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Thinking about Life

The history and philosophy of biology and other sciences

  • Book
  • © 2008

Overview

Authors:
  1. Paul S. Agutter

    1. Theoretical and Cell Biology Consultancy, Glossop, UK

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Denys N. Wheatley

    1. BioMedES Leggat House, Keithhall, UK

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
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  2. What is Science?

    Pages 1-11

  3. Culture, Technology and Knowledge

    Pages 13-23

  4. Classical Roots

    Pages 25-36

  5. Mediaeval Views of the World

    Pages 37-55

  6. The Scientific Revolution

    Pages 57-74

  7. The ‘Scientific Revolution’ in Biology

    Pages 75-88

  8. Aristotle's Biology

    Pages 89-98

  9. How Different Are Organisms from Inanimate Objects?

    Pages 99-113

  10. Cell Theory and Experimental Physiology: New Ideas in a Changing Society

    Pages 115-127

  11. Embryos and Entelechy

    Pages 129-145

  12. Spontaneous Generation

    Pages 147-159

  13. The Evolution of Darwinism

    Pages 161-176

  14. The Great Heredity Debate

    Pages 177-192

  15. Evolutionary Theory Attains Maturity

    Pages 193-205

  16. The Problem of Purpose

    Pages 207-214

  17. The Scientific Status of Biology

    Pages 215-228

  18. Back Matter

    Pages 229-267
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Theoretical and Cell Biology Consultancy, Glossop, UK

    Paul S. Agutter

  • BioMedES Leggat House, Keithhall, UK

    Denys N. Wheatley

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Thinking about Life

  • Book Subtitle: The history and philosophy of biology and other sciences

  • Authors: Paul S. Agutter, Denys N. Wheatley

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8866-7

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4020-8865-0Published: 07 November 2008

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-8010-3Published: 19 October 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4020-8866-7Published: 05 November 2008

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 267

  • Topics: Philosophy of Science, History of Science, Philosophy of Biology

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