Developmental biology took shape between 1880 and the 1920s Basic concepts like the developmental role of chromosomes and the germ plasm (today's genome), self differentiation, embryonic regulation and induction, gradients and organizers hail from that period; indeed, the discipline was defined as a whole by the programmatic writings of Wilhelm Roux as early as 1889. The present essays cover the period up to the Nobel prize-winning work of Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold. They were originally published in Roux's Archives of Developmental Biology, from Vol. 200 onward to the journal's centennial issues in 1995/96. The essays aim at introducing current adepts of developmental biology to observations and experiments that have lead their predecessors towards basic concepts still influential today.

Wilhelm Roux and his programme for developmental biology Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1991) 200:1-3

Wilhelm Roux's treatise on "qualitative" mitoses - a "classic" by either definition Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1991) 200:61-63
Wilhelm Roux on embryonic axes, sperm entry and the grey crescent Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1991) 200:117-119
When seeing is believing: Wilhelm Roux's misconceived fate map Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1991) 200:177-179
"Mosaic work" and "assimilating effects" in embryogenesis: Wilhelm Roux's conclusions after disabling frog blastomeres Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1991) 200:237-239
Wilhelm Roux and the rest: Developmental theories 1885-1895 Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1991) 200:297-299
Laurent Chabry (1855-1893) and the "Age d'or" of biology Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1992) 201: 61-64
The embryological oeuvre of Laurent Chabry Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1992) 201:125-127
How to dart ascidian blastomeres: The embryological micro-tools of Laurent Chabry (1855-1893) Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1992) 201:191-193
Shaking a concept: Hans Driesch and the varied fates of sea urchin blastomeres Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1992) 201:265-267
Hans Driesch the critical mechanist: "Analytische Theorie der organischen Entwicklung" Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1992) 201: 331-333
Hans Driesch's "philosophy really ab ovo", or why to be a vitalist Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1992) 202:1-3
Entelechy and the ontogenetic machine - work and views of Hans Driesch from 1895 to 1910 Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1993) 202: 67-69
Theodor Boveri on cytoplasmic organization in the sea urchin egg Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1993) 202:129-131
Aneuploidy disrupts embryogenesis: Theodor Boveri's analysis of sea urchin dispermyRoux's Arch Dev Biol (1993) 202:247-249
Reflections on method: Theodor Boveri's evaluation of "natural experiments" and their table-top simulation Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1993) 202:313-315
Lessons from a queen's lost offspring - Theodor Boveri on honeybee gynanders and other genetic mosaics Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1993) 203:121-123
True alternatives: Boveri and Morgan arguing about the origins of honeybee gynanders Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1994) 203:175-177
Of gradients and genes: Developmental concepts of Theodor Boveri and his students Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1994) 203:295-297
Yves Delage (1854-1920) and the ideology behind his research on fécondation Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1995) 204:219-222
Eugene Bataillon (1864-1953) and traumatic parthogenesis Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1995) 204: 281-283
Hilde Mangold (1898-1924) and Spemann's organizer: achievement and tragedy Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1996) 205:323-332
An American in Paris and the origins of the stereomicroscope Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1994) 202:235-242
Is ventral in insects dorsal in vertebrates? Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1994) 203:357-366
Archives for Developmental Mechanics, W. Roux, Editor (1894-1924) Roux's Arch Dev Biol (1994) 204:79-92.