Definition of

Recapitulation

Conference

Recapitulation can consist of summarizing or highlighting the most important ideas.

Recapitulation is the process and result of recapitulating . This verb , which has its etymological origin in the Latin word recapitulare , refers to the summary or reminder that is made of something that has been expressed orally or through writing.

For example: «When the conference ended, the writer made a brief recapitulation of everything said» , «The document presented by the opposition legislators represents a recapitulation of all the failures in the service that were recorded in the last semester» , «I "The typical end-of-year recapitulation is boring."

Recapitulation of ideas

Recapitulation can develop for different reasons. In some cases, the aim is to highlight the main ideas that were expressed in a certain context. If a scientist gives a four-hour lecture, doing a ten-minute recap at the end can help him highlight the most important concepts he previously stated.

It is worth mentioning that such a recapitulation at the end of the dissertation can not only be beneficial for the audience, in that it can highlight certain data that they have missed due to distraction or saturation, but it also allows the scientist to ensure that his concepts reach the audience in the clearest and most orderly way possible, and gives you the opportunity to correct certain flaws in your presentation before finishing, such as highlighting something more emphatically or touching on a point you forgot to mention.

The term on TV

Another possibility is that the recapitulation is a compilation of important events that occurred in a certain period of time. A television program can put together a recapitulation with the most important moments of its different broadcasts.

In this case, recapitulation is a resource widely used by certain television networks to avoid a lack of programming at key times of the year , such as winter or summer vacations, although they use it especially on transition days between a season and other. Although some viewers find it beneficial to have this compendium of episodes of their favorite series and programs, for others it is annoying and "drives them away" from the television to go in search of other activities.

It is important to remember that the programs that achieve the highest audience peaks are those that generate the closest relationship between them and the television channels; During the holidays, programming usually takes on a more "family" tone, especially around Christmas time, and this can maintain the bond with a portion of the public , but it certainly does not achieve it with one hundred percent.

Embryo

The concept of recapitulation is used in biology.

Recapitulation theory in biology

In the field of biology , the theory of recapitulation (also known as the biogenetic law ) maintains that ontogeny is responsible for recapitulating phylogeny. Let's look at these two concepts in detail below:

  • Ontogeny : This is the development of an organism from the moment a zygote is fertilized, which occurs through sexual reproduction, passing through adulthood and reaching senility. In other words, it is the history of the changes that a unit undergoes in its structure without losing its organization.
  • Phylogeny : defined as the relationship between parents and children of taxa (groups of organisms that are related) or species in general. This part of evolutionary biology relies on information matrices of various types to study the evolution of different groups and their relationships.

From the development of the synthetic theory , which integrates the genetic theory promoted by Gregor Mendel , the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin and other postulates, the theory of recapitulation lost strength , although to this day the link between ontogeny and phylogeny.