Thinking about life : the history and philosophy of biology and other sciences

著者

書誌事項

Thinking about life : the history and philosophy of biology and other sciences

Paul S. Agutter, Denys N. Wheatley

Springer, c2008

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注記

Includes bibliographical references and index

内容説明・目次

内容説明

Our previous book, About Life, concerned modern biology. We used our present-day understanding of cells to 'define' the living state, providing a basis for exploring several general-interest topics: the origin of life, extraterrestrial life, intelligence, and the possibility that humans are unique. The ideas we proposed in About Life were intended as starting-points for debate - we did not claim them as 'truth' - but the information on which they were based is currently accepted as 'scientific fact'. What does that mean? What is 'scientific fact' and why is it accepted? What is science - and is biology like other sciences such as physics (except in subject m- ter)? The book you are now reading investigates these questions - and some related ones. Like About Life, it may particularly interest a reader who wishes to change career to biology and its related subdisciplines. In line with a recommendation by the British Association for the Advancement of Science - that the public should be given fuller information about the nature of science - we present the concepts underpinning biology and a survey of its historical and philosophical basis.

目次

  • 1. What is science?
  • 2. Culture, knowledge and technology
  • 3. Classical roots
  • 4. Mediaeval views of the world
  • 5. The Scientific Revolution
  • 6. The 'Scientific Revolution' in biology
  • 7. Aristotle's biology
  • 8. How different are organisms from inanimate objects?
  • 9. Cell theory and experimental physiology: new ideas in a changing society
  • 10. Embryos and entelechy
  • 11. Spontaneous generation
  • 12. The evolution of Darwinism
  • 13. The great heredity debate
  • 14. Evolutionary theory attains maturity
  • 15. The problem of purpose
  • 16. The scientific status of biology
  • Appendix: science and philosophy, Philosophies of science and scientific practice, The nature of scientific theories, Theory structure and theory change, Experiments, Models
  • Bibliography
  • Index of names
  • Index of subjects

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