Matthias Schleiden’s Theory of History

In 1851, the botanist and cell-theorist Matthias Schleiden wrote a remarkable essay. In part a book review of Karl Vogt’s German translation of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, it ranged much further, to present an explanation of the contemporary vogue for popular science. Schleiden’s explanation was historical. From this essay and others, I piece together Schleiden’s theory of history, which viewed cultural change as the result of a very few, very great men whose ideas would take centuries to filter out into the broader public. I argue that this theory of history, which included the history of natural science and its popularization, helps us to see how he viewed his own role in the historical process and, by implication, the role he saw for his own works of botanical popularization. Ultimately, I suggest, understanding Schleiden’s view of history allows us to interpret his larger body of work in a new and more integrated way.