Styles of Reasoning in the British Life Sciences: Shared Assumptions, 1820â "1858 (Sci & Culture in the Nineteenth Century)

Elwick, James

ISBN 10: 0822966344 / ISBN 13: 9780822966340

Published by University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021

About this Item

Acceptable - This is a significantly damaged book. It should be considered a reading copy only. Please order this book only if you are interested in the content and not the condition. May be ex-library. PAPERBACK Standard-sized.

Seller Inventory # M0822966344Z4

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Styles of Reasoning in the British Life Sciences: Shared Assumptions, 1820â "1858 (Sci & Culture in the Nineteenth Century)
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0822966344
• ISBN 13: 9780822966340
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

Elwick explores how the concept of "compound individuality" brought together life scientists working in pre-Darwinian London. Scientists conducting research in comparative anatomy, physiology, cellular microscopy, embryology and the neurosciences repeatedly stated that plants and animals were compounds of smaller independent units. Discussion of a "bodily economy" was widespread. But by 1860, the most flamboyant discussions of compound individuality had come to an end in Britain. Elwick relates the growth and decline of questions about compound individuality to wider nineteenth-century debates about research standards and causality. He uses specific technical case studies to address overarching themes of reason and scientific method.

About the Author

James Elwick is associate professor of science and technology studies at York University. He is the author of Styles of Reasoning in the British Life Sciences: Shared Assumptions, 1820–1858, and currently works on how standardized achievement tests actually became standardized.