Archetypes of Sex

Overview | TOC | Preface | Links

Andreas Deutsch
Archetypes of Sex
Unmasking Algae’s Innocence, the Nathanael Pringsheim Revolution
246 pp, 129 Figs., paperback, 30.00 €
ISBN 978-3-86225-143-8
_{(To be published on 15 September 2026; e-book available.)}
The biography of a pioneering botanist whose microscopic discoveries helped redefine modern biology. Learn more at The Pringsheim Project.

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Preface by the author

1  Influences:
Science in transition
1.1  From a static to a dynamic world view
1.2  Schleiden and Schwann cell theory
1.3  Theory of evolution by Darwin and Wallace
1.4  German natural philosophy and idealistic morphology
1.5  Pringsheim’s approach to research

2  Career:
The life of Nathanael Pringsheim
2.1  Childhood: Difficult school years together with Ferdinand Lassalle
2.2  Study, important teachers, and struggle for the doctorate
    2.2.1  From philosophy to medicine to botany
    2.2.2  The struggle for promotion
2.3  Political activities: March 1848
2.4  Scientific and personal achievements
2.5  Founder of one of the first botanical institutes
2.6  The last years in Berlin
2.7  Other founder activities
    2.7.1  Yearbooks for Scientific Botany
    2.7.2  German Botanical Society
    2.7.3  Reports of the German Botanical Society
2.8  Other members of the Pringsheim family
    2.8.1  The chemist Albert Ladenburg
    2.8.2  The physicists in the Pringsheim family
    2.8.3  The mathematician Alfred Pringsheim
    2.8.4  The biologist Ernst Georg Pringsheim
    2.8.5  Victims of the Nazi regime

3  Scientific work:
Archetypes of sexuality
3.1  Origins of sexuality in biology
3.2  Sexuality of plants
    3.2.1  Higher plants
    3.2.2  Lower plants
3.3  The sexual archetypes of algae
    3.3.1  Archetype I: Internal fertilization
    3.3.2  Archetype II: External fertilization
    3.3.3  Archetype III: Sexual-asexual generation change
3.4  Evolution of land plants: The importance of sexuality
    3.4.1  Variation I: Sexual dominance in mosses
    3.4.2  Variation II: Ssexual dominance in ferns
    3.4.3  Variation III: Protected sexuality in flowering plants
    3.4.4  On the advantage of sexual reproduction
3.5  Classification of Pringheim’s work

4  Marine Biology:
Pringsheim's legacy on Helgoland
4.1  The exploration of the sea
    4.1.1  Helgoland: a marine biological hotspot
    4.1.2  Other European research stations
    4.1.3  The idea of a German research station
4.2  Biological Institute Heligoland
4.3  North Sea Museum
4.4  Botanical experimental garden
4.5  The Nathanael Pringsheim Foundation

5 Aesthetics:
Art forms of microscopy

6  Appendix
6.1  Literature
6.2  Image sources
6.2  About the author

Table of contents

Index

Overview | TOC | Preface | Links