History of biology

Zieba tree

A tree full of bare-breasted mystics and philosophers

Avicenna (980-1037)

Abu-sina or Ibn Sina Greatest Islamic intellectual of all Physician, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physicist and poet (said he read whole Koran at 10) -expressed (in different words) Newtons first law of motion he believed medicine is a science (believed in finding pure and specific medicial ingredients- not polypharmacy

Aristotle's conception of Nature

Accepted geocentric view Believed in the "natural place" and that things strive to go to their natural place (e.g. rocks go to ground) Could fit a Christian World

Lamarck

Accomplished botanist until given post as zoologist at Museum of Natural History. Coined "invertebrates" (previously either insects or worms) - lots of contribution to invertebrate zoology. Wrote Zoological philosophy, Natural History of Invertebrates and 1820: Analytical System of Positive knowledge about Man

Arnold of Villanova

Alchemist who first produced almost pure alcohol (aquavitae) as a result, alcohol came to be regarded as the essence of sunbeams (aetherial gold) which had pierced the grape and been retained in its juices

Aristotle's teleology

Nature does nothing without a purpose. The purpose of something was its "final cause" -God's plan The laws which govern nature are not in nature itself, they are imposed by divine intelligence

Aristotle's systematics

Never tried to establish formal classification of things but he understood natural groups existed (e.g. vertebrates, invertebrates)

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Nun, abbess and mystic who wrote down her religious visions She was also a: Healer (thought both diseases and mental illnesses had supernatural cause) Naturalist (wrote a large book on natural history of Europe (mostly Germany) and the cosmos Musician (~80 of her compositions survived and are still being recorded) named doctor of the chruch in 2012

Geber

The "False Geber" - actually a spanish monk - as was tradition many writers wrote under false guise of some ancient scholar discovered vitriol -sulphuric acid - very important also described how to make strong nitric acid "aqua fortis"

Greek religion

The ancient greeks did not need to invoke supernatural explanations since the Greek religion had no complete/systematic explanation of the world and the gods... more just legends. Gods had faults, were human-like, and weren't needed. Used REASON and OBSERVATION

Scholasticism

The assimilation of ancient writings into a Christian framework -there is a little bit of science (astrology) to religion Methods: logical analysis of texts, reconciling opposing points of view Scholars were very good at reading into things, taking all the meaning they could - literary pursuit

Herophilus (330-260 BC)

The beating of the heart transmits pulsations to the arteries, both veins and artiers carry blood.

two most famous botanists of ancient world

Theophrastus (pupil of Aristotle - wrote a lot but only his works on botany survived) Dioscorides (greek Physician kind of like Galen attached to the Roman army in 1st century AD) Both described about 500-600 plants

Achievement of greek philosophers

They invented "scientific curiosity" and defined science: the inquiry into nature that is necessarily NATURAL and RATIONAL (<-- excludes prophecy)

University of Naples

University of Naples Federico II - oldest state-supported university in the world

Roman empire

Vast, surrounded entire Mediterranean. An ideology Dissolved Sept 4, AD 476 (emperor at the time, 12 year old boy stolen by the Goths) After became Byzantine empire

on the fabric of human body

Vesalius 7 parts - skeleton, muscles, vascular system, nerve system, abdominal viscera, thoracic viscera, brain and eye 2 important contributions: anatomically correct and high quality illustrations: also printed, so widely available anatomy went beyond Galen but still didn't propose circulatory system, though he couldn't find the pores. Also accepted Galen's view that human body was perfectly designed by God. Book was denounced by Galenists - accused him of atheim and vivisection

Andreas Versalius 1514-1564

Vesalius produced the first accurate, high-qualty book of human anatomy "On the fabric f the Human Body" 1543 Published the same year as copernicus' book, and what Copernicus was Ptolemy, Versalius was to Galen

Fire

Yellow bile --> choleric (easy to annoy)

Philosopher's stone

according to Gloria Mundi, "it is familiar to all, both young and old, discovered in the countryside, in the village and in the townn, in all things which God has created" The greatest invention to inspire the minds of men - in order to show it didn't exist, they had to ransack every thing on earth

zoo contents

africa: giraffes, cheetahs, monkeys mediteranean: seals asia: bears, elephants, rare trees, fish, exotic birds

Microscopy in later yaers

after promising start in 17th century, biology languished until early 19th century. Disinterest in biology perhaps. 19th century saw better lenses with less aberrations

Knowledge of agriculture required

agriculture required a lot of knowledge- eg fertlization (such as 2000 BC stone showing assyrian polinating a fern - most rejected the idea plants were sexual until very recently knowledge of how to keep livestock alive: breeding, nutrition, how to treat diseases.

