A Brief History of Biology
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The Scientist from a Flourishing Sex-Life to Modern DNA Technology
The Scientist From a Flourishing Sex-life to Modern DNA Technology Linnaeus the Scientist ll of a sudden you are standing there, in the bo- tanic garden that is to be Linnaeus’s base for a whole lifetime of scientific achievements. It is a beautiful spring day in Uppsala, the sun’s rays warm your heart as cheerfully as in your own 21st century. The hus- tle and bustle of the town around you break into the cen- trally located garden. Carriage wheels rattle over the cob- blestones, horses neigh, hens cackle from the house yards. The acrid smell of manure and privies bears witness to a town atmosphere very different from your own. You cast a glance at what is growing in the garden. The beds do not look particularly well kept. In fact, the whole garden gives a somewhat dilapidated impression. Suddenly, in the distance, you see a young man squat- A ting down by one of the beds. He is looking with great concentration at a small flower, examining it closely through a magnifying glass. When he lifts his head for a moment and ponders, you recognise him at once. It is Carl von Linné, or Carl Linnaeus as he was originally called. He looks very young, just over 20 years old. His pale cheeks tell you that it has been a harsh winter. His first year as a university student at Uppsala has been marked by a lack of money for both food and clothes as well as for wood to warm his rented room. 26 linnaean lessons • www.bioresurs.uu.se © 2007 Swedish Centre for School Biology and Biotechnology, Uppsala University, Sweden. -
Insight from the Sociology of Science
CHAPTER 7 INSIGHT FROM THE SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE Science is What Scientists Do It has been argued a number of times in previous chapters that empirical adequacy is insufficient, in itself, to establish the validity of a theory: consistency with the observable ‘facts’ does not mean that a theory is true,1 only that it might be true, along with other theories that may also correspond with the observational data. Moreover, empirical inadequacy (theories unable to account for all the ‘facts’ in their domain) is frequently ignored by individual scientists in their fight to establish a new theory or retain an existing one. It has also been argued that because experi- ments are conceived and conducted within a particular theoretical, procedural and instrumental framework, they cannot furnish the theory-free data needed to make empirically-based judgements about the superiority of one theory over another. What counts as relevant evidence is, in part, determined by the theoretical framework the evidence is intended to test. It follows that the rationality of science is rather different from the account we usually provide for students in school. Experiment and observation are not as decisive as we claim. Additional factors that may play a part in theory acceptance include the following: intuition, aesthetic considerations, similarity and consistency among theories, intellectual fashion, social and economic influences, status of the proposer(s), personal motives and opportunism. Although the evidence may be inconclusive, scientists’ intuitive feelings about the plausibility or aptness of particular ideas will make it appear convincing. The history of science includes many accounts of scientists ‘sticking to their guns’ concerning a well-loved theory in the teeth of evidence to the contrary, and some- times in the absence of any evidence at all. -
Revised Glossary for AQA GCSE Biology Student Book
Biology Glossary amino acids small molecules from which proteins are A built abiotic factor physical or non-living conditions amylase a digestive enzyme (carbohydrase) that that affect the distribution of a population in an breaks down starch ecosystem, such as light, temperature, soil pH anaerobic respiration respiration without using absorption the process by which soluble products oxygen of digestion move into the blood from the small intestine antibacterial chemicals chemicals produced by plants as a defence mechanism; the amount abstinence method of contraception whereby the produced will increase if the plant is under attack couple refrains from intercourse, particularly when an egg might be in the oviduct antibiotic e.g. penicillin; medicines that work inside the body to kill bacterial pathogens accommodation ability of the eyes to change focus antibody protein normally present in the body acid rain rain water which is made more acidic by or produced in response to an antigen, which it pollutant gases neutralises, thus producing an immune response active site the place on an enzyme where the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) an increasing substrate molecule binds problem in the twenty-first century whereby active transport in active transport, cells use energy bacteria have evolved to develop resistance against to transport substances through cell membranes antibiotics due to their overuse against a concentration gradient antiretroviral drugs drugs used to treat HIV adaptation features that organisms have to help infections; they -
The Joys and Burdens of Our Heroes 12/05/2021
