Johannes Reinke

Johannes Reinke (February 3, 1849 - February 25, 1931) was a German botanist and philosopher who was a native of Ziethen, Lauenburg. He is remembered for his research of benthic marine algae.

He initially studied theology at Rostock, but his interest later changed to botany. In 1879 he became a professor of botany at the University of Göttingen, where he established the institute of plant physiology. From 1885 until 1921 Reinke was a professor at the University of Kiel. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft.

Reinke had a keen interest in the systematics, developmental cycles, cytology and physiology of brown algae. From 1888 to 1892 he published a number of articles on marine algae from the North and Baltic Seas. From the Baltic Sea, he described several new genera of algae. He published works on the algal families Tilopteridaceae (1889) and Sphacelariaceae (1890), and postulated that the encrusting algae genus called Aglaozonia was a stage in the life history of Cutleria.

Reinke was a proponent of scientific "neo-vitalism", and a critic of the Darwinian theory of evolution. In 1901 he introduced the term "theoretical biology" to define biology from a standpoint of concepts and theories, and to differentiate it from traditional "empirical biology". Reinke attempted to explain the evolutionary processes of life through a concept of morphogenesis and genetic regulation he referred to as the "Dominanten" theory. Among his written works was a book that discussed the relationship of philosophy and religion to science.

He died in Preetz.

Selected publications

• Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Botanik (Textbook of General Botany), 1880
• Atlas deutscher Meeresalgen (Atlas of German Marine Algae), 1889 and 1891
• Einleitung in der theoretische Biologie (Introduction to Theoretical Biology), 1901, 2nd ed. 1910
• Philosophie der Botanik (Philosophy of Botany), 1905
• Kritik der Abstammungslehre (Critique concerning the Theory of Evolution), 1920
• Naturwissenschaft, Weltanschauung, Religion, (1923).
• Das dynamische Weltbild (The Dynamic World View), 1926

References

• Phycological Newsletter Phycological Trailblazer, Johannes Reinke
• NCBI Johannes Reinke (1839-1931) and his "Dominanten" theory