Hippocrates: inheritance

all parts of the body produce "seed" material, traits in offspring arise from mixing of male and female seed material Pangenesis

Raymond Lully

also "succeeeded" in the great works of transmuting metal to gold

The Upas tree

also known as "The Javan Tree of Death" based on a real organism, but again blown out of proportion. Found on island of Javan Word hot is meaningless without cold. Needed a tree of death First mentioned by Friar Oderich of Portenau (1330) and then Sir John Mandeville (who didn't actually exist) who claimed it made the deadliest poison Beginning 18th century, visitors to Java were told of an arrow poison sap that was collected from local tree, which got highly embellished Stories of it entered literature

antikthera machine

an exception to technology not having a record could predict eclipses and orbits and whatnot

Sirt Arthur Keith

anatomist, paleontologis, influential defender of Piltdown fossols

Alchemists discovered or invented many things useful to later alchemists/chemists

apparatus, glassware (e.g. alembic for distillation -al-Jabir) Distillation (wanted to find a universal solvent) Solution and precipitation Concepts: analysis, separation of some components of a meterial, transformation

domesticated plants

arose by both unintentional and intentional selection

Roots of geology

arose from practical questions: Where acn we find valuable minerals? How did moutains form? irregularities :okotoks rock Where do rivers come from? What are fossils? (put there by god? geological coincidences?) How did Earth form in the first place?

discipline of history

attempts to understand human past. Broadest and most integrative study

theriac

based on a poison antidote originally commissioned by King Mithridates of Pontus (132-63 BC)

medieval science

based on causation: everything had its (previous) cause

Hippocrates ethics

be truthful to help or at least not to harm

Aristotle's form-giving principle for reproduction

eidos: form giving principle in semen since it was warm and fully cooked. Catamenia: the potential (just like the bronze): the menstrual blood of the woman that was "only half cooked" which was pressed upon by semen Weak semen = woman, strong = man

William harvey

elucidated circulation of the blood in the 1600s

Plutonism (late 18th century)

emphasized internal heat as agent of geological change derived geological beliefs from Scottish James Hutton in his friends book Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth (1802) based on Theory of the Earth with Proofs and illustrations n 1795

Epigeneticists vs preformationists

epigeneticists: form gradually develops over time preformationists: form already established from conception, just grows in size- homunculus

Louis-Joseph Proust 1788

established Law of Definite Proportions: elements combine in compound substances in simple constant ratios by weight (atomic theory-almost there)

Euclid

euclidian geometry

cryptozoo

pseudoscience associated with mythical creatures Intelligent people at some point in time believed all these creatures existed platypus was first thought to be a hoax

Asclepiads

purely secular healers Asclepios might be transmuted version if deified Imhotep (as far distant to hippocrates as Hippocrates is to us) Staff of Asclopios - perhaps guinea worm, travellers, Nehustan? Snake molts are rejuvenation?

Franciscus Sylvester

put iatrochemistry on a different footing by claiming there is no archeus (no mystical alchemical being) interested in acids and alkalis (illness an imbalance of the two) Invented Gin (juniper berries) for treating kidney ailments

George Ernst Stahl 1660-1742

renamed terra pinguis "phlogiston" Believed rusting was the same process as combustion, only slower therefore producing no flame, and that different materials have different kinds of phlogistion (e.g. wood phlogiston + weight since after burning it loses weight whereas metal has negative weight since after corrosion it gains weight)

Mandrake

root resembles human figure, when pulled from the earth it emits a shriek that kills anyone who hears it

The emerald tablet

said to be authored by some ancient mythological Egyptian "Hermes"- contained secrets of the prima material and transmutation to gold

Aristotle's scale of Nature

scaled according to "Form Dominance" Inanimate matter all the way to Humans on the way to perfection Scala natura - popular way to depict relationships between groups of organisms until 19th century

Middle ages drunkeness

so common it was unnoticied

Nebular hypothesis

solar system arose from a spinning nebula over a long period of time

Lamarcks contributions

supported evolutionary thought: put it on the table, identified time as natural theologies fatal flaw. Hindered evolution: unscientific, disreputable

Piltdown man

supposed human ancestor whose cranium , jaw and teeth were excavated in sussex, south of London from 1908-1915 "man of sussex"

Hermann Kolbe 1818-1884

synthesized acetic acid (along with teacher Wohler showed it was possible to synthesize organic molecules in vitro)

Population thinking

that only variation is the reality, and ideal forms are the illusion opposite of essentialist thinking

What is biology

the study of living things -coined by Lamarck

Soial Darwinism

the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals. Now largely discredited, social Darwinism was advocated by Herbert Spencer and others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was used to justify political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention and reform.

