Richard Woltereck

Richard Woltereck (April 6, 1877 – February 23, 1944) was a German zoologist best known for developing the concept of reaction norm (German: Reaktionsnorm). He also conducted some of the first research that provided evidence for the process of cytoplasmic inheritance.[1] He proposed the concept in a 1909 paper that he presented to the German Zoological Society, based on his own research on the Daphnia water flea.[2][3] According to historian Raphael Falk, the concept of the reaction norm was later revived by Richard Lewontin.[4]

Richard Woltereck
Born	(1877-04-06)April 6, 1877 Hanover, German Empire
Died	February 23, 1944(1944-02-23) (aged 66) Seeon, Nazi Germany
Nationality	Germany
Education	University of Freiburg
Known for	Reaction norm
Awards	Member of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Scientific career
Fields	Zoology
Institutions	University of Leipzig
Thesis	Zur Bildung und Entwicklung des Ostrakoden-Eies: kerngeschichtliche und biologische Studien an parthenogenetischen Cypriden (1898)
Academic advisors	August Weismann

References

1. Peirson, B.R. Erick (2012-05-13). "Richard Woltereck (1877-1944)". The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
2. Pierson, B.R. Erick (2012-09-06). "Richard Woltereck's Concept of Reaktionsnorm". The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
3. Falk, Raphael (2001). "Can the Norm of Reaction Save the Gene Concept?". Thinking about Evolution: Historical, Philosophical, and Political Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 9780521620703.
4. Ludwig, Ryan R. (2014-01-01). "Formation and Variation: Woltereck's Concept of Reaktionsnorm and the Potentials of Environment". Thresholds. 42: 134–147. doi:10.1162/thld_a_00084. ISSN 1091-711X.

Further reading

• Harwood, Jonathan (21 July 2016). "Weimar Culture and Biological Theory: A Study of Richard Woltereck (1877–1944)". History of Science. 34 (3): 347–377. doi:10.1177/007327539603400304. PMID 11616300.