Weismann, August Friedrich Leopold

Ariane Dröscher, Free University of Bozen‐Bolzano, Bozen – Bolzano, Italy

Published online: May 2008

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0002448

Weismann (1834–1914), a German zoologist who made important conceptual contributions to evolutionary theory and to heredity theory.

Keywords: heredity; germline; darwinism; chromosome; variation

Figure 1. Portrait of August Weismann. Reproduced by permission of the Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Figure 2. Scheme of the behaviour of idants during various stages of germ cell development in Ascaris megalocephala univalens. I: both idants of the ancestral germ cell (Ukz) are composed of ids; II: in the mother germ cell (Mkz) they are double; III: after the first reduction division the daughter germ cell (Tkz) contains two identical ids; IV: after the second reduction division the germ cell (Kz) contains only one id. From Weismann (1892).
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 Further Reading
    Churchill FB (1985) Weismann's continuity of the germ-plasm in historical perspective. Freiburger Universitätsblätter 24: 107–124.
    book Gillispie CC (ed.) (1970–1980) Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
    Stanford PK (2005) August Weismann's theory of the germ-plasm and the problem of unconceived alternatives. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 27: 163–199.
    book Weismann A (1891–1892) Essays upon heredity and kindred biological problems, 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
    book Weismann A (1892) Aufsätze über Vererbung und verwandte biologische Fragen. Jena: Gustav Fischer.
    book Weismann A (1892) Das Keimplasma. Eine Theorie der Vererbung. Jena: Gustav Fischer.
    book Weismann A (1902) Vorträge über Deszendenztheorie, gehalten an der Universität zu Freiburg/Br, 2 vols. Jena: Gustav Fischer.
    book Weismann A (1999) In: Churchill FB and Risler H (eds) Selected Letters and Documents, 2 vols. Freiburg: Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg.
    book Weismann A (2003) The Evolution Theory, 2 vols. Bristol: Thoemmes.
    book Weismann A (2003) The Germ-plasm: A Theory of Heredity. Bristol: Thoemmes.
    Winther RG (2001) August Weismann on germ-plasm variation. Journal of the history of biology 34: 517–555.
    other Zirnstein G (2001) August Weismann (1834–1914). In: Jahn I and Schmitt M (Hrsg.) Darwin & Co., vol. I. pp. 411–433. München: Beck.

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Article Title: Weismann, August Friedrich Leopold
 
How to Cite close
Dröscher, Ariane(May 2008) Weismann, August Friedrich Leopold. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0002448]