Aristotle anatomy and physiology

thought that anatomy should be comparative differentiated between fish and whales, and described crayfish, insects and other invertebrates accepted erroneous view of the early hippocratics that the brain cools the blood and produces mucus thought heart was organ of soul and intelligence food is "cooked" in gut (cooking =transformation)

John Dalton

took prousts work and came up with modern day understanding of atomization whre each compound is made of specific combinations of atoms. (each atom has a fixed weight) Was also colourblind and came up with tests for it. Also really boring: avid meteorologist but all his work was destroyed in the blitz

scarificator

tool used for blood letting

Mythical organisms

transition from medieval to scientific revolution

early scientific theories of the Earth

tried to incorporate knowledge of physics and astronomy into origins of history e.g. New Theory of Earth by Whiston Telliamed by Maillet Buffons geography

Ibn an-Nafis (d. 1288)

underrepresented in literature QUestioned Galenic authority on blood movement and proposed pulmonary circulation: Blood moves from right to left ventrical via lungs, not pores some controversy whether he dissected humans

Technology written record

unlike art there isn't one... we don't know who invented something as the skill got passed from master to apprentice. Individual contributions from artists are irreplaceable (e.g. mono lisa)

Spontaneous generation of organisms

until proven false in 1862 could have been used to support evolution (not need creator)

piltdown background

up til now no hominin fossils found in britain neanderthals -germany 1856 cro magnon man (modern homo sapiens -France, 1868) Java man (homo erectus, Java, 1890s) the hominins that had been discovered were recent forms; paleoanthropologits wished to find a form closer to ape-human split... the missing link (the oldest known Java man had only human traits - didn't have brains our size but we bipedal and had jaws like us) Anthropologists wanted to clarify the mosaic nature of human evolution - do bigger brains precede bipedalism (turns out bipedalism came waaay before)

polypharmacy

use of very complicated and undefined number of things (e.g. herbal medicine) get everything from the plant, dosage becomes a problem Contrasts modern pharmacy: isolation and extraction of single chemical - can control dose

First modern works in natural history dealt with 2 things

descriptive botany and zoology botanists more interested in identification and classification, zoologists more interested in function and adaptation.

Hippocratic treatment

diagnosis was not emphasized, hippocratic corpus contains only a few named diseases. Instead you were "sick" or "well" Therapy: often diet, ointments, going to countryside - had some drugs: laxatives, narcotics, surgery, blood letting.

19th century debates about DIRECTION of geographical change

directional geology: world always changing in specific direction (e.g. graph with a slope of more or less than zero overall - Buffon, neptunists) Steady state geology (Hutton, Lyell): slope averages zero.

Jan Ingen-Housz 1730-1799

discovered photosynthesis: plants can only restore in sunlight ( the green parts i.e. leaves are responsible for restoring injured air by removing phlogiston but can only do this in sunlight)

Democritus dissections

dissected many animals Learned about the power of magnifying glasses - never became used though until much later

Roots of agriculture

domestication of plants/animals: reproduction fell under our control - artificial selection

Medieval technology

e.g. wheelbarrow. stimulated science in 15th and 16th century Science can exist without extensive technology (such as in Greece) and technology can exist without science (such as in middle ages). Science needs literacy, but technlogy does NOT: can be passed down through demonstration

Georges Cuvier

A Catastrophist helped assemble stratographical columns

Hippocrates writings

Mostly done by students (19 authors) Many followed his ways

Albertus Magnus (1200-1280)

"Doctor Universalis" literary scholar, alchemist (even though he had some doubts about it) and teacher The foremost medieval naturalist First person to isolate ARSENIC ARISTOTELIAN Through his commentaries on Aristotle, he made Aristotle's conception of nature widely known in EUrope. He fit his first hand observations into Aristotelian framework. Pupil: St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) became the greatest of the scholastics

Archimedes

"Give me a lever big enough.." Proved the crown for Hiero was not solid gold

Democritus (460-360 BC)

