UNSW Embryology

History of Embryology-References
Embryology Home Page

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Introduction

These notes are intended to give some historic background to Embryology. Historically, say pre-20th century, Embryology was not easily separated from Medicine, Anatomy and Physiology and other biological sciences. I have also divided, for brevity, into pre-20th century, pre-molecular (lets call it 70's) and the current molecular embryology. Much of the modern history of Medicine/Embryology is documented in the Nobel Prizes for Medicine. There are either text extracts included or links to external texts or references in these notes.

Reading

Most Textbooks include Embryology Historic issues in the preface, opening chapter or within each chapter as a special section or highlighted text box. Therefore no specific chapter or page reference is shown for the texts below.

  • Human Embryology (2nd ed.) Larson
  • The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology (6th ed.) Moore and Persaud
  • Before we Are Born (5th ed.) Moore and Persaud
  • Essentials of Human Embryology Larson
  • Human Embryology Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald
  • Additional References-
  • Search PubMed- Medline

History of Science

by Henry Smith Williams

Book Sections: Index | Arabian Medicine | Mediaeval | The great anatomists | The coming of Harvey | Leeuwenhoek16th and 17th Medicine | Philosopher-Scientists | 18C Anat/Phys Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | 19th CAnat/ Phys Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Evolution Part 1 | Part 2 | Medicine 18th | 19th Pt1 | 19th Pt2 | Brain and Mind | Brain Structure

References

  • A HISTORY OF SCIENCE by Henry Smith Williams
  • THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES by Charles Darwin

List of References on Embryological History

Spradling AC.           [See Related Articles]

The Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Embryology.
Mol Med. 1997 Jul;3(7):417-9. No abstract available.
PMID: 9260153; UI: 97406770.

Hamburger V.           [See Related Articles]

Introduction: Johannes Holtfreter, pioneer in experimental embryology.
Dev Dyn. 1996 Mar;205(3):214-6. No abstract available.
PMID: 8850558; UI: 97003219.

Steinbeisser H.           [See Related Articles]

The impact of Spemann's concepts on molecular embryology.
Int J Dev Biol. 1996 Feb;40(1):63-8. No abstract available.
PMID: 8735912; UI: 96337460.
Noe A.           [See Related Articles]

Serial sections and human embryology: a new research initiative.
Comput Med Imaging Graph. 1996 Nov-Dec;20(6):415-22.
PMID: 9007209; UI: 97159693.

Gilbert SF.           [See Related Articles]

Bearing crosses: a historiography of genetics and embryology.
Am J Med Genet. 1998 Mar 5;76(2):168-82. Review.
PMID: 9511981; UI: 98170932.

Leperchey F, et al.           [See Related Articles]

[The origins of embryology. Epistemologic and cultural viewpoints].
Morphologie. 1998 Sep;82(258):19-28. French.
PMID: 9949997; UI: 99135156.

Sapp J.           [See Related Articles]

Jean Brachet, l'heredite generale and the origins of molecular embryology.
Pubbl Stn Zool Napoli II. 1997;19(1):69-87.
PMID: 9284643; UI: 97430536.

 

Diczfalusy E, et al.           [See Related Articles]

Introduction: from reproductive endocrinology to reproductive health. The short history of a new departure by ESHRE. European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Hum Reprod. 1996 Aug;11(8):1776-7. No abstract available.
PMID: 8921131; UI: 97079399.

 

Tiedemann H.           [See Related Articles]

The long road to chemical and molecular embryology. What amphibians can teach us on differentiation. An interview with Professor Heinz Tiedemann.
Int J Dev Biol. 1996 Feb;40(1):113-22. No abstract available.
PMID: 8735920; UI: 96337468.

Czihak G.           [See Related Articles]

Sea urchin embryology in the sixties.
Int J Dev Biol. 1996 Feb;40(1):97-101. No abstract available.
PMID: 8735918; UI: 96337466.

