DOCSLIB.ORG

F Ilosofia E H Istória Da B Iologia .1 5

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
F Ilosofia E H Istória Da B Iologia .1 5 1 • Antonio Carlos Sequeira •Frederico Felipe de Ameida F . i l Fernandes; Vittorio Pane; Faria; Maria Elice Brzezinski 1 o Filosofia e História . Andrea Siqueira D'Alessandri Prestes: “Discussões de Lazzaro s da Biologia 5 o Forti; Renato Rodriguez Cabral Spallanzani sobre a origem e 5 f Ramos: “Trocando espécimens constituição dos fósseis” i vol. 5, nº 1, 2010 a a a i de animais por cabeças-troféu i e Munduruku: o intercâmbio de •Valdir Lamim-Guedes: “Uma g g H Enrico Giglioli com o Museu análise histórico-ambiental da o l o Nacional na segunda metade do região de Ouro Preto pelo relato i l s o i século XIX” de naturalistas viajantes do t ó século XIX” o B i r •Fabiana Vieira Ariza; Lilian Al- i a Paulo Carvalho: a Chueyr Pereira Martins: “A • B d scala naturae de Aristóteles na “O tratamento da melancolia d obra De generatione segundo Étienne Binet (1627)” a a a B animalium” i r i •Luciana Zaterka: d o ó •Caroline Belotto Batisteti; “A longevidade segundo l t o Elaine Sandra Nabuco de a concepção de vida de Francis a g s i i Araújo; João José Caluzi: Bacon” i a “O trabalho de Mendel: um caso r H 5 de prematuridade científica?” •Roberto de A. Martins: ó . e t 1 “August Weismann, Charles •Lourdes Aparecida Della s Brown-Séquard e a controvérsia a i Justina; João José Caluzi; sobre herança de caracteres i f Fernanda Aparecida adquiridos no final do o H Meglhioratti; Ana Maria de século XIX” s Andrade Caldeira: “A herança o e l genotípica proposta por i Associação Brasileira Wilhelm Ludwig Johannsen” F de Filosofia e História a da Biologia – ABFHiB i f o s o l i ABFHiB F Filosofia e História da Biologia Volume 5, número 1 Jan.-Jun. 2010 Associação Brasileira de Filosofia e História da Biologia – ABFHiB http://www.abfhib.org DIRETORIA DA ABFHiB (GESTÃO 2006-2009) Presidente : Maria Elice Brzezinski Prestes (USP) Vice-Presidente : Lilian Al-Chueyr Pereira Martins (PUC-SP) Secretário : Gustavo Andrés Caponi (UFSC) Tesoureiro: Roberto de Andrade Martins ( Unicamp) Conselheiros : Ana Maria de Andrade Caldeira (UNESP-Bauru) Anna Carolina Krebs Pereira Regner (Unisinos) Nélio M. V. Bizzo (USP) Ricardo Francisco Waizbort (Fiocruz) A Associação Brasileira de Filosofia e História da Biologia (ABFHiB) foi fundada no dia 17 de agosto de 2006, durante a re- alização do IV Encontro de Filosofia e História da Biologia, reali- zado na Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, em São Paulo, SP. O objetivo da ABFHiB é promover e divulgar estudos sobre a fi- losofia e a história da biologia, bem como de suas interfaces epis- têmicas, estabelecendo cooperação e comunicação entre todos os pesquisadores que a integram. Filosofia e História da Biologia Editores : Lilian Al-Chueyr Pereira Martins (PUC-SP) Maria Elice Brzezinski Prestes (USP) Editor associado : Roberto de Andrade Martins (Unicamp) Conselho editorial : Aldo Mellender de Araújo (UFRGS), Ana Maria de Andrade Caldeira (Unesp), Anna Carolina Regner (Unisinos), Charbel Niño El-Hani (UFBA), Gustavo Caponi (UFSC), Marisa Russo (CNRS, França), Nadir Ferrari (UFSC), Nelio Bizzo (USP), Pablo Lorenzano (UBA, Argentina), Palmi- ra Fontes da Costa (UNL, Portugal), Ricardo Waizbort (Fio- cruz), Susana Gisela Lamas (UNLP, Argentina) ISSN 1983-053X Filosofia e História da Biologia Volume 5, número 1 Jan.