"The laughing philosopher" Represents peak of first period of greek philosophy (interest in natural world for its own sake). Learned atomism from his teacher Leucippus, and became formost atomist and religious skeptic. Since the past is very extensive, only with "uncuttable" entities can matter survive and not be heaps of powder. Qualities of matter derive from number size motion and shape of the atoms Reducing the world to atoms removes necessity for god Life and the soul are the same thing, the soul consists of fire atoms which are brought in through each breath. Sleep and death are loss of soul atoms Sensory perception is due to movement of atoms from object to perceiver, interacting with soul atoms. Human brain is organ of thought, heart organ of courage, and liver organ of sensuality

The museum at Alexandria

"house of muses" More like a university Contained research labs, dissection rooms (including humans) an observatory, a zoo, a botanical garden and large lecture halls

Paracelsus: iatrocheistry

"iatro" in front of anything to do with understanding human life The body has a mystical internal alchemist, the ARCHEUS, that controls its functions - illness the result of defects in body chemistry - should be specific chemical theapy for each disease -SPECIFICITY very important - same with modern day medicine Choice of drugs should be partly based on astrology (planets, metals, and parts of body - recalling ancient macro/microcosm) and partly based on Doctrine of Signatures (of plants): what the plant looked like was what it was good for treating (e.g. the walnut good for the brain) poo is the best gift to medicine

oxidation theory of combustion

(current theory) something in air and something in wood combine and produce new stuff in air (CO2) that did not exist in either the air or the wood prior to combustion Reactants --> products

the Epochs of Nature 1778

-Buffon proposed 7 periods in history of life -Comet hits sun (comets were harbingers of disaster) -debris cooled to form planets -oceans formed, marine life spontaneously generated -waters retreated and continents formed - explains marine fossils on mountains -animal life was generated on land -continents fragmentedd -humans appeared and took over Since the Earth has been cooling ever since its formation (an "arrow of time") the Earths temperature is an indicator of its age - 75 000 years old (since fossil elephants were found higher up, this explains why the world had cooled) got into trouble so conceded genesis (divine creation, genesis, flood, constant)

On the movement of the Heart and Blood

-Harvey posed several questions concerning Galenic physiology -why d vnous and arterial blood differ only in shade when they have different functions? (galen arterial = spirits and venous = nutrients) why only valves in veins? why do lungs need so much? Arguments: Valves ensure a one-way flow of blood If you tie off a vein, side away from heart bulges, but if you tie off an artery, side toward the heart bulges. 2 ounes of blood/heart beat 600 lbs of blood/hour - couldn't possibly be synthesized in the liver - must be reused Unanswered questions: what does liver do? How are tissues nourished if they don't consume blood What's difference between arterial and venous blood? What happens between them (can't see capillaries). What's function of respiration? What's in air that needs to be distributed by arteries?

Restoration of Christianity

-Servetus Argued in order to understand human spirit, one must understand the human body. Also argued holy trinity an obstacle to Jews "joining" Christianity (once they join Christ will return) In the book he argues for pulmonary circulation There are no pores in the septum The pulmonary artery is huge, and lungs could not possibly consume all that blood. Blood in pulmonary artery is dark red, and pulmonary vein is bright red (proposed the PULMONARY circuit - not systemic) - only 3 copies of his book survived, most were burned at the stake with him

New Theory of the Earth 1696

-William Whiston explained biblican events by cometary events Genesis is about the surface of the earth which was a comet, not origin of everything. Then the elliptical comet orbit was made circular by God working through Newtons laws and the Fall of man (expulsion of Adam and Even) were accompanied by the impact of a comet hitting Earth. Let there be light = removal of comet dust so we could see stars Flood occured from close encounter with water-tail of another comet (comets were bigger than the world) and tidal forces from this comet opened cracks in the earth to release water One day another comet will approach the Earth and strip our atmosphere and all good people will go to heaven during the battle of Armaggedon during the Consummation.

SIgnificance of Huttons work?

... find out...

Obstances to evoltuionary thinking:

1. Essentialism 2. Everyday experience shows us generational continuity and not radical discontinuity 3. threatened morality - if we reject biblical view we'd reject it's morals too 4. Natural Theology 5. Incomplete fossil record (e.g. Curvier showed abrupt rather than gradual changes 6. Plenitude principle: all species that can exist do exist, creation was fully stocked from the beginning. 7. Many believed evolution would cause moral and societal chaos by undercutting the bible and implying humans are 'mere' animals. e.g. Social Darwinism 8. misunderstanding of evolution, science, and the meaning of words (e.g that we descend from chimps, if ducks and crocodiles are from common ancestor why don't we see fossil crocoducks?

