considered his St. Petersburg career to be completely over and decided to move to Dorpat, since if he went abroad, he would be too far away from his children. By this time, Baer's family had shrunk greatly: his only daughter Maria married Dr. von Lingen in 1850, and of his six sons only three survived; Baer's wife died in the spring of 1864. In the early summer of 1867, he moved to his native university town.

The elderly scientist continued to be interested in science here, in retirement. He prepared his unpublished works for publication and, whenever possible, followed the progress of knowledge. His mind was still clear and active, but his physical strength began to fail him more and more. On November 16, 1876, Karl Baer died quietly. (Samin D.K. 100 great scientists. - M.: Veche, 2000)

More about Karl Baer:

Baer (Karl Maksimovich, Karl Ernest) is one of the most versatile and outstanding naturalists of modern times, especially the famous embryologist. He was born on February 28, 1792 in his father’s estate Pin, Estonian province; attended the Revel gymnasium; in 1810 - 1814 he studied medicine at the University of Dorpat and in 1812 - 13 he had the opportunity to study it practically in a large military hospital in Riga.

To further improve his science, Karl Baer went to Germany, where, under the leadership of Dellinger, he studied comparative anatomy in Würzburg; at this time he met Nees von Esenbeck and this acquaintance had a great influence on his mental direction. Since 1817, Baer has been Burdach's prosector in Konigsberg, in 1819 he was appointed extraordinary, and soon after that ordinary professor of zoology; in 1826 he took over the leadership of the anatomical institute instead of Burdakh, and in 1829 he was invited as an academician to the St. Petersburg Academician. sciences; but already in 1830, for family reasons, he resigned his title of academician and returned to Konigsberg.

Invited again to the Academy, Karl Baer moved again to St. Petersburg a few years later and since then remained here and was one of the most active members of the Academy of Sciences. He undertook several trips at the expense of the government to explore Russia, and published their results partly in Memoires and partly in the Bulletin of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1851 - 56, on behalf of the government, he began researching fisheries on Lake Peypuse, on the Russian shores of the Baltic Sea and on the Caspian Sea, and presented the results in the second volume of the essay “Research on the State of Fisheries in Russia” (St. Petersburg, 1860); in 1862 he left the Academy and was elected an honorary member of it.

Karl Baer died in Dorpat on November 28, 1876. His works are distinguished by their philosophical depth and, in their clear and precise presentation, are as attractive as they are generally understandable. He dealt primarily with embryology, and science owes him the most important data on the history of the development of organic bodies. Beginning with “Epistola de ovi mammalium et hominis genesi” (Leipzig, 1827), Baer continued his research on this subject. “Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere” (2 volumes, Königsberg, 1828 - 37) - a work that constitutes an era in embryology; “Untersuchungen Uber die Entwickelung der Fische” (Leipz., 1835).

Later he published the essay “Ueberdoppelleibige Missgeburten” (St. Petersburg, 1845). Then, in addition to a number of articles on anthropology and especially craniology, Karl Baer also published “Selbstbiographie” (St. Petersburg, 1866) and “Reden, gehalten in wissenschaftlichen Versammlungen und kleine Aufsatze vermischten Inhalts” (3 volumes, 1864 - 75). The “Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reichs” published by him and Helmersen (volumes 1 - 26, St. Petersburg, 1839 - 68) contains many of Baer’s works, especially reports on scientific trips to explore Russia (vol. 9, St. Petersburg, 1845 - 55).

After the death of Karl Baer, Stida published his work “Ueber die homerischen Localitaten in der Odyssee” (Braunschweig, 1877); You can also learn about Baer from Steed “K. E. von Baer. Eine biographische Skizze" (Brunschweig, 1877).

In addition to those mentioned, Karl Baer left many works, of which the most important are the following: “Ueber Medusa aurea” (Meckel's Archiv, 1823. Bd. VIII); “Ueber die Kiemen und Kiemengefasse in den Embryonen der Wirbelthiere” (ibid., 1827); , Bd. IX and XII); “Beitrag zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Schildkroeten” (Muller's Arch. 1834); "Ueber das Grefassystem des Braunfisches" (Nova Act. Acad. C. L. naturae curios. 1834. Bd. XVII); “Bemerkungen ueber die Entwickelungesgeschichte der Muschein” (Froriep’s Notiz., Bd. XIII); “Entwickelungsgeschichte der ungeschwanten Batrachier” (Bull. sc. I. No. 1); “Delphini phocaena anatome Sectio prima” (ibid., I No. . 4. 1836); “Expedition nach Lappland und Nowaja Semlja” (ibid. III vol.); “Ueber das Skelet der Navaga” (ibid., III vol. 1838); Mem. VI Ser. T. IV 1838); “Ueber ein neues Projekt Austern-Banke an der Russischen Ostsee-Kuste anzulegen” (ibid., vol. IV); “Ein Wort uber einen blinden Fisch” (ibid., vol. IV); “Man in Natural History” (“Russian Fauna” by Yul. Simashko, St. Petersburg, 1851); “On Caspian fishing” (Journal of the Min. State. Named after 1853. Part I); “Why is it that our rivers flowing from north to south have a high right bank and a low bank on the left?” (“Sea Collection” 1858 book 5,); "Crania selecta" (Mem. Ac. S. Petersb. VI Ser. T X. 1858); “Do whales really throw up water columns?” (“Naturalist”, 1864); “Man’s Place in Nature” (ibid., 1865).

