The Epic History of Biology20

Lthrary of Congreea Catalogtng—ln—Publ cat ion Date IntO Anthon.,. The Cplc of b10109y Anthony Serefln*. p. Ca. Titciudet bibI referencea and 0-306-44511-5 1. Blology——P4scry. 2. liedtctne-—HIsto'y. 3. 8'olog'%ts. 4. Medical sclen'tstS. Titi,. 1993 93-27895 574 .09-—0c2) CIP 0-7382-0577-X tO987 6 5 4 01993Anthony Serafini Published by Perseus Publishing, A Member of the Perseus Books Group. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying. microfilming, recording. or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher Printedin the United States of America Contents CRAMER 1. THE BEGINNINGS I CHAP1ER2. MESOFUTAMIA 9 ClIAFTER3. GREEK MFDKINF CHAPTER4. ROME 45 CHAI1FER5. IFIE MIDDLE AGES 55 CHArFER 6. Fl IF 54 Cl IAVIER 7. PEST II ENCE IN THE RENAISSANCE 69 CHAPTER 8. TI-Ui AGE('IVESAIIIJS 75 CHAPTER 4 TIlE HARVEYt RA 89 Lx x Contents CHAPTER 10. THE AGE OF NEWTON 703 CHAPTER11. THE MICROSCOPE AND LEEUWENI-IOEIC 117 CHAPTER12. THE MEETING OF BEOWGY AND CHEMISTRY 177 CHAPTER 13. RAY AND THE EMERGENCE OF CELL ThEORY 125 CHAPTER THE AGE OF UNNAEUS AND 11IE ENLIGHTENMENT 139 CHAPTER15. LAMARCIC AND HIS SYSTEM 17! CHAPTER16. TI IF RiSE OF PALEONTOLOGY CHAPTER 17. BIOWGY IN THE VJCTORIAN ERA 195 CHAPTER 18. DARWIN AND HIS AGE 209 CHAPTER19. EMBRYOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY IN THE DARWINIAN ERA 233 CHAPTER 20. THE AGE OF PASTEUR AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MICROSCOPE 249 CHAPTER21. BIOLOGY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 269 CHAE'TLR 22. t H. MORGAN AND THE RISE OF (;ENETICS 291 Contents CHAPTER23. ON THE TRA[L OF DNA 33! CHAPTER24. EVOLUTION AND GENETIC ENGiNEERING 363 EPILOGUE 377 373 INDEX Preface Of all the sciences, biology doubtless touches our lives in the most direct way. With new developments in recombinant DNA, cloning, new reproductive technologies, and environmental concerns, biology has taken on a significance perhaps greater than at any point in history. Over the past one hundred fifty years or so, science has become increasingly subdivided. Correspondingly, the myth has appeared that it has become increasingly arcane and impenetrable to all but a handful of specialists. True, there have been a number of popular and accessible books on, for example, physics. The complexities of physics are, however, easily matched by the myriad subtleties and complexities of biology. Further, the history of biology is so immense that it is well-nigh impossible to cover all within the space limits set by the publisher. For these reasons, difficult decisions had to be made. I have spent more time on molecular biology, for example, than a clas- sical biologist perhaps might like. I have all but passed over the On- ent, since the history of eastern biology is a complete story in itself. V vi Preface Biology has, therefore, a difficult and complex history. Biology should, however, be something any educated person can grasp. To this end, I have tried to keep notes to a minimum. I have tried to lay out in the most readable fashion possible the principal developments in the biological sciences. I proceed from the viewpoint of the historian according to what is today called narrative history, a method I believe best suited for clarity and continuity in a book like this. The progress of any science cannot be fully measured outside the cultural and historical context, the zeitgeist, in which it flowers.I have paid some attention not only to ideas, therefore, but also to the lives and the times of the persons who created them. Though I ob- serve the classic general time divisions of history—keeping in mind that the boundaries between the various historical epochs are neither crystal-sharp nor etched in stone—I have tried to note special forward surges in biology: the advent of the inductive method with the work of Bacon and Descartes in the 17th century, with the accompanying postulate that the universe can be understood in terms of general laws; the impact of the entrance of the microscope; and the impor- tance of the computer as it relates to scientific inquiry. There is another question I have had to confront: the vague boundaries between the sciences. The history of science shows that no one science develops in total isolation from another; the progress of genetics, for example, has over the past century depended heavily on mathematics, biochemistry, and even computer science. Thus I note the work of people who, though not strictly biologists, have nevertheless contributed tremendously to biology. Among these are Charles Lyell, Linus Pauling, and Dorothy Wrinch. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Crossover among the sciences creates an an impediment for the historian. Flow can he or she hope to grasp fully all the complex interrelations among the various sciences,let alone among the branches of the strictly biological sciences? (Just as the sciences them- selves are continually evolving, so too are the relationships among them.) To this end I have sought the advice of specialists in a variety of branches of science. Here I owe my thanks to the following people Preface vii for assistance, helpful conversations, and advice at various stages over the years in my research and writing on the biological sciences. First, despite the passage of years, I am indebted to the faculty of Cornell University for their fine tutelage, although the field has changed and evolved considerably since I received my baccalaureate in zoology in 1965. Next, I thank Professor Robert Olby, Depart- ment of Philosophy, The University of Leeds; Professor Paul Joss, Department of Physics, MIT; Professor John Archibald Wheeler, Uni- versity of Texas at Austin; Professor P. W. Anderson, Princeton Uni- versity; Professor Verner Shoemaker, Emeritus, Washington Univer- sity; Professor Jane Armstrong, Department of Biology, Centenary College of New Jersey; Professor Anne Misziak, Department of Chemistry, Centenary College of New Jersey; Professor George Wil- der, Department of Biology, Cleveland State University; Professor Garland Allen, Department of Biology, Washington University; Pro- fessor Edmund Erde, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Professor Alice Levine Baxter, Loonuis—Chaffee School, Wind- sor, Connecticut; Barbara C. Beddal; H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Cen- ter for Ethics, Baylor College of Medicine; Professor Israel Scheffler, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University; Professor Janet Fleet- wood, Medical College of Pennsylvania; Dr. Dorothy Prisco, Office of the Academic Vice-President, Wesley College of Delaware; Professor John Edsall, Biological Laboratories, Harvard University; Professor Everett Mendelsohn, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University; Professor Dennis Senchuk, Department of Philosophy. Indiana University. I am indebted also to Professor Philip J. Pauly, Department of History, Rutgers University; Dr. Mary Jane Capozzolli- Ingui; Professor L. Pearce Williams, John Stambaugh Professor of the History of Science at Cornell University; James Reed, Dean and Pro- fessor of History, Rutgers University; my editor, Naomi Gross, for tactful and meticulous editing; my wife Tina and my daughter Alma Serafini; and many others. Also, since I am not a historian by train- ing, I wish to express my profound thanks to Professor David Weir and Raymond Frey of the Department of History at Centenary Col- lege of New Jersey for their advice on writing and researching history. CHAPTER 1 The Beginnings It is difficult to say when biology as a separate science, or even science itself, really began. Though they had virtually no knowledge of what anyone would today call physics or chemistry, the men and women of the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods probably knew some primitive medical techniques. The Paleolithic period was a preliterate epoch which lasted from roughly two million to 10,000u.c.,while the Neo- lithic age was a later preliterate period that lasted from about 9000 B.C. until the first civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The people of the preliterate eras may have even classified a variety of plants and animals, although in no sense did they have any knowledge of these facts as a "science." However, the shrewdest of the early species of humans of the later Paleolithic era, Cro-Magnon, at the very least, would have soon found out which plants were toxic, which were not, and which were suitable for medicinal purposes. They also probably knew which kinds were appropriate for dyes, poisons, and so forth. Nor did organized biology begin to emerge even with the earliest true civilizations in the West—the ancient empires of Egypt and Meso- I 2 Chapter 1 potamia, which began roughly 3500 B.C.Despiteconsiderable progress in the arts and culture, generally in Egypt and Mesopotamia and many civilizations that followed them, neither science perse nororga- nized biology really existed as a separate, organized body of thought. This would remain so at least until the time of Aristotle, in the fourth century B.C.Inthe case of biology specifically, whatever knowledge did emerge would remain intertwined with medical practice, again, until the time of Aristotle. The biological knowledge the ancients did discover and develop came about primarily because of practical surgi- cal and medical needs between the time of ancient Egypt and Aristot- le, frequently out of a necessity to aid soldiers in the battlefield. EGYPTIAN MEDICINE Thus, at least the rudiments of biological/medical learning unde- niably existed in the Egyptian age. Five thousand years ago, Egyptian priests were already starting to gather a tremendous amount of medical data. We know this from their hieroglyphic stone tablets, many of which linguists have almost completely deciphered. Among other things, they ostensibly had a highly advanced knowledge of plants and their various medical applications. Thus, the real story of West- ern biology begins in Egypt.

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