Theories leading toward evolution

1. Linnaen Hierarchies and natural groupings 2. Function vs. Type similarities 3. Sequence of fossils in stratographical column 4. Spontaneous generation 5. Natural theology - natural functionism 6. Inherited variability 7. Vestigial and inefficient structures 8. Time and environmental change 9. Idea of change over time\ 10. Basically: Similarity beyond functional necessity. Birds wings are more similar than they NEED to be to be functional

Islamic legacy

1. Many ancient books re-entered Europe as arabic translations (Christians and muslims came into contact in spain and sicily as well as jerusalem) 2. the influence of avicenna became equal to Galen's in Europe 3. modern chemistry grew out of islamic alchemy 4. experimental science 5. three important historical issues - were islamic scholars transmitters or original contributors? how much did religion help or hinder science during this era? Why was there no self-sustaining revolution (and pass to europe)?

The four general questions in biological inquiry

1. What living things are there in the world and how do they interact? (concept of extinction fairly recent - geological accidents created fossilized amonites, whole microbial world a recent discovery, viruses- are they alive? sooooo many beetles. what about mythical animals and nanobacteria?) 2. Where do organisms come from? (life from pre-existing life) 3. How do organisms work? 4. Why do offspring resemble their parents, why are they different?

Why was there no self-sustaining revolution in islamic science?

1100-1969 = 869 years. If islamics continued science the same way, 750+856 = 1619 = around the time the Arabs would be walking on the moon had they not given up scientific inquiry

Avicenna's Canon of Medicine

14 volumes - his most important work Incorporated all he knew about Greek ROman and Islamic medicine. Adopted Aristotles notion of Purpose in nature and based his anatomy on Galen Stressed DIAGNOSIS - disease systoms and disease names (in contrast to hippocrates) a distinguishing feature of islamic medicine His works contained some elements ahead of their time (such as: -music therapy -exercise (for those living in the city) - drug trials (clinical) His work formed basis of curriculum in European medical schools until the mid 17th century , after COnstantine of Africa showed up at the Salerno Medical College in Italy carrying some of Avicenna's books. (Salerno medical college founded 9th century) -books became basis for medical books for centuries (as well as Galen and Hippocrates')

Francisco Stelluti

1630 first drawings of magnified objects- bees

The enlightenment

18th century - absorbed new world revolutionary view that an educated person must learn about science. There was also a lot of religious skepticism, as well as preferance ttoward capitalism

Sequence of fossils: how to explain?

2 possibilites: 1. Life evolves 2. many extinctions and many new forms appear after

Yellow Emperor's inner canon

2nd century BC ancient chinese most important medical texts illness was from natural causes illness can result from disruption of chi (flows via meridians) Balance of yin (female) and yang (male): human body is microcosm that reflects world as a whole- macrocosm- humans therefore have the 5 elements (wood fire earth metal water) corresponding to parts of body

Biological understanding of hippocrates

4 elements relates to 4 humours, and sickness was imbalance 1st phase is imbalance (degeneration of humours) 2nd phase - Coction - transformation of body 3rd phase- crises: evacuation of unbalanced humours Lasted until Virchow in 1858

Limitations of first period of Greek natural philosphy

650-300 BC? Some observation, though it was mostly an era of critical reasoning, knowledge came through thought- vrey little experimentation

Jabir

8th century preprated nitric acid, and other arab alchemists had found a method of distilling vinegar to strong acetic acid

Golden age of Science in the Islamic world

8th-13th century It is not "islamic science" just science done during the islamic-dominant religious era Heresy was severely punished, but Cicero mentioned many only claimed to be religious in public.

"al"

= "the" e.g. alcohol, alchemy, algebra = al-gabr = the balance or the completion

Scientists over the ages

Ancient philosophers (save maybe Aristotle) Wizard scientists (Alchemists) Joseph Wright: discovered phosphorus Explorer scientists (1800s) e.g. Humboldt and Darwin e.g. Journey to center of the earth Mad scientists (Frankenstein) Geek scientists (big bang theory)

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier 1743-1794

Antoine and his wife Marrie Anne Lavoisier abandone phlogiston and and were avid cartographers. Wanted to find a universal measurement Renamed dephlogisticated air OXYGEN didn't like the idea of something having negative weight - thought dephlogisticated air was not absence of something but rather presence of something which he called oxygen Both respiration and combustion consume oxygen and release carbon dioxide Used ICE CALORIMETER (3 layers) to quantify heat released by a process - amount is the same for both respiration and combustion - amount of water released is amount of heat produced - amount of fixed air compared to amount of water released is always the same - proves you don't need some vital energy to have living organisms died by guillotine during French Revolution (Reign of terror)

