The German philosopher's insight was brilliant. The study of ancient inclusions in amber, like the dark winged fungus gnat shown below, has indeed revealed a wealth of knowledge about the natural history of our world as it must have been like millions of years ago. Although the excited hope of scientists that ancient genes of plants and animals were preserved in amber has recently been cast in doubt, many other scientific studies of life in amber have held up to scrutiny and have helped shed light on how various organisms have developed their forms and functions over great spans of time.

Sciarid flies are common today, and were common in the tropical amber forests millions of years ago. This specimen, surrounded by gas bubbles, swirls of resin, and probably fungal filaments (the milky haze on the body), still shows some good preservation of structural detail (e.g. wings, compound eyes, and legs).