More Fun Than Fun: The Joys and Burdens of Our Heroes 12/05/2021 An iconic photo of Konrad Lorenz with his favourite geese. Photo: Willamette Biology, CC BY-SA 2.0 This article is part of the ‘More Fun Than Fun‘ column by Prof Raghavendra Gadagkar. He will explore interesting research papers or books and, while placing them in context, make them accessible to a wide readership. RAGHAVENDRA GADAGKAR Among the books I read as a teenager, two completely changed my life. One was The Double Helix by Nobel laureate James D. Watson. This book was inspiring at many levels and instantly got me addicted to molecular biology. The other was King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Lorenz, soon to be a Nobel laureate. The study of animal behaviour so charmingly and unforgettably described by Lorenz kindled in me an eternal love for the subject. The circumstances in which I read these two books are etched in my mind and may have partly contributed to my enthusiasm for them and their subjects. The Double Helix was first published in London in 1968 when I was a pre-university student (equivalent to 11th grade) at St Joseph’s college in Bangalore and was planning to apply for the prestigious National Science Talent Search Scholarship. By then, I had heard of the discovery of the double-helical structure of DNA and its profound implications. I was also tickled that this momentous discovery was made in 1953, the year of my birth. I saw the announcement of Watson’s book on the notice board in the British Council Library, one of my frequent haunts. -
Of Dahlia Myths.Pub
Cavanilles’ detailed illustrations established the dahlia in the botanical taxonomy In 1796, the third volume of “Icones” introduced two more dahlia species, named D. coccinea and D. rosea. They also were initially thought to be sunflowers and had been brought to Spain as part of the Alejandro Malaspina/Luis Neé expedition. More than 600 drawings brought the plant collection to light. Cavanilles, whose extensive correspondence included many of Europe’s leading botanists, began to develop a following far greater than his title of “sacerdote” (priest, in French Abbé) ever would have offered. The A. J. Cavanilles archives of the present‐day Royal Botanical Garden hold the botanist’s sizable oeu‐ vre, along with moren tha 1,300 letters, many dissertations, studies, and drawings. In time, Cavanilles achieved another goal: in 1801, he was finally appointed professor and director of the garden. Regrettably, he died in Madrid on May 10, 1804. The Cavanillesia, a tree from Central America, was later named for this famousMaterial Spanish scientist. ANDERS DAHL The lives of Dahl and his Spanish ‘godfather’ could not have been any more different. Born March 17,1751, in Varnhem town (Västergötland), this Swedish botanist struggled with health and financial hardship throughout his short life. While attending school in Skara, he and several teenage friends with scientific bent founded the “Swedish Topographic Society of Skara” and sought to catalogue the natural world of their community. With his preacher father’s support, the young Dahl enrolled on April 3, 1770, at Uppsala University in medicine, and he soon became one of Carl Linnaeus’ students. -
書 名 等 発行年 出版社 受賞年 備考 N1 Ueber Das Zustandekommen Der
書 名 等 発行年 出版社 受賞年 備考 Ueber das Zustandekommen der Diphtherie-immunitat und der Tetanus-Immunitat bei thieren / Emil Adolf N1 1890 Georg thieme 1901 von Behring N2 Diphtherie und tetanus immunitaet / Emil Adolf von Behring und Kitasato 19-- [Akitomo Matsuki] 1901 Malarial fever its cause, prevention and treatment containing full details for the use of travellers, University press of N3 1902 1902 sportsmen, soldiers, and residents in malarious places / by Ronald Ross liverpool Ueber die Anwendung von concentrirten chemischen Lichtstrahlen in der Medicin / von Prof. Dr. Niels N4 1899 F.C.W.Vogel 1903 Ryberg Finsen Mit 4 Abbildungen und 2 Tafeln Twenty-five years of objective study of the higher nervous activity (behaviour) of animals / Ivan N5 Petrovitch Pavlov ; translated and edited by W. Horsley Gantt ; with the collaboration of G. Volborth ; and c1928 International Publishing 1904 an introduction by Walter B. Cannon Conditioned reflexes : an investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex / by Ivan Oxford University N6 1927 1904 Petrovitch Pavlov ; translated and edited by G.V. Anrep Press N7 Die Ätiologie und die Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose / Robert Koch ; eingeleitet von M. Kirchner 1912 J.A.Barth 1905 N8 Neue Darstellung vom histologischen Bau des Centralnervensystems / von Santiago Ramón y Cajal 1893 Veit 1906 Traité des fiévres palustres : avec la description des microbes du paludisme / par Charles Louis Alphonse N9 1884 Octave Doin 1907 Laveran N10 Embryologie des Scorpions / von Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov 1870 Wilhelm Engelmann 1908 Immunität bei Infektionskrankheiten / Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov ; einzig autorisierte übersetzung von Julius N11 1902 Gustav Fischer 1908 Meyer Die experimentelle Chemotherapie der Spirillosen : Syphilis, Rückfallfieber, Hühnerspirillose, Frambösie / N12 1910 J.Springer 1908 von Paul Ehrlich und S. -
Introduction the Age of Biology