-Jun. 2010 Filosofia e História Copyright © 2010 ABFHiB da Biologia Nenhuma parte deste livro pode ser utilizada ou reproduzida, em qualquer V. 5, n. 1, jan./jun. 2010 meio ou forma, seja digital, fotocópia, gravação, etc., nem apropriada ou homepage/ estocada em banco de dados, sem a e-mail da instituição: autorização da ABFHiB. www.booklink.com.br/ Publicado com apoio da abfhib Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do [email protected] Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) ABFHiB Preparação dos originais deste volume: Márcia das Neves e Andreza Associação Brasileira de Polizello Filosofia e História da Biologia Direitos exclusivos desta edição: Rua Coronel Quirino, 1586 Booklink Publicações Ltda. 13025-002 Campinas, SP Caixa Postal 33014 Caixa Postal 6059 22440-970 Rio de Janeiro, RJ 13083-970 Campinas, SP Fone 21 2265 0748 www.abfhib.org www.booklink.com.br [email protected] [email protected] Filosofia e História da Biologia. Volume 5, número 1 (jan./jun. 2010). Campinas, SP: ABFHiB, São Paulo: FAPESP, Rio de Janeiro: Booklink, 2010. Semestral x, 182 p.; 21 cm. ISSN 1983-053X 1. Biologia - história. 2. História da biologia. 3. Biologia - filosofia. 4. Filosofia da biologia. I. Martins, Lilian Al-Chueyr Pereira. II. Prestes, Maria Elice Brzezinski. III. Martins, Roberto de Andrade. IV. Filosofia e História da Biologia. V. Associação Brasileira de Fi- losofia e História da Biologia, ABFHiB. CDD 574.1 / 574.9 Sumário Antonio Carlos Sequeira Fernandes; Vittorio Pane; 1 Andrea Siqueira D’Alessandri Forti; Renato Rodriguez Cabral Ramos “Trocando espécimens de animais por cabeças-troféu Mun- duruku: o intercâmbio de Enrico Giglioli com o Museu Na- cional na segunda metade do século XIX” Fabiana Vieira Ariza; Lilian Al-Chueyr Pereira Martins 21 “A scala naturae de Aristóteles na obra De generatione animali- um ” Caroline Belotto Batisteti; Elaine Sandra Nabuco de 35 Araújo; João José Caluzi “O trabalho de Mendel: um caso de prematuridade cientí- fica?” Lourdes Aparecida Della Justina; João José Caluzi; Fer- 55 nanda Aparecida Meglhioratti; Ana Maria de Andrade Cal- deira “A herança genotípica proposta por Wilhelm Ludwig Johannsen” Frederico Felipe de Ameida Faria; Maria Elice Brzezinski 73 Prestes “Discussões de Lazzaro Spallanzani sobre a origem e consti- tuição dos fósseis” Valdir Lamim-Guedes 97 “Uma análise histórico-ambiental da região de Ouro Preto pelo relato de naturalistas viajantes do século XIX” Paulo Carvalho 115 “O tratamento da melancolia segundo Étienne Binet (1627)” v Luciana Zaterka 127 “A longevidade segundo a concepção de vida de Francis Bacon” Roberto de Andrade Martins 141 “August Weismann, Charles Brown-Séquard e a controvér- sia sobre herança de caracteres adquiridos no final do século XIX” vi Imagem da capa : August Weismann (1834-1912), retrato pinta- do em 1896 por Otto Scholderer (1834-1902). O quadro original encontra-se no Instituto de Biologia da Albert Ludwigs Universität, Freiburg, Alemanha. vii viii Apresentação A série de volumes intitulada Filosofia e História da Biologia iniciou-se em 2006 sob a forma de livros contendo uma seleção de trabalhos apre- sentados nos eventos anuais promovidos pela Associação Brasileira de Filosofia e História da Biologia (ABFHiB). A partir do terceiro volume, a publicação de livros deu lugar a um novo periódico, que mantém o título Filosofia e História da Biologia (ISSN 1983-053X). Dotado de um corpo editorial permanente, visa garantir a periodicidade da publicação. Além disso, a criação do periódico amplia o alcance das publicações da ABFHiB a toda comunidade de pesquisadores da área, possibilitando também a submissão de artigos que não tenham conexão direta com os eventos realizados . A partir do volume 5, Filosofia e História da Biologia passa a ser uma publicação semestral, para agilizar a divulgação dos artigos. A linha editorial do periódico permanece fiel aos objetivos da ABFHiB de publicar artigos inéditos resultantes de pesquisas originais referentes a filosofia e/ou história da biologia e temas correlatos, bem como sobre o uso de história e filosofia da biologia na educação. Também está aberta à publicação de resenhas de livros da área. Filosofia e História da Biologia publica artigos em português, espanhol ou inglês, conforme formatação e normas editoriais próprias informadas no final do volume e no site da ABFHiB: www.abfhib.org. Os trabalhos submetidos para publicação