Karl Ernst von Baer - quotes

Alcohol claims more lives than the worst epidemic.

Science is eternal in its source, not limited in its activity by either time or space, immeasurable in its appearance, infinite in its task...

I have always been filled with the desire not to say anything that I could not prove.

Karl Ernst von Baer(German) Karl Ernst von Baer), or, as it was called in Russia, Karl Maksimovich Baer, February 17, 1792 - November 28, 1876), one of the founders of embryology and comparative anatomy, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, president of the Russian Entomological Society, one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society.

Born into a family of Baltic Germans on the Pip estate (German). Piep; in Estonian Piibe(Estonian Piibe)) in the territory of the parish Marien-Magdalenen(German) St. Marien-Magdalenen; in Estonian version - arrival Koeru(Estonian: Koeru kihelkond)) Weisenstein district of the Estonian province (now in the territory of the Rakke volost of the Lääne-Virumaa district of Estonia).

Baer's father, Magnus von Baer, belonged to the Estonian nobility and was married to his cousin Julia von Baer. Home teachers taught Karl. He studied mathematics, geography, Latin and French and other subjects. Eleven-year-old Karl has already become familiar with algebra, geometry and trigonometry.

In August 1807, the boy was taken to the noble school at the city cathedral in Reval (now Tallinn). In the first half of 1810, Karl completed his school course. He enters the University of Dorpat. In Dorpat (now Tartu), Baer decided to choose a medical career.

In 1814, Baer passed the examination for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He presented and defended his dissertation “On endemic diseases in Estonia” (Dissertatio inaugurales medica de morbis inter esthonos endemicis. Auctor Carolus Ernestus Baer. Dorpat, litteris Schummanni. 1814. 88 pp.). Baer went abroad, choosing Vienna to continue his medical education.

Professor Burdach invited Baer to join him as a dissector at the Department of Physiology at the University of Königsberg. As a dissector, Baer opened a course in the comparative anatomy of invertebrate animals, which was of an applied nature, since it consisted mainly of showing and explaining anatomical preparations and drawings.

In 1826, Baer was appointed ordinary professor of anatomy and director of the anatomical institute, freed from his duties as a prosector.

In 1828, the first volume of the famous “History of Animal Development” appeared in print. Baer, studying the embryology of the chicken, observed that early stage of development when two parallel ridges are formed on the germ plate, which subsequently interlock and form the brain tube. Baer believed that in the process of development, each new formation arises from a simpler pre-existing basis. Thus, general foundations first appear in the embryo, and from them more and more specialized parts are isolated. This process of gradual movement from the general to the specific is known as differentiation. In this volume, Baer also described his Law of Germinal Similarity. In 1826, Baer discovered the mammalian egg. He published this discovery in the form of a message addressed to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which elected him as its corresponding member.

Another very important discovery made by Baer was the discovery of the dorsal chord (notochord), the basis of the internal skeleton of vertebrates.

At the end of 1834, Baer was already living in St. Petersburg. From the capital, in the summer of 1837, the scientist traveled to Novaya Zemlya, where no naturalist had ever been before.

In 1839, Baer traveled to explore the islands of the Gulf of Finland, and in 1840 he visited the Kola Peninsula. Since 1840, Baer began to publish, together with Helmersen, a special journal at the academy, called “Materials for the Knowledge of the Russian Empire.”

Since 1841, the scientist was appointed ordinary professor of comparative anatomy and physiology at the Medical-Surgical Academy.

In 1851, Baer presented to the Academy of Sciences a large article “On Man,” intended for Semashko’s “Russian Fauna” and translated into Russian.

Since 1851, a series of Baer's travels around Russia began, undertaken for practical purposes and involving Baer, in addition to geographical and ethnographic research, in the field of applied zoology. He led expeditions to Lake Peipus and the shores of the Baltic Sea, to the Volga and the Caspian Sea. His “Caspian Research” in eight parts is very rich in scientific results. In this work by Baer, the eighth part is most interesting - “On the universal law of the formation of river channels” (see Baer's Law). In the spring of 1857, the scientist returned to St. Petersburg. Now Baer devoted himself primarily to anthropology. He put in order and enriched the collection of human skulls in the anatomical museum of the Academy, gradually turning it into an anthropological museum.

In 1862, he retired and was elected an honorary member of the Academy.

On August 18, 1864, a solemn celebration of his anniversary took place at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. After the anniversary, Baer considered his St. Petersburg career completely over and decided to move to Dorpat. In the early summer of 1867, he moved to his native university town.