Fassler PE.           [See Related Articles]

Hans Spemann (1869-1941) and the Freiburg School of Embryology.
Int J Dev Biol. 1996 Feb;40(1):49-57. No abstract available.
PMID: 8735910; UI: 96337458.

Beetschen JC.           [See Related Articles]

Louis Sebastien Tredern de Lezerec (1780-18?), a forgotten pioneer of chick embryology.
Int J Dev Biol. 1995 Apr;39(2):299-308.
PMID: 7669542; UI: 95399148.

Jeziorski KG.           [See Related Articles]

Evolutionism and embryology in the Warsaw physicians' milieu in the years 1859-1939.
Clio Med. 1995;33:213-21. No abstract available.
PMID: 9061232; UI: 97214867.

Nakamura O.           [See Related Articles]

A view of amphibian embryology research in Japan through the scientific biography of Professor Osamu Nakamura.
Int J Dev Biol. 1994 Jun;38(2):155-65. No abstract available.
PMID: 7981025; UI: 95071811.

Okada TS.           [See Related Articles]

Experimental embryology in Japan, 1930-1960. A historical background of developmental biology in Japan.
Int J Dev Biol. 1994 Jun;38(2):135-54. No abstract available.
PMID: 7981024; UI: 95071810.

Allen GE.           [See Related Articles]

Inducers and 'organizers': Hans Spemann and experimental embryology.
Pubbl Stn Zool Napoli [II]. 1993;15(2):229-36. No abstract available.
PMID: 8153264; UI: 94204161.

Kohl F.           [See Related Articles]

[Karl Ernst von Baer: 1792-1876. On the 200th birthday of the "father of embryology"].
Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 1992 Dec 22;117(51-52):1976-9. German. No abstract available.
PMID: 1478173; UI: 93121886.

Alexandre H.           [See Related Articles]

A pioneer of experimental mammalian embryology: Jacques Mulnard.
Int J Dev Biol. 1992 Mar;36(1):25-7. No abstract available.
PMID: 1627471; UI: 92329317.

Mulnard JG.           [See Related Articles]

The Brussels School of Embryology.
Int J Dev Biol. 1992 Mar;36(1):17-24. No abstract available.
PMID: 1627468; UI: 92329313.

Schroder H.           [See Related Articles]

Classics revisited: Joseph Needham: 'Chemical Embryology'--Cambridge 1931.
Placenta. 1992 Jan-Feb;13(1):91-4. No abstract available.
PMID: 1502140; UI: 92366446.

Fischer JL.           [See Related Articles]

Laurent Chabry and the beginnings of experimental embryology in France.
Dev Biol (N Y 1985). 1991;7:31-41. No abstract available.
PMID: 1804216; UI: 92207419.

Burian RM, et al.           [See Related Articles]

Boris Ephrussi and the synthesis of genetics and embryology.
Dev Biol (N Y 1985). 1991;7:207-27. No abstract available.
PMID: 1804214; UI: 92207417.

Abir-Am PG.           [See Related Articles]

The philosophical background of Joseph Needham's work in chemical embryology.
Dev Biol (N Y 1985). 1991;7:159-80. No abstract available.
PMID: 1804212; UI: 92207415.

Churchill FB.           [See Related Articles]

The rise of classical descriptive embryology.
Dev Biol (N Y 1985). 1991;7:1-29. No abstract available.
PMID: 1804209; UI: 92207412.

[No authors listed]           [See Related Articles]

A conceptual history of modern embryology.
Dev Biol (N Y 1985). 1991;7:1-258. No abstract available.
PMID: 1804208; UI: 92207411.

Fischer JL.           [See Related Articles]

Experimental embryology in France (1887-1936).
Int J Dev Biol. 1990 Mar;34(1):11-23. No abstract available.
PMID: 2203449; UI: 90366468.

Le Minor JM.           [See Related Articles]

[History of embryology in Strasbourg].
Arch Anat Histol Embryol. 1990;73:67-82. French.
PMID: 1669683; UI: 94121494.