são enviados para análise de dois pareceristas especializados no assunto tratado, os quais devem indicar se aceitam (com ou sem modificações) ou rejeitam o trabalho, apresentando breve justificativa. Em caso de divergência entre os parece- res, o trabalho será analisado por um terceiro árbitro. Com o periódico Filosofia e História da Biologia , a ABFHiB aspira con- solidar a comunicação de trabalhos da área em nosso país. Os Editores Lilian Al-Chueyr Pereira Martins Maria Elice Brzezinski Prestes Roberto de Andrade Martins ix viii Trocando espécimens de animais por cabeças- troféu Munduruku: o intercâmbio de Enrico Giglioli com o Museu Nacional na segunda metade do século XIX Antonio Carlos Sequeira Fernandes * Vittorio Pane # Andrea Siqueira D’Alessandri Forti § Renato Rodriguez Cabral Ramos ¶ Resumo : Ao final do século XIX, o Museu Nacional manteve com o Museu Zooló- gico de Vertebrados do Real Instituto de Estudos Superiores de Florença, Itália, correspondência e permuta de materiais científicos, tanto zoológicos como etnológi- cos. O responsável pelo intercâmbio foi o naturalista italiano Enrico Hillyer Giglioli que, em 1866, quando de sua memorável viagem ao redor do mundo a bordo da fragata Magenta, visitou as exposições do Museu Nacional. Na sua trajetória profis- sional interessou-se por diversos temas científicos como a oceanografia, a ictiologia e a ornitologia, além da antropologia e, como diretor do museu de Florença, em 1889 encaminhou ao Museu Nacional exemplares zoológicos provenientes da Itália e outras regiões. Como permuta, revelou seu particular interesse por exemplares etno- lógicos, incluindo cabeças-troféu Munduruku, amplamente cobiçadas na época e por ele observadas quando de sua passagem pelo Rio de Janeiro. Pesquisas revelaram que, do material por ele enviado, encontram-se atualmente no acervo apenas alguns * Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, Quinta da Boa Vista s/n, São Cristóvão, CEP 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Bolsista de pesquisa do CNPq. E- mail: [email protected] # Museo Geologico Sperimentale, Club Alpino Italiano, Sezione di Giaveno, Piazza Colombatti, 14, 10094 Giaveno (TO), Itália. E-mail: [email protected] § Estudante do curso de Graduação em História do Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Largo São Francisco de Paula, 1, CEP 20290-240, Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Bloomsbury Scientists Ii Iii
    i Bloomsbury Scientists ii iii Bloomsbury Scientists Science and Art in the Wake of Darwin Michael Boulter iv First published in 2017 by UCL Press University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT Available to download free: www.ucl.ac.uk/ ucl- press Text © Michael Boulter, 2017 Images courtesy of Michael Boulter, 2017 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Attribution should include the following information: Michael Boulter, Bloomsbury Scientists. London, UCL Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787350045 Further details about Creative Commons licenses are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 006- 9 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 005- 2 (pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 004- 5 (PDF) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 007- 6 (epub) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 008- 3 (mobi) ISBN: 978- 1- 78735- 009- 0 (html) DOI: https:// doi.org/ 10.14324/ 111.9781787350045 v In memory of W. G. Chaloner FRS, 1928– 2016, lecturer in palaeobotany at UCL, 1956– 72 vi vii Acknowledgements My old writing style was strongly controlled by the measured precision of my scientific discipline, evolutionary biology. It was a habit that I tried to break while working on this project, with its speculations and opinions, let alone dubious data. But my old practices of scientific rigour intentionally stopped personalities and feeling showing through.
