art · Charles Darwin · Ernst Haeckel · evolution · online shop · ontogeny · phyletisches museum · phylogeny · science jewelry ·Jul 06, 2017

Welcome to Ontogenie

Welcome to Ontogenie's new home on the internet! I've converted my former site to an online shop to make it easier for my customers to find me and easier for them to purchase my jewelry. Take a look around and let me know what you think in the comments!

And now for a few words on the origin of my business name. 'Ontogenie' is the German spelling of ontogeny, the developmental history of an organism. On the facade of the Phyletisches Museum in Jena, Germany, you will find the words 'ontogenie' and 'phylogenie' interwoven into a tree. The Phyletisches Museum was gifted to the University of Jena in 1908 by Prof. Dr. Ernst Haeckel on the occasion of the 350th birthday of the university and is dedicated to explaining evolution. Ernst Haeckel, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, spent much of his academic career trying to understand the evolutionary relationships between organisms. He drew several versions of the tree of life (Stammbaum der Menschen).

He also theorized that 'ontogenie recapitulates phylogeny,' that is, the development and physical appearance of an embryo somehow mirrors the evolutionary stages of adult forms of an organism's ancestors. Modern research has mostly discredited this 19th century theory, but nevertheless, Haeckel contributed much to our understanding of evolution, not least from his brilliant and painstaking drawings of organisms. Many of these organisms, first presented in his Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms of Nature) in 1904, were deep ocean species collected by the HMS Challenger Expedition from 1872-1877 and had never been seen before by the general public. Haeckel's graphical artistic style and knowledge of natural species was an important influence on artists and architects of the Art Nouveau movement.

Spumellaria Radiolaria Ernst Haeckel Ontogenie

My original designs were inspired by Haeckel.

To honor one of the founding fathers of the scientifically rich city that I live in, I have recreated his art and organisms in three dimensions. My later designs, especially the model organism series, honor the hard work and dedication of contemporary scientists. As for what the future will bring at Ontogenie Science Jewelry, it's hard to tell, but you can be certain that it will be 3D-printed!

Here's a tip for navigating my website. If you're looking for a particular category, i.e. Arabidopsis or model organisms, simply type that in the search bar on the upper right next to the cart icon. The products will be filtered based on your search term.

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