Aristotle to zoos : a philosophical dictionary of biology
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Aristotle to zoos : a philosophical dictionary of biology
Harvard University Press, c1983
- pbk
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Note
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780674045354
Description
In the spirit of Voltaire--and occasionally in the spirit of P. G. Wodehouse--the Medawars have crafted for the life sciences a source of reference that is meant for browsing, a book both authoritative and tilled with delights.
- Volume
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pbk ISBN 9780674045378
Description
In the spirit of Voltaire-and occasionally in the spirit of P. G. Wodehouse-P. B. and J. S. Medawar have crafted for the life sciences a source of reference that is meant for browsing, a book both authoritative and filled with delights. The authors' breadth of knowledge is encyclopedic- arranged, appropriately enough, from A to Z-but more than that, they illuminate the ideas of biology with wit and intelligence and uncommon good sense. They bridge the chasm in our culture between the technically and the humanistically trained, breaking the code of jargon that limits access to scientific understanding. The Medawars' special gift is to offer, at the same time, a pleasurable introduction for the layman and a source of new insight for the specialist.
In this book we can find a clear and meaningful definition of interferon, a useful explanation of the immune system, and thoughtful essays on sociobiology, eugenics, and aging. But we also find: "It is a popular fallacy that chewing gum regains its flavor if removed from the mouth and parked, say, under a chair."
Whether in a serious discussion of cancer or a whimsical reflection on "chicken and egg" imagery in science, the Medawars' blend of fact, literary allusion, historical anecdote, mythical and folk tradition, and even professional gossip is a rewarding exercise in biology as a humanistic endeavor.
Table of Contents
Adaptation Adrenal gland Age distribution Aggressive instinct Aging Albinism Allergy Allometric growth Altruism Amino acids Amphioxus Anabiosis Anencephaly Animals and human obligations Antibiotics Anticholinesterases Antigens and antibodies Apes Aquaculture Archaeopteryx Aristotle Arthropods Atavism Bacteriophages Barnacles Behaviorism Bilharziasis Bioengineering Biogenesis Biology in medical education Blood and its circulation Cancer Carotid artery Cell theory Centrifuge Chance and randomness Chicken and egg Chimera Chordata Chromosomes Clones Comparative anatomy Contact inhibition Coronary artery Creationism Curare Cybernetics Definition of life and other terms Demography Design, argument from Down's syndrome Ecology Electrophoresis Embryonic axis Endocrine gland Enzymes Epithelium Errors of nature Ethology Eugenics Eukaryotes Euphenies Evidence of evolution Exogenetic heredity Fertility Figures of speech Fitness Force of mortality Form and mathematics Frauds Geneticism Genetic and embryologic terms Genius and insanity Germ layer theory Gondwanaland Great chain of being Group selection Growth, laws of biological Hierarchy Historicism Holism Homology Huntington's chorea Hypothalamus Hypothesis and theory Illness Immunity Immunologic surveillance Individuality Infertility and its remedies Instinct Interferon Invertebrata Irritability King crab Lamarckism Language Lemmings Life table Lungfish Lymphatics and lymph nodes Lymphocytes Lysenkoism Malaria Man's place in nature Meiosis Meme Metabolism Mimicry Missing links Mitochondria Mitosis Molecular biology Mollusca Monotremes Mules Myasthenia gravis Natural selection Nature and nurture Neo-Darwinism Neoteny Nerve gases Nerve impulses Nucleic acids Order in biology Orders of magnitude Origin of life Ornithology Parthenogenesis Phenylketonuria Piltdown skull Pineal body Poiesis Population growth and control Primates Proteins Protoplasm Protozoa Pterodactyls Recapitulation Reductionism Reflex Rhesus factor Sense organs Sessile animals Sexual cycles Sexuality Sickle-cell anemia Sociobiology Soma Specificity Spina bifida Spontaneous generation Spores Sweating Symbiosis Sympathetic nervous system Syphilis Taxon Teleology Teratology Terminology Thermoregulation Tissue culture and storage Toxins Transformations Transplantation
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