    [Show full text]
  • 2017 Magdalen College Record
    Magdalen College Record Magdalen College Record 2017 2017 Conference Facilities at Magdalen¢ We are delighted that many members come back to Magdalen for their wedding (exclusive to members), celebration dinner or to hold a conference. We play host to associations and organizations as well as commercial conferences, whilst also accommodating summer schools. The Grove Auditorium seats 160 and has full (HD) projection fa- cilities, and events are supported by our audio-visual technician. We also cater for a similar number in Hall for meals and special banquets. The New Room is available throughout the year for private dining for The cover photograph a minimum of 20, and maximum of 44. was taken by Marcin Sliwa Catherine Hughes or Penny Johnson would be pleased to discuss your requirements, available dates and charges. Please contact the Conference and Accommodation Office at [email protected] Further information is also available at www.magd.ox.ac.uk/conferences For general enquiries on Alumni Events, please contact the Devel- opment Office at [email protected] Magdalen College Record 2017 he Magdalen College Record is published annually, and is circu- Tlated to all members of the College, past and present. If your contact details have changed, please let us know either by writ- ing to the Development Office, Magdalen College, Oxford, OX1 4AU, or by emailing [email protected] General correspondence concerning the Record should be sent to the Editor, Magdalen College Record, Magdalen College, Ox- ford, OX1 4AU, or, preferably, by email to [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • STORIA DEL PENSIERO BIOLOGICO EVOLUTIVO Con Riflessioni Di Filosofia Ambientale
    STORIA DEL PENSIERO BIOLOGICO EVOLUTIVO con riflessioni di filosofia ambientale STORIA DEL PENSIERO BIOLOGICO EVOLUTIVO con riflessioni di filosofia ambientale Piergiacomo Pagano 2013 ENEA Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76 00196 ROMA ISBN 978-88-8286-288-6 Foto in copertina In alto: fotografie di Fabio Conte Sfondo e riquadro: fotografie di Piergiacomo Pagano (Pellicani a Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, novembre 2003; Baobab, mousse du Senegal, febbraio 1991) STORIA DEL PENSIERO BIOLOGICO EVOLUTIVO con riflessioni di filosofia ambientale PIERGIACOMO PAGANO P. Pagano, Storia del Pensiero Biologico Evolutivo, ENEA INDICE Premessa …………………………………………………………………………………………..… 11 Introduzione ………………………………………………………………………………………… 13 1 Sui tre inspiegabili fatti che misero in dubbio la Creazione ……………………………………... 17 1.1 In antichità: cause finali e progetto …………………………………………………………...……... 17 1.2 L’età moderna ……………………………………………………………………………………...... 18 1.3 La grande diversità degli animali e delle piante …………………………………………………….. 19 1.4 Le palesi ingiustizie ……………………………………………………………………...………….. 20 1.5 La presenza di fossili inglobati nelle rocce ………………………………………………………..... 21 2 La Natura, gli organismi e la loro classificazione ……………………………………………...… 23 2.1 La classificazione in Platone …………………………………………………………………...…… 23 2.2 Classificazioni …………………………………………………………………………………...….. 25 2.3 Dopo Platone ………………………………………………………………………………………... 25 2.4 Aristotele e lo studio della Natura
    [Show full text]
  • Doctorates Awarded in America in Botany and Zoology More Than Doubled
    DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91125 GENETICS IN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN 1890 to 1930: QUERIES AND SPECULATIONS Daniel J. Kev1es HUMANITIES WORKING PAPER 15 December 1978 According to recent scholarship in the early history of genetics, by the l890s many younger biologists were growing restless with phylogenetic morphology and embryology, the traditional descriptive approaches to the much-debated problems of evolutionary theory. Eager to break away from these approaches, a number of these biologists -- and some older ones such as Alfred R. Wallace called for programs of experimental research in evolution addressed in particular to the problems of heredity and variation. "No problems in the whole range of biology," Charles O. Whitman of Woods Hole typically said, were of 1 "higher scientific interest or deeper practical import to humanity." In England Francis Galton inspired one of the more important experimental research programs -- W. F. R. Weldon's statistical analyses, developed in collaboration with Karl Pearson, of variations in large populations. Another important departure was the program of hybridization experiments exemplified in the research of William Bateson. Pearson and Weldon helped establish the field of heredity studies known as biometry. The research of Bateson and others paved the way for the rediscovery in 2 1900 and then vigorous advocacy of the Mendelian paradigm. Mendel's ideas did not gain rapid acceptance in all biological quarters in either the United States or Great Britain, In England, the biometricians Weldon and Pearson hotly disputed the validity of Mendel's results, the merits of his conceptual scheme, and even the integrity of his British advocates, especially Bateson.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics the Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics
