Page 133 - The Errors the American National Academy of Sciences

n the NAS's booklet,
I Ernst Haeckel's "biogenetic

I law," an error which has been
widely acknowledged to be invalid and based on a
wide-scale deception, is portrayed as evidence for evolu-

tion (Science and Creationism, p. 17). In the chapter concerned,
the NAS suggests that embryology represents proof that living
things descended from a common ancestor and that the early
stages of development of living things resemble one another. This is
a claim whose validity is rejected both by the scientific community
and the NAS, and even by Bruce Roberts, one of the authors of the
booklet in question. In an interview, Bruce Roberts stated that
Haeckel's counterfeit embryo drawings (which we shall be examining
in the pages that follow) would be removed from the subsequent edi-

tion of the book Molecular Biology of the Cell, which he co-authored. 1
The reason why the NAS still seeks to portray claims known by
the scientific community to be invalid as proof of evolution is an-
other matter requiring investigation. This chapter will explain why,
contrary to what the NAS would have one believe, embryology
does not represent evidence for evolution.

a
aeckel's Recapitulation Theory
H Ha e c k e l l ' ' s R e c a p i i t t u l l a t t i i o n T h e o r r y
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H Haeckel's Recapitulation Theory
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Although not referred to by name in the NAS booklet,
Ernst Haeckel led the way in portraying embryology as
proof of evolution. Haeckel invented the terms "on-
togeny" and "phylogeny." Ontogeny referred to
the embryonic development of an individ-
ual and phylogeny to the evolution-
ary history of a species.
Haeckel claimed
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