Friedrich Rolle

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Grave of Wilhelm Rolle

Friedrich Rolle (born May 16, 1827 in Homburg in front of the height ; † February 11, 1887 there ) was a German paleontologist , geologist and folklorist . He is considered a pioneer of a new biological way of thinking in Germany (“ Darwinist ”).

Life

Rolle was the only son of Major Wilhelm Rolle and his wife Ulrike Christiane, b. Weigandt, born. He attended elementary school in Homburg from 1833 to 1837 and already began to build up a butterfly collection during this time. In the period from 1837 to 1843 he attended the Feltmann Institute in Homburg, the Collège Royal in Strasbourg and the grammar school in Darmstadt . In 1843/44 he attended the higher trade school in Darmstadt and thus obtained the right to study at university. During this time Rolle set up a herbarium . An apprenticeship as a pharmacist followed in 1844. In 1845/46 he did an internship at the mountain and hut administration in Holzappel , before Rolle enrolled as a student of philosophy at the University of Giessen on October 28, 1846 . In 1848/49 he studied mining science at the University of Bonn .

In 1850 and 1851 he worked as a scientific assistant in the "Rheinisches Mineralien-Comptoir" in Bonn . During this time, Rolles' first scientific publication on the subject of "The Taunus in the vicinity of Bad Homburg" falls. In December 1851 he resumed his studies at the University of Tübingen and received his doctorate there in August 1852 with an "attempt to compare the North German Lias with the Swabian". From 1853 to 1857, Rolle was a recording geologist for the geognostic-mining association of Styria and published on the geology of Styria . From 1857 to 1859 he worked as an assistant at the Hofmineralienkabinett in Vienna , from 1859 to 1862 he was then “Second Custos Adjunct”. During this time he published on geological and paleontological topics; an application for a professorship at the University of Göttingen in 1860 was unsuccessful. In 1862 he returned to Homburg and worked on behalf of the geological state institute as a practical geologist, permanent advisor to the commission for the maintenance of mineral springs , geological expert for the government of the Landgraviate of Hesse and with the fossil trade . In 1863 he published " Charles Darwin's Theory of the Origin of Species in the Plant and Animal Kingdom". He corresponded with Darwin from 1862–1868, and with Ernst Haeckel from 1868–1882 . Efforts to obtain an extraordinary professorship in Giessen were also unsuccessful in 1864. In 1866 he published "Man, his descent and morality in the light of Darwin's teaching ...". In 1867 and 1868 he published two issues of the "Hertha, magazine for natural science and ethnology". After the contract with the landgraves' government, which was maintained by Prussia , expired, he worked as a geologist for the Prussian government in the Saar-Nahe region from 1872–1874. In January 1875 his admission to the Prussian Geological State Institute was rejected. In 1876 there was a trial lecture by Friedrich Rolles at the University of Zurich . Between 1881 and 1886 he wrote paleontological contributions for Kenngotts and Lasaulx "Concise Dictionary of Mineralogy, Geology and Paleontology".

At the end of his life he withdrew more and more and committed suicide on February 11, 1887.

Rolle was an early representative of Darwinism in Germany. He saw in Darwin's work “a decisive turning point in the long-standing dispute over the development or creation of life forms”. This doctrine has "powerfully promoted the clarification of questions that had long been raised". For Rolle, the explanation of the origin of the species did not rule out a divinely effected beginning of the world: "The last basic cause that remains inaccessible to our scientific research can nonetheless be and remain the deity."

Rolle was also an early proponent of social Darwinism .

Friedrich Rolle is buried in the Evangelical Cemetery in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe .

Works

  • Chs. Darwin's doctrine of the origin of species in the plant and animal kingdom is presented and explained in its application to the history of creation. Joh. Christ. Hermann'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main 1863. doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.14253
  • Man, his descent and morality are presented in the light of Darwin's theory of the origin of species and on the basis of recent geological discoveries. Hermann, Frankfurt am Main 1866. doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15236
  • Natural history of the animal, plant and mineral kingdom. Third department. Natural history of the mineral kingdom. Second part. Geology and paleontology . Published by JF Schreiber, Esslingen near Stuttgart. doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.60799

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Role: Human. P. 71. Cf. Franz Stuhlhofer : Charles Darwin - World Tour to Agnosticism. 1988, pp. 110-133: "Admission of Darwinism in Germany".
  2. ↑ Role: Darwin's teaching. P. 272.
  3. ↑ Role: Human. P. 12.
  4. ^ Richard Weikart: The Origins of Social Darwinism in Germany, 1859-1895. In: Journal of the History of Ideas. Vol. 54, No. 3 (Jul., 1993), pp. 469-488.
personal data
SURNAME Rolle, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German paleontologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Homburg vor der Höhe
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1887
Place of death Homburg vor der Höhe