One of ten children, Karl Ernst von Baer was born in Piep, Estonia, to parents descended from Prussian nobility. Due to the large size of his family, Von Baer was sent to live with his childless uncle and aunt until the age of seven. Initially tutored at home, he later spent three years at a school for the children of nobility. Although his father and uncle encouraged him to pursue a military career, from 1810-1814, Von Baer attended the University of Dorpat in Vienna, Austria and obtained an M.D. degree. From 1814-1817, he studied comparative anatomy at Würzburg. In 1817, he was appointed prosector at the University of Königsberg, where in 1819, he accepted an appointment to teach zoology and anatomy, and serve as chief at the new zoological museum that he organized. In 1828, Von Baer became a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of...