James Hutton 1726-1797

Argued for 2 important principles: uniformitarianism: causes of geological change are slow and constant and the same at all times (e.g. mountain will be taken down by rain and pebble by pebble geological cycles and steady-state earth: continental mountains erode and deoposit sediment in oceans and the pressure of this forms molten magma which gives rise to new mountains/continents --> NO DIRECTIONAL CHANGE wanted to find th e origin of life but settled for more modest ambition of explanation of geology

Other famous Alexandrian scholars

Aristarchus Hypathia Erastosthenes Euclid Archimedes Ptolemy Heron

Early mention of Lenses

Aristophanes in the play "clouds" Pliny - used to focus light to burn Alhazen - transparent sphere can produce enlarged image Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon - describ what appear to be telescopes and Bacon describes eyeglasses, burning lenses, and magnifiers.

Erasistatus (310-250 BC)

Arteries have blood only when it seeps from the tissues into the arteries, pathologically

Artificial and natural classification

Artificial classificiation: group-defining attributes do not correlate with other attributes e.g. green organisms vs red ones Natural: group-defining attributes DO correlate with other attributes - orderd according to important shared attributes. e.g. evolution, barks, leaves - look so different but serve hte same function

Isaa Newton 1642-1727

Astronomy , physics, math, philosophy of science. Not an atheist- very interested in the bible and the emerald tablet Entrenched the idea that the universe operates according to simple, universal quantitative laws - gravity explains tides. Universal law: this science after Newton came to be part of everyone's education

Ptolemy 90-168 AD

Astronomy and planetary motions

Galileo Galilei 1564-1642

Astronomy, physics, mathematics, philosophy of science, scientifc method One of the first to use the telescope (didn't invent but built his own) discovered celestial imperfections: sunspots, mountains on moon, Jupiters moons (he thought they were 4 stars but then realized these stars were moons Saw craters on the moon 1609 Got into trouble with church of course strong believer in mathematics "Math is the language of God"

Vernon Kellogg

Attached to German officers in 1917 and found Germans thought they were part of some Darwinian evolution to justify warfare

Other Galenic beliefs

BLood does not circulate, it moves from site of synthesis (the liver from food) to tissues with tidal "sloshing" blood flow (goes both directions) venous blood distributes food venous blood enters arterial system throufh pores connecting the ventricles Arterial blood distributes transformed pneuma (animal spirits) Pneuma taken in by lungs and converted to spirts that are distributed by arterial blood to provide life warmth and movement Doctrine of temperaments (4 temperaments- choleric, phlegmatic etc)

Piltdown players

Charles Dawson Sir Arthur Smith Woodward Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Sirth Arthur Keith Martin Hinton Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Natural Theology- Paley

Natural Theology - argument from design. an obstacle to evolution.

Roger Bacon (1214-1292)

Bacon was medieval in spirit, because he was of the scholastic tradition, and was interested in astrology, numerology, magical herbs, gems and alchemy Observation --> hypothesis --> experiment (back to obervation) but somewhat modern in his thinking: its speculated he knew about the magnifying power of telescopes and microscopes was imprisoned an dmost his works destroyed but Opus Majus survived (published 450 eyars posthumously) predicted steamships, automobiles, submarines, and even flying machines, and suggested one day people would circumnavigate the world. One letter even mentions gunpowder. Truly emphasized experiment Believed the world strove toward perfection

Hippocrates anatomy/physiology

Based on dissections and vivisections (animals and people) - ethical hesitation against dissection as well as fear of ghosts PNEUMA: life giving principle in air enters lungs and is taken to left side of heart, then distributed by arteries to body to sustain it. Knew breathing and blood was necessary: therefore pneuma came in through lungs and lived through blood Brain: Radiator that cools blood and separates water and mucus. Later hippocratics believed brain was center of thought and feeling

Voltaire

Believed the idea of Miracles were blasphemous - implies God botched creation from the getgo and had to continuously step in and help encourage things along the way Deist (along with Buffon) Got into trouble for not paying attention to biblical history in his own views

Democrites atheism

Believed there were no divine beings, natural law governs the world. no mention of divine beings in his works because he was both atomist and atheist many came to associate atomists as atheists and were deemed blasphemous

The Telliamed 1748

Benoit de Maillet 1656-1738 Earth has seen eternal cycles of creation and destruction Oceans once covered the earth Origin and evolution of life: life arose from seeds then changed over time (inheritence of acquired characteristics - if an organism does something a lot it will pass on better adaptation (such as playing music) to its progeny)

