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(1637-1680) |
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Swammerdam’s science
His life and work Nerve function Muscles Bees and ants "The Bible of Nature" Amazing drawings Techniques and microscopy Preformationism Swammerdam’s life Birth Death A fake “portrait” Science in society Empiricism and religion Mysticism and modern science Illustrations and their meaning Swammerdam in culture Swammerdam's world Friends and contemporaries Contemporary accounts On-line resources Under construction: Discussions of Swammerdam’s work A bibliography of Swammerdam's works Contact |
 His greatest contribution to biology was his understanding of insect development and his demonstration that the same organism persists through its various stages. Using meticulous dissections and careful experimentation, he showed the errors of spontaneous generation and laid the basis of the modern understanding of development. His science was profoundly marked by his mystical and emotional response to nature, which sometimes entered into contradiction with his avowed “experimental philosophy” and even led him to abandon science for a period. It has also been argued that this led him to put forward the idea of “preformationism". This site contains information relating to his life and work. The picture above left is NOT Jan Swammerdam. Click here for a full explanation. This site is maintained by Matthew Cobb. For more information about the site's author and his day job, click here. On line since 15 June 2002. Last updated 7 March 2004 (he's been dead for over 300 years, so it's not surprising!) |