Christian Gottfried EhrenbergDied 27 Jun 1876 at age 81 (born 19 Apr 1795).German biologist, microscopist, explorer and micropaleontologist who has been called the founder of micropaleontology (the study of fossil microorganisms). He held that animals, of any size down to the tiniest, have organ systems in common, including muscles, reproductive organs, and stomachs. (Such ideas of such complete organisms were overturned by Félix Dujardin.) Ehrenberg's microscopical research was the first to treat in a scientific way that mass of minute beings that had formerly been vaguely known as the “infusoria,” both living or fossils. He revealed that certain forms of rock, especially chalk, were composed of minute forms of animals or plants, among which were forms he was first to discover and characterize.Ehrenberg also did extensive work on diatoms and the foraminifera. He proved the origin of fungi from spores, which was still a debated question in his time.« |
