Biology in the Nineteenth Century: Problems of Form, Function and Transformation (Cambridge Studies in the History of Science)

William Coleman

ISBN 10: 052129293X / ISBN 13: 9780521292931

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge New York Melbourne, 1990

About this Item

187pp., vii. First published in 1971; Second Edition in 1977; this copy the second printing in 1990, 8th reprinting of 2nd edition overall. Bibliography, pp. 167-182; Index, pp. 183-187. Glossy black wrappers with title lettering in green over black across top front over, author name in white letters; large trilobite illustration in green over white on 2/3 front cover. Only flaw is very LIGHT yellow highlighting of 26pp of 187pp: pp. 1-3, Ch. I, Biology; 23 pp of 25pp of Ch.V, Man. Tight binding (NO creases), sharp corners, no rubbing wear, no previous owner names. Despite highlighting, artifact is solid, LOOKS Unread. Seller Inventory # 001082

Bibliographic Details

Title: Biology in the Nineteenth Century: Problems ...

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge New York Melbourne

Publication Date: 1990

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Near Fine

Edition: 2nd Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

The term 'biology' first appeared in a footnote in an obscure German medical publication of 1800, but a century of subsequent activity was needed to create a thriving science. This book offers a concise yet comprehensive examination of essential themes in this development. To one group of nineteenth-century biologists, largely comprised of anatomists, histologists and embryologists, the appearance and constituent structures of the plant or animal body seemed all-important; they studied organic form and the means by which it was brought into being. A second group concentrated on the vital processes diversely exhibited by all living creatures. They studied function, their self-assigned task as physiologists being to understand the innermost workings of the body. To a third group of workers the greatest concern was the relationship, past and present, between the various kinds of plants and animals and between living things and their changing environment; in studying the transformation of life over vast spans of time, they largely recast the scientific objectives of natural history. Form, function, and transformation thus offer useful vantage points from which to observe the development of the life sciences during the nineteenth century, and it is on a discussion of these themes and their interactions that Professor Coleman's account is based.

Book Description:

First published by Wiley in 1975. This is a concise yet comprehensive examination of essential themes in nineteenth-century biology. Problems of the historical interpretation of life and conflicting approaches to the study of vital (organic) functions are stressed.