Beringer Hoax fossils 1726

Beringer was convinced he found fossil spider webs

Earth (humour)

Black bile (doesn't exist) --> melancholy

Air

Blood --> Sanguine (sunny)

sphinx

Body of a lion, wings, and head of a woman (Greek) or head of a king (Egyptian sphinx)

Aristotle (342-322 BC)

Born in Macedonia to father Nichomachus (physician). Was instructed in asclepiad tradition After father died went to athens at 17 to learn philosophy at Plato's academy but left 20 years later when not named successor Studied biology on island of Lesbos (esp. marine biology) but fled a revolution and returned to Macedonia to tutor Alexander the Great Returned to Athens (334 BC) to establish the Lyceum Suspected of impiety, fled athens to "prevent a fresh crime against philosophy" (e.g. SOcrates) - Athenians were pretty angry at macedonians (Alexander took over athens) Died in exile on island of Chalcis

Erastothenes

Calculated the world was round using sticks and shadows in different cities. He derived the circumference of the earth and if his measure of "stadion" was around 160m, then we was within a 1% margin

Empedocles (492-432 BC of Sicily

Came up with the 4 element model of nature He believed fire water earth and air compose everything and combine through love (attraction) and disociate through hate (repulsion) - this idea remained until discovery of real elements much later We think with our blood becuase 4 elements most balanced in our blood. Blood is responsible for life and best thing in life is thought: therefore blood gives thought. He also erroneously thought animals evolved over time from weird ancestors, originally separate limbs that combined at random

All good science has a transcultural character

Canadian science... what does this mean? Science is science no matter where you are, the language of science is universal

Nicholas Steno 1638-1686

Catholic priest: A genesis paleontologist - tried to fit fossils into biblical framework How does one solid thing get within another solid thing? looked at Tongue stones: established they were remains of organisms his ideas later led to principles of original horizontality and stratigraphical principle of superposition

Rudolf Virchow (1858)

Cellular pathology - 1 or more cells in body were upset: diabetic - one little cell type not producing insulin

Sir Arthur Smith woodword

Chief of the department of natural history at british Museum Paleoichthyologist (fossil fish) Dawson's ally, helped with the excavation supporteed the finds as early Pleistocene (1.8m years) suspected of being involved

Buffons contributions

Classification (only species level reflects biological reality- not the higher taxonomic orders) Biogeography: accredited with founding it - though some say Darwin. Popular view was that after Noahs ark landed on mt. Aratat, the species wandered there own way. Buffon believed that there was a spearate genesis (by spontaneous generation) of each life form in each area, leading to unchangeable "interior mould" of each species. Buffon's law: different regions that have similar environments will have different plants and animals Did not believe in evolution due to lack of intermediates (interior mould of species is unchangeable) "Father of evolution, though not an evolutionist" - Mayr Introduced the arrow of time by introducing history to he study of life (in Buffon's day life and biology was not a historical subject or process)

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek 1632-1723

Cloth merchant and scientific amateur - his business acquainted hm with examining fabrics- inspired by Hooke's Micrographia never told anyone how he built his microscopes, never taught students Always depicted at a desk in front of a wndow - very popular for his work. Single lens (therefore very small lens in order to get 100-200x mag - fewer aberrations - legend that he ground them with sand) - everything he looked at was being looked at for the first time - had microscopy to himself recorde and circulated work by sending 400 letters to Royal Society of England for publication in The Transactions of the Royal Society saw capillaries... coudn't draw so he had artists do the drawings for him

Realdo Colombo 1510-1559

Colombo was an anatomist and successor to vesalius at University of Padua - were friends until he accused Vesalius of anatomical errors in his book. He planned to do his own book and lined up Michelangelo to do the artwork. In posthumous publication, Colombo presented a clear statement of pulmonary circulation ... had access to one of Servetuses 3 books however...

Comets

Comets became predictable around 1700s.. Halley realized that this comet would come back every 76 years - 1680 there was Kirch's comet then 1682 Halleys

Ebers papyrus

Contains practical advice and magic- over 700 drugs and formulas given- without context the hieroglyphs are hard to decipher

Rene Descartes 1596-1650

Crude mechanicist model of living things as mechanisms involved physics and engineering (NOT chemistry). inspired by mechanical concepts (pressure, fluid flow)thought that there were channels in the brain that when distubred would allow animal spirits to flow in thought humans were also mechanisms but they alone possess a soul (connected via pineal gland) to direct thir actions, whereas animals are mechanisms without souls Universe itself is a mechanical system

Roberte Hooke 1635-1703

Curato of Royal Society in London set up new microscope demo every week. Gathered his observations in his book Micrographia (1665) in which he described the elements of magnified cork as "cells"

Martin Hinton

Curator of zoology at British museum, fossil deposition expert (known practical joker) suspected of being invovled

Natural theology for evolution

Darwin very inspired by natural theology. While it implied creator, it also focused on adaptation and function which stimulated growth of evolutionary thinking. Why a given functionality appears in biology. However, if it was all designed why are there all these winners and losers? Why design a wasp, or wisdom teeth, or the aorta loop?

