About the Book
Theodor Boveri: Life and Work of a Great Biologist, 1862–1915 by Fritz Baltzer, translated by Dorothea Rudnick, is both a scientific biography and a historical study of one of modern biology’s most formative figures. Written for the German series *Grosse Naturforscher*, the book aims not only to recount Boveri’s discoveries but also to reveal the intellectual trajectory and personal character that shaped them. Baltzer argues that in an era where scientific individuality risks being submerged in collective progress, it is essential to revisit pioneers like Boveri—whose meticulous cytological studies and conceptual innovations bridged cytology and genetics, laying foundations for twentieth-century biology.
The volume situates Boveri’s work within the classical period of cell biology, just before the methodological revolutions of biochemical assays, electron microscopy, and Drosophila genetics transformed the field. Baltzer writes as both historian and witness: he studied under Boveri in Würzburg from 1905 until Boveri’s death in 1915, later drawing on that personal experience, as well as on surviving correspondence with colleagues such as Hans Spemann and W. C. Röntgen, to reconstruct the scientist’s personality and thought. While much of Boveri’s archive was lost in World War II, letters to family and close friends illuminate his humor, candor, and originality. The result is a portrait that combines scientific analysis with human detail, restoring Boveri’s individuality to the broader history of biology.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1967.
The volume situates Boveri’s work within the classical period of cell biology, just before the methodological revolutions of biochemical assays, electron microscopy, and Drosophila genetics transformed the field. Baltzer writes as both historian and witness: he studied under Boveri in Würzburg from 1905 until Boveri’s death in 1915, later drawing on that personal experience, as well as on surviving correspondence with colleagues such as Hans Spemann and W. C. Röntgen, to reconstruct the scientist’s personality and thought. While much of Boveri’s archive was lost in World War II, letters to family and close friends illuminate his humor, candor, and originality. The result is a portrait that combines scientific analysis with human detail, restoring Boveri’s individuality to the broader history of biology.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1967.