    - Theoretical Population Genetics The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics with a New Afterword William B. Provine The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London WituraM B. Provinzis the C. A. Alexander Professor of Biological Sciences at Cornell University. Heis the author of Sewall Wright and Evolutionary Biology and the editor of Evolution: Selected Papers by Sewall Wright, both published by the University of Chicago Press. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1971 by The University of Chicago Afterword © 2001 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America IO 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 OI 12345 ISBN: 0-226-68463-6 (cloth) ISBN: 0-226-68464-4 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Provine, William B. Theorigins of theoretical population genetics / William B. Provine.—with a new afterword p- cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-226-68463-6 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 0-226- 68464-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Population genetics—History.I. Title. QH455.P77 2001 576.5'8'09—de21 2001027561 © The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. To Doris Marie Provine Contents INTRODUCTION 1x 1. Darwin’s THEory oF Natura SELECTION: THE ReE- ACTION DARWIN'S THEORY I THE REACTION 10 Thomas H. Huxley and “Natura non facit
    [Show full text]
  • Walter Frank Raphael Weldon (1860–1906)
    ARTICLE-IN-A-BOX Walter Frank Raphael Weldon (1860–1906) W F R Weldon, along with Karl Pearson, was one of the two main protagonists on the biome- trician side of the biometrician-Mendelian debate that roiled evolutionary biology during the early years of the twentieth century. He was born at Highgate, London, on 15 March 1860, the second child of Walter Weldon and Anne Cotton. He had an elder sister, and a younger brother, Dante, who unfortunately died at a young age in 1881. Weldon’s father was a chemist and journalist and frequently moved around England, as a result of which Weldon did not un- dergo a regular school education till the age of thirteen, although he was informally taught by clergymen. In 1873, Weldon joined a boarding school at Caversham, where he spent three years. After some months of private study, he joined University College, London (UCL), for his matriculation in 1876. At UCL, he studied a variety of subjects, aiming to eventually train in medicine. In particular, he was very impressed with the mathematics teaching of Olaus Henrici, who had worked with Weierstrass and Kronecker, and later recalled that Henrici was the first naturally gifted teacher who had taught him (incidentally, Weldon himself was later revered as an amazingly inspiring and lucid teacher). He was also taught by the well-known invertebrate zoologist and Darwinian – Edwin Ray Lankester. Weldon then moved to King’s College, London, in 1877, and then to St. John’s College, Cambridge, from where he matric- ulated in 1878. At St. John’s, Weldon was much influenced by the comparative embryologist and morphologist Francis Maitland Balfour and shifted his focus from medicine to zoology, eventually taking the Natural Sciences Tripos and graduating with a first-class in zoology in 1881.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond Mendelism and Biometry