INTRODUCTION THE AGE OF BIOLOGY An organism is the product of its genetic constitution and its en- vironment . no matter how uniform plants are genotypically, they cannot be phenotypically uniform or reproducible, unless they have developed under strictly uniform conditions. — Frits Went, 1957 A LITERARY and cinematic sensation, Andy Weir’s The Martian is engi- neering erotica. The novel thrills with minute technical details of com- munications, rocket fuel, transplanetary orbital calculations, and botany. The action concerns a lone astronaut left on Mars struggling to survive for 1,425 days using only the materials that equipped a 6-person, 30-day mission. Food is an early crisis: the astronaut has only 400 days of meals plus 12 whole potatoes. Combining his expertise in botany and engineer- ing, the astronaut first works to create in his Mars habitat the perfect Earth conditions for his particular potatoes, namely, a temperature of 25.5°C, plenty of light, and 250 liters of water. Consequently, his potatoes grow at a predicted rate to maturity in 40 days, thus successfully conjur- ing sufficient food to last until his ultimate rescue at the end of the novel. Unlike so many of the technical details deployed throughout the novel, the ideal conditions for growing potatoes are just a factoid. Whereas readers of the novel get to discover how to make water in a process oc- cupying twenty pages, the discovery of the ideal growing conditions of the particular potatoes brought to Mars is given one line.1 Undoubtedly, making water from rocket fuel is tough, but getting a potato’s maximum 3 © 2017 University of Pittsburgh Press. -
Human Anatomy (Biology 2) Lecture Notes Updated July 2017 Instructor
Human Anatomy (Biology 2) Lecture Notes Updated July 2017 Instructor: Rebecca Bailey 1 Chapter 1 The Human Body: An Orientation • Terms - Anatomy: the study of body structure and relationships among structures - Physiology: the study of body function • Levels of Organization - Chemical level 1. atoms and molecules - Cells 1. the basic unit of all living things - Tissues 1. cells join together to perform a particular function - Organs 1. tissues join together to perform a particular function - Organ system 1. organs join together to perform a particular function - Organismal 1. the whole body • Organ Systems • Anatomical Position • Regional Names - Axial region 1. head 2. neck 3. trunk a. thorax b. abdomen c. pelvis d. perineum - Appendicular region 1. limbs • Directional Terms - Superior (above) vs. Inferior (below) - Anterior (toward the front) vs. Posterior (toward the back)(Dorsal vs. Ventral) - Medial (toward the midline) vs. Lateral (away from the midline) - Intermediate (between a more medial and a more lateral structure) - Proximal (closer to the point of origin) vs. Distal (farther from the point of origin) - Superficial (toward the surface) vs. Deep (away from the surface) • Planes and Sections divide the body or organ - Frontal or coronal 1. divides into anterior/posterior 2 - Sagittal 1. divides into right and left halves 2. includes midsagittal and parasagittal - Transverse or cross-sectional 1. divides into superior/inferior • Body Cavities - Dorsal 1. cranial cavity 2. vertebral cavity - Ventral 1. lined with serous membrane 2. viscera (organs) covered by serous membrane 3. thoracic cavity a. two pleural cavities contain the lungs b. pericardial cavity contains heart c. the cavities are defined by serous membrane d. -
Cambridge's 92 Nobel Prize Winners Part 2 - 1951 to 1974: from Crick and Watson to Dorothy Hodgkin
Cambridge's 92 Nobel Prize winners part 2 - 1951 to 1974: from Crick and Watson to Dorothy Hodgkin By Cambridge News | Posted: January 18, 2016 By Adam Care The News has been rounding up all of Cambridge's 92 Nobel Laureates, celebrating over 100 years of scientific and social innovation. ADVERTISING In this installment we move from 1951 to 1974, a period which saw a host of dramatic breakthroughs, in biology, atomic science, the discovery of pulsars and theories of global trade. It's also a period which saw The Eagle pub come to national prominence and the appearance of the first female name in Cambridge University's long Nobel history. The Gender Pay Gap Sale! Shop Online to get 13.9% off From 8 - 11 March, get 13.9% off 1,000s of items, it highlights the pay gap between men & women in the UK. Shop the Gender Pay Gap Sale – now. Promoted by Oxfam 1. 1951 Ernest Walton, Trinity College: Nobel Prize in Physics, for using accelerated particles to study atomic nuclei 2. 1951 John Cockcroft, St John's / Churchill Colleges: Nobel Prize in Physics, for using accelerated particles to study atomic nuclei Walton and Cockcroft shared the 1951 physics prize after they famously 'split the atom' in Cambridge 1932, ushering in the nuclear age with their particle accelerator, the Cockcroft-Walton generator. In later years Walton returned to his native Ireland, as a fellow of Trinity College Dublin, while in 1951 Cockcroft became the first master of Churchill College, where he died 16 years later. 3. 1952 Archer Martin, Peterhouse: Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for developing partition chromatography 4. -
De Plantis, Once Belonging to Maimonides’.[3]
