August Weismann
At a glance:
- Series: Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century
- Categories: Science
- Subcategories: Biology, Biologists, Scientists
- Curriculum: 20th & 21st Century European History, 19th Century European History, German History
Article abstract: Weismann is most noted for his development and refinement of the theory of the continuity of the germ plasm, for his devout support of Darwinism and the principle of natural selection, and for his discrediting the idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
Early Life
August Friedrich Leopold Weismann was born in Frankfurt am Main on January 17, 1834, to Johann Konrad August Weismann, a classics teacher at the Gymnasium in Frankfurt, and Elise Eleanore Lübbren Weismann, a musician and painter. He was the eldest of four...
[The entire page is 1928 words long]