Motta PM.           [See Related Articles]

Marcello Malpighi: a pioneer in embryology and reproduction.
Prog Clin Biol Res. 1989;296:3-6. No abstract available.
PMID: 2662206; UI: 89297023.

O'Rahilly R, et al.           [See Related Articles]

[The Vesalius of human embryology].
Anat Anz. 1988;166(1-5):245-7. German.
PMID: 3056108; UI: 89048346.

Witkowski JA.           [See Related Articles]

Optimistic analysis--chemical embryology in Cambridge 1920-42.
Med Hist. 1987 Jul;31(3):247-68. No abstract available.
PMID: 3306218; UI: 87313843.

Brown DD.           [See Related Articles]

The Department of Embryology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Bioessays. 1987 Feb;6(2):92-6. No abstract available.
PMID: 3551951; UI: 87184517.

Mulnard JG.           [See Related Articles]

An historical survey of some basic contributions to causal mammalian embryology.
Hum Reprod. 1986 Sep;1(6):373-80. No abstract available.
PMID: 3549771; UI: 87166671.

Muller F, et al.           [See Related Articles]

[Wilhelm His and 100 years of human embryology].
Acta Anat (Basel). 1986;125(2):73-5. German. No abstract available.
PMID: 3513474; UI: 86154795.

Duchesneau F.           [See Related Articles]

[Embryology in the 18th century: S. Roe's interpretation].
Pubbl Stn Zool Napoli [II]. 1985;7(2):321-7. French. No abstract available.
PMID: 3909196; UI: 86095022.

Fischer JL, et al.           [See Related Articles]

French embryology and the "mechanics of development" from 1887 to 1910: L. Chabry, Y. Delage & E. Bataillon.
Pubbl Stn Zool Napoli [II]. 1984;6(1):25-39. No abstract available.
PMID: 6398874; UI: 85217097.

Oppenheimer JM.           [See Related Articles]

Basic embryology and clinical medicine: a case history in serendipity.
Bull Hist Med. 1984 Summer;58(2):236-40. No abstract available.
PMID: 6375773; UI: 84232588.

Donahue TJ.           [See Related Articles]

From Hippocrates to Hunter: an early history of dental embryology.
Bull Hist Dent. 1978 Oct;26(2):104-8. No abstract available.
PMID: 387120; UI: 80043581.

Oppenheimer JM.           [See Related Articles]

Reflections on fifty years of publications on the history of general biology and special embryology.
Q Rev Biol. 1975 Dec;50(4):373-87.
PMID: 769041; UI: 76152897.

Bielanska-Osuchowska Z.           [See Related Articles]

Achievements of embryology during thirty years of the Polish People's Republic.
Folia Morphol (Warsz). 1974;33(4):349-51. No abstract available.
PMID: 4615057; UI: 75094415.

Schoffler HH.           [See Related Articles]

[Medieval embryology].
Sudhoffs Arch Z Wissenschaftsgesch. 1973;57(3):297-14. German. No abstract available.
PMID: 4277232; UI: 74294368.

Poplett T.           [See Related Articles]

Human embryology.
Nature. 1971 Jun 4;231(5301):339. No abstract available.
PMID: 4930993; UI: 71202403.

Waddington CH.           [See Related Articles]

Homeostasis of information in American embryology?
Science. 1969 Jan 31;163(866):423. No abstract available.
PMID: 4883463; UI: 69084414.

Oppenheimer JM.           [See Related Articles]

Some historical relationships between teratology and experimental embryology.
Bull Hist Med. 1968 Mar-Apr;42(2):145-59. No abstract available.
PMID: 4870156; UI: 68238618.

Oppenheimer JM.           [See Related Articles]

Ross Harrison's contributions to experimental embryology.
Bull Hist Med. 1966 Nov-Dec;40(6):525-43. No abstract available.
PMID: 5342166; UI: 67246392.

