preformationism
Sign in to saveAlso known as preformism
thumb|upright|A homunculus inside a [[sperm cell, as drawn by Nicolaas Hartsoeker in 1695]] thumb|Jan Swammerdam, Miraculum naturae sive uteri muliebris fabrica, 1729
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 42 inbound references to preformationism, and connects out to Scientific Revolution, sperm and spontaneous generation.
It is catalogued under topics including History of biology, Obsolete biology theories and Philosophy of science.
Vinony links it to 24 Wikipedia language editions.
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- Preformation theory
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Encyclopedic overview
7 sectionsContents
- Philosophical development
- Elaboration
- Criticisms and cell theory
- Roux and Driesch
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
thumb|upright|A homunculus inside a [[sperm cell, as drawn by Nicolaas Hartsoeker in 1695]] thumb|Jan Swammerdam, Miraculum naturae sive uteri muliebris fabrica, 1729
In the history of biology, preformationism (or preformism) is a formerly popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves. Instead of assembly from parts, preformationists believed that the form of living things exist, in real terms, prior to their development. Preformationists suggested that all organisms were created at the same time, and that succeeding generations grow from homunculi, or animalcules, that have existed since the beginning of creation, which is typically defined by religious beliefs.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “preformationism” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.