    Forthcoming in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science DOI:10.1016/j.shpsa.2021.08.014 Beyond Mendelism and Biometry Yafeng Shan Department of Philosophy and Centre for Reasoning, University of Kent [email protected] Abstract Historiographical analyses of the development of genetics in the first decade of the 20th century have been to a great extent framed in the context of the Mendelian-Biometrician controversy. Much has been discussed on the nature, origin, development, and legacy of the controversy. However, such a framework is becoming less useful and fruitful. This paper challenges the traditional historiography framed by the Mendelian-Biometrician distinction. It argues that the Mendelian-Biometrician distinction fails to reflect the theoretical and methodological diversity in the controversy. It also argues that that the Mendelian-Biometrician distinction is not helpful to make a full understanding of the development of genetics in the first decade of the twentieth century. Key words Mendelism; Biometry; Weldon; Yule; Darbishire; de Vries; Johannsen; heredity; variation Acknowledgements I would like to thank Adam Krashniak, Ehud Lamm, Nils Roll-Hansen, and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments. In particular, I am grateful to Mike Buttolph for the fruitful discussion and kindly sending me a copy of Kim’s Explaining Scientific Consensus during lockdown. This work is financially supported by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2019-059) and the British Academy (SRG1920\101076). 1 Forthcoming in Studies in History and Philosophy
    [Show full text]
  • Concept and Role of Biostatistics As a Basic Component System of Evidential Medicine, History of Development and Value for Practice of Health Protection
    Concept and role of biostatistics as a basic component system of evidential medicine, history of development and value for practice of health protection. Biostatistics (a portmanteau word made from biology and statistics; sometimes referred to as biometry or biometrics) is the application of statistics to a wide range of topics in biology. The science of biostatistics encompasses the design of biological experiments, especially in medicine and agriculture; the collection, summarization, and analysis of data from those experiments; and the interpretation of, and inference from, the results. Biostatistics and the history of biological thought Biostatistical reasoning and modeling were of critical importance to the foundation theories of modern biology. In the early 1900s, after the rediscovery of Mendel's work, the conceptual gaps in understanding between genetics and evolutionary Darwinism led to vigorous debate between biometricians such as Walter Weldon and Karl Pearson and Mendelians such as Charles Davenport, William Bateson and Wilhelm Johannsen. By the 1930s statisticians and models built on statistical reasoning had helped to resolve these differences and to produce the neo-Darwinian modern evolutionary synthesis. The leading figures in the establishment of this synthesis all relied on statistics and developed its use in biology. · Sir Ronald A. Fisher developed several basic statistical methods in support of his work "The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection" · "Sewall G. Wright used statistics in the development of modern population genetics " · J. B. S Haldane's book, "The Causes of Evolution", reestablished natural selection as the premier mechanism of evolution by explaining it in terms of the mathematical consequences of Mendelian genetics.
    [Show full text]
  • Darwinian Struggles: but Is There Progress?
    Hist. Sci., xlvii (2009) DARWINIAN STRUGGLES: BUT IS THERE PROGRESS? Michael Ruse Florida State University At the heart of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is the struggle for existence.1 Organisms are in ongoing conflict as they strive for food, space, and reproductive opportunities. It is from this struggle that we are led to natural selection, the success of some and the failure of others, and (given time) full-blooded evolutionary change. Whether or not this change means very much — whether in particular it leads to some form of progress, whatever that might mean — was debated before Darwin, by Darwin, and still in many quarters is debated today.2 As also is the question of whether it is appropriate to apply Darwin’s biological theory to the affairs of humans, in particular to the growth of knowledge.3 What we can say, however, is that those who work on Darwin and on the place in history of his ideas and influence — those who work in what is generally known as “Darwin Studies” — have long been fighting vigorously for the success of their ideas. It is these struggles that are the focus of this essay. Whether there has been any progress is, as the saying goes, an exercise best left to the reader. I will start the discussion by going back a full fifty years, to 1959, the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of species. I think one can say without much controversy that this was the point at which Darwin Studies — especially understood as something demanding serious, professional-level scholarship and not just as an antiquarian, hagiography- producing hobby of retired scientists — really got going.