Oka H.           [See Related Articles]

[Short history of embryology].
Tanpakushitsu Kakusan Koso. 1966 Oct;11(11):891-5. Japanese. No abstract available.
PMID: 5341792; UI: 67242364.

Nobel awards in Medicine

  • The Nobel Prize Homepage has a searchable database and an annual table of awards.
  • The most recent award related to embryology was the discovery of Hox genes and other genes related to body pattern formation. The fly Antennapedia mutant during development the embryo incorrectly positions two legs (pedia) where antenna should have been positioned. The discovery of this mutant in opened up the field of developmental genes and this field has recently (1995) been rewarded with a Nobel prize in Medicine. See also Fly Development notes
  • Award Details: "for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development"
    • LEWIS, EDWARD B., U.S.A., California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A., * 1918
    • NÜSSLEIN-VOLHARD, CHRISTIANE, Germany, Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Tübingen, Germany, * 1942
    • WIESCHAUS, ERIC F., U.S.A., Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, U.S.A., * 1947

Int J Dev Biol 1995 Apr;39(2):299-308
Louis Sebastien Tredern de Lezerec (1780-18?), a forgotten pioneer of chick embryology.

Beetschen JC

Centre de Biologie du Developpement, UM CNRS 9925, Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.

  • Tredern's thesis on chick embryo development was submitted in Jena (Germany) in 1808 and seems to have been completely overlooked by historians of embryology during the 20th century. However, K.E. von Baer and C. Pander were much interested in that thesis in 1816-1817, when they resumed work on the chick embryo. Tredern, who was born in France in 1780, had then left Germany and abandoned his studies, but von Baer tried to find trace of him throughout his life, wanting to pay homage to his pioneer work. Von Baer published a short biographical notice (1874), which was later extended by Stieda (1901). The accuracy of Tredern's observations and the reasons that could have justified von Baer's interest are discussed. Tredern went back to Paris in 1811 to submit a second medical thesis, the value of which is also considered. It is also shown that, in the teaching of embryology, 18th century preformation concepts were still vivid, remaining in French textbooks of the period 1800-1830. This situation strongly contrasts with the new epigenetic views that were developed by the German scientists with whom Tredern had performed his studies.

Am J Med Genet 1998 Mar 5;76(2):168-82
Bearing crosses: a historiography of genetics and embryology.

Gilbert SF

Martin Biological Laboratories, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania 19081, USA.

  • As we construct the fusion of medical embryology and medical genetics, it is important to be aware of how the history of genetics has been written to exclude embryology. This article looks at the rhetoric of genetics and how that rhetoric fits a paradigm of supersessionism. Supersessionism is often seen in the history of religion when one sect claims superiority to the original sect from whence it emerged. Such supersessionism portrays embryology as a failed research program, one that genetics now has saved. In some instances, biblical references have alluded to the failed nature of embryology. Although this article does not criticize the data of genetics, it takes issue with the historiography used by geneticists and seeks to show that the mergers between genetics and embryology are those between two equal partners and not between an inferior and superior member.

Comput Med Imaging Graph 1996 Nov-Dec;20(6):415-22 

Serial sections and human embryology: a new research initiative.

Noe A

National Museum of Health and Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC 20306, USA.

  • The author provides an historical and current view of the work of the Human Developmental Anatomy Center of the National Museum of Health and Medicine of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC. A project to create and disseminate electronic images from the extensive holdings, as presented at a 1994 National Institutes of Health conference, is described.

History Terms

About Notes

  • Lecture notes from the Embryology Program compiled and written by Dr Mark Hill.
  • Note Links to OMIM Entries and PubMed are copies of originals for computers without internet access. Computers with internet access can directly access these databases.
  • Note that reference lists are only relevant to the date that the original search was carried out.

Links
Serial Sections Homepage
Human Homepage
Pig Homepage

m.hill@unsw.edu.au
Date Last Modified: 19/3/99
This site maintained by Dr M. Hill