Developing embryos were first drawn in the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Modern medicine and biology exploited technical innovations as pictures and models communicated new attitudes to childbirth, evolution and reproduction. The German universities dominated research in the nineteenth century, the United States in the twentieth. After World War II embryo images became the dominant representations of pregnancy and prominent symbols of hope and fear. Wherever we stand in today's debates, it should enrich and may challenge our understandings to explore how these icons have been made.

Each page consists of a main section and a ‘box’ on the right, highlighting an important issue, person or object. Click on a thumbnail for a larger image and the full caption. The ‘Resources’ buttons offer suggestions for exploring further."