Before watching this film I didn’t even know what radiolarians were. It is really cool to see how complex, diverse, and abundant single celled organisms can be. I was also really intrigued by the way Haeckel would draw all of them, and in a short amount of time when they were only able to stay alive outside of their natural habitat for so long. These organisms were used as sort of a pillar within this film, around them being the history of scientific discovery around life, Haeckel and his life’s work, and the competing notions of art versus nature. I found it interesting that a main issue that was arising from new discoveries was the beliefs of religion versus science. It was engaging to see how Haeckel was grappling with these opposing views within himself, and how his ideas changed as time and science progressed. Personally, it was really compelling to see how Haeckel managed to balance his naturalist perspective, scientific knowledge, and drive for exploration with his artistic side and need for romanticism throughout his life. As a biology major, it was cool to see him incorporate creation of art within his studies in the scientific community. Lastly, one part of the film that stood out to me was the idea of “embracing the opposites”. How can one embrace both religious and scientific views, man versus nature, art versus science, and so on.