    [Show full text]
  • The Statistical Philosophies of WFR Weldon and Karl Pearson
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons Faculty Publications Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies 2011 “Describing Our Whole Experience”: The Statistical Philosophies of W.F.R. Weldon and Karl Pearson Charles H. Pence Louisiana State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/prs_pubs Part of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, and the Philosophy of Science Commons Recommended Citation Pence, Charles H., "“Describing Our Whole Experience”: The tS atistical Philosophies of W.F.R. Weldon and Karl Pearson" (2011). Faculty Publications. 5. http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/prs_pubs/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 42 (2011) 475–485 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/shpsc ‘‘Describing our whole experience’’: The statistical philosophies of W. F. R. Weldon and Karl Pearson Charles H. Pence University of Notre Dame, Program in History and Philosophy of Science, 453 Geddes Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA article info abstract Keywords: There are two motivations commonly ascribed to historical actors for taking up statistics: to reduce com- Biometry plicated data to a mean value (e.g., Quetelet), and to take account of diversity (e.g., Galton). Different Mendelism motivations will, it is assumed, lead to different methodological decisions in the practice of the statistical Karl Pearson sciences.
    [Show full text]
  • Karl Pearson's Biometrika: 1901–36
    Biometrika (2013), 100,1,pp. 3–15 doi: 10.1093/biomet/ass077 C 2013 Biometrika Trust Printed in Great Britain Karl Pearson’s Biometrika: 1901–36 BY JOHN ALDRICH Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, U.K. [email protected] SUMMARY Karl Pearson edited Biometrika for the first 35 years of its existence. Not only did he shape the journal, he also contributed over 200 pieces and inspired, more or less directly, most of the other contributions. The journal could not be separated from the man. Downloaded from Some key words: Biometrika; History of statistics; Karl Pearson. 1. INTRODUCTION http://biomet.oxfordjournals.org/ ‘There were essentially only two editors of Biometrika in the first 65 years and only three in the first 90 years’ wrote the third of them, Cox (2001, p. 10). The first editor, Karl Pearson (1857–1936), had a conception of the journal and of his relationship to it unlike anything that followed. It was truly his journal: editors generally contribute to their own journals but Karl Pearson, K. P., contributed more than 200 pieces to his and most of the other material that appeared between 1901 and 1936 was inspired more or less directly by him. Biometrika was the house journal for Pearson’s biometric establishment at University College London but it also spoke for world biometry, a responsibility that made Pearson a uniquely editorializing editor. by guest on February 24, 2013 The second editor, K. P.’s son Egon Sharpe Pearson (1895–1980), wrote much less, loosened the journal’s ties with its home base and generally had a less messianic conception of the journal and the editor’s responsibilities.
    [Show full text]
  • C. Radhakrishna Rao: a Century in Statistical Science
    C. Radhakrishna Rao: A Century in Statistical Science Nandini Kannan1 and Debasis Kundu2 Abstract In this article, the authors provide a glimpse into the legendary career of centenarian Profes- sor C. Radhakrishna Rao, a career that is inextricably linked to the history of modern statistics from Pearson and Fisher to the age of big data and Artificial Intelligence. A scientist of extraor- dinary vision, his ground-breaking contributions have influenced not only the field of statistics, but the mathematical, social, biological, and economic sciences. An outstanding researcher, a gifted and inspirational teacher who could make complex concepts come to life in a classroom, and a mentor who demanded excellence from his students, Professor Rao continues to inspire generations of statisticians and scientists around the world. 1 Initial Years: 1941-1950 Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao was born on September 10, 1920 in Huvanna Hadagali in what was then the Madras Presidency, and is now a town in the Indian state of Karnataka. As the eighth of ten children, he was named Radhakrishna after the Hindu deity Krishna, also the eight-born according to Hindu mythology. His father, C. D. Naidu, an Inspector in the Criminal Investigation Department, recognized Rao's gift for mathematics and encouraged him to pursue a career in research. His mother instilled the discipline and work ethic that have stayed with him throughout his extraordinary career. Rao's dedication in his book Statistics and Truth: Putting Chance to Work [43], acknowledges his mother's influence on his life: \For instilling in me the quest for 1Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum, New Delhi, 110001.
    [Show full text]