HERTWIG, OSCAR. – Born in Friedberg on 21 April 1849, died in Berlin on 25 October 1922. He was a student of Haeckel and graduated in medicine at Bonn in 1871.
He carried out highly important embryological studies on the germ layers, which led him to a serious critique of his teacher’s fundamental biogenetic law and to the formulation of the “coelom theory.” He conducted fundamental research on cell division, fertilization (1875: the importance of the fusion of the two pronuclei), and gametogenesis (1890). He was among the first to cultivate the study of experimental morphology; among his numerous investigations in this field, mention should be made of the monograph on the action of X-rays on germ cells and on the development of embryos (1911).
His most notable work is: Allgemeine Biologie (Jena 1906). Giorgio M. Baffoni