Fragment of the Month: January 2017 Plants on Maimonides’ bookshelf: T-S Ar.41.41 by Gabriele Ferrario Which were the favourite books of Moses Maimonides? Which titles would have found space on his bookshelf? Maimonides’ letter to the Hebrew translator of most of his Judaeo-Arabic production, Samuel ibn Tibbon, contains revealing passages regarding the books that Maimonides considered the basis of any solid philosophical education.[1] No wonder the place of honour is occupied by the works of Aristotle, which became available to the Arabic-speaking world thanks to the spectacular effort of Arabisation of Greek sciences conducted under the Abbasid caliphs. Maimonides describes Aristotelian treatises as ‘the roots and foundations of all works on the sciences’. But Aristotle’s philosophy was not always easy to understand for a medieval reader, and Maimonides recognised the utility of later commentaries and systematisations of Aristotelian works produced by philosophers of Late Antiquity and Islam, in particular the works by Alexander of Aphrodisias (2nd–3rd c.), Themistius (d. 390 CE), and Averroes (d. 1198). As much as praising his favourite authors, Maimonides is very keen on downplaying the importance of authors he fancied less, and writes to Ibn Tibbon that reading commentaries by Abū Yaḥyā ibn al-Biṭrīq (9th century), Yaḥyā ibn ʿAdī (10th c.) and by Abū al-Faraj ibn al-Tayyib (11th c.) would be a waste of time. A similarly dismissive approach characterises Maimonides’ stance towards Plato and other Greek classical philosophers: Aristotle said it all, why should one look for anything else? Among Muslim philosophers, Maimonides praises Al-Fārābī (10th c.), particularly for his logical works, Ibn Bajja (the Latin Avempace, 11th–12th c.) and Averroes (12th c.) for his numerous Aristotelian commentaries; he also remarks that books by Avicenna (11th c.) are worth studying, even if they are not as good as Al- Fārābī’s. -
Interpreting the History of Evolutionary Biology Through a Kuhnian Prism: Sense Or Nonsense?
Interpreting the History of Evolutionary Biology through a Kuhnian Prism: Sense or Nonsense? Koen B. Tanghe Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Universiteit Gent, Belgium Lieven Pauwels Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law, Universiteit Gent, Belgium Alexis De Tiège Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Universiteit Gent, Belgium Johan Braeckman Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Universiteit Gent, Belgium Traditionally, Thomas S. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) is largely identified with his analysis of the structure of scientific revo- lutions. Here, we contribute to a minority tradition in the Kuhn literature by interpreting the history of evolutionary biology through the prism of the entire historical developmental model of sciences that he elaborates in The Structure. This research not only reveals a certain match between this model and the history of evolutionary biology but, more importantly, also sheds new light on several episodes in that history, and particularly on the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), the construction of the modern evolutionary synthesis, the chronic discontent with it, and the latest expression of that discon- tent, called the extended evolutionary synthesis. Lastly, we also explain why this kind of analysis hasn’t been done before. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive review, as well as the editor Alex Levine. Perspectives on Science 2021, vol. 29, no. 1 © 2021 by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology https://doi.org/10.1162/posc_a_00359 1 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/posc_a_00359 by guest on 30 September 2021 2 Evolutionary Biology through a Kuhnian Prism 1. -
October 24–26, 2021 2
SCIENCE · INNOVATION · POLICIES WORLD HEALTH SUMMIT BERLIN, GERMANY & DIGITAL OCTOBER 24–26, 2021 2 “No-one is safe from COVID-19; “All countries have signed up to Universal no-one is safe until we are all Health Coverage by 2030. But we cannot safe from it. Even those who wait ten years. We need health systems conquer the virus within their that work, before we face an outbreak own borders remain prisoners of something more contagious than within these borders until it is COVID-19; more deadly; or both.” conquered everywhere.” ANTÓNIO GUTERRES Secretary-General, United Nations FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER Federal President, Germany “We firmly believe that the “All pulling together—this must rights of women and girls be the hallmark of the European are not negotiable.” Health Union. I believe this can NATALIA KANEM be a test case for true global Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) health compact. The need for leadership is clear and I believe the European Union must as- sume this responsibility.” “The lesson is clear: a strong health URSULA VON DER LEYEN system is a resilient health system. Health President, European Commission systems and preparedness are not only “Governments of countries an investment in the future, they are the that are doing well during foundation of our response today.” the pandemic have not TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) only shown political leader- ship, but also have listened “If we don’t address the concerns and to scientists and followed fears we will not do ourselves a favor. their recommendations.” In the end, it is about how technology SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN Chief Scientist, World Health can be advanced as well as how Organization (WHO) we can make healthcare more human.” BERND MONTAG President and CEO, Siemens Healthineers AG, Germany “The pandemic has brought to light the “Academic collabo ration is importance of digital technologies and in place and is really a how it can radically bridging partnership.