Galapagos Archipelago

Darwin's journey to the Galapagos, noticing many different species found nowhere else, and observing how tame the species were, unafraid of humans- they had no evolved to fear humans. Tortoises were more afraid of the water (where there were known predators) than of humans. He noticed also the different beak lengths and sizes of the different Finches. Discusses this instinct as being "hereditary" Noticed the differing species were confined to differing islands and had slightly different characteristics. He noticed that danger from man did not get acquired over a short time, even when persecuted, but rather in successive generations it becomes hereidatry.

Vesalius as a teacher

Did many dissection classes (held in winter, would attract 500+, teachings were methodical and thorough - had several corpses on display each showing different parts (skeleton, muscle, nervous system) also had artistic posters He acquired his corpses from: capital punishment- was friends with a judge who would schedule executions conveniently Robbed graves Cut up a hanging corpse to smuggle it back in bits

Joseph Black 1728-1799

Discovered and isolated "fixed air" CO2: released from combustion (reaction with CaOH2 --> CaCO3 - just measure CaOH2 and the CaCO3 and however much more CaCO3 weights after combustion was amount of CO2 there was Noticed like many others that burning, fermentation and activities of animals produced something that was deadly to animals and would extinguish a flame.

Leeuwenhoeks results

Discovered blood capillaries independently after Malphigi Discovered bacteria when searching for pepper needles Generative cells: looked at swimming things in semen of patient with Gonorrhea - did not claim to see little humans and did not agree with preformationist theory Skeptical that life cound spontaneously occur- followed the corn weevil life cycle to prove they didn't appear out of nowhere in the corn. Similarly tested lice life cycle on himself

human anatomy at alexandria

Discovered thorugh Herophilus (330- 260 BC) and Erasistratus (310 - 250 BC)- probably uncle and nephew: their writings do not survive but are known via secondary sources Christian writers centuries later accused them of performing vivisections on criminals, but this remains unproven

Archbishop James Ussher (17th century)

Divine creation was recent, and began, in fact, at 12 noon on October 23, 4004 BC 2000 page chronology of all human history. Other scholars arrived at similar conclusions: importance of genesis view is it maintains the only geological event in history that significantly changed the earth was the great Flood

One way TIcket

Dobzansky is an "in-betweenie" and was appalled with Morgan's dirty lab and hated Morgan's snobbery and disdain towards evolution. The Scientific basis of Evolution that Morgan published seemed to be convinced that natural selection was dead. Evidence however, both in the lab and outside with breeding was starting to stir up support for it. Dobzhansky used D. pseudoobscura since melanogaster was too domesticated. flies had genetic mutations, and analyze their salivary glands to monitor banding patterns and noted that genetic variation was a fact of life: different seasons favoured different traits, and there was a lot fo genetic variation within a species. e.g. Boots. These changes overtime gave rise to reproductive barriers. The changes were not random, they reappeared every year, and these fluctuations was natural selection. He wrote Genetics and the Origin of SPecies which became a classic. Got somewhat betrayed by Sturtevant for a post. Dobzhansky reared flies with vivid orange eyes as his marker. Here lay the genetic evidence for the theory of evolution.

Early greek medicine

Early greek medicine focused on reglion and magical cures

Significance of Harvey's work

Established double-circuit blood circulation model of experimental and quantitative biology highlighted the mechanical aspects of organismal function and made others wonder what else could be explained mechanically Work suggested blood transfusion as treatment for blood loss Was the first time anyone understood anything about how organisms work

Were islamic scholars preservers or original contributors?

Eventually one must go beyond the ancient greats- which the islamic scholars did. The ancients were almost on par with the bibile til now

Isaac Newton's Law of Unversal gravitation

Explained the tides inspired the search of the earth and its orgins that were based on physical laws: COSMOGONY

Friar Oderich of Portenau (1330)

First described the Upas tree

The Unicorn

First mentioned by Ctesias (398 BC) Greek historian He wrote of the unicorn (monokeros) as living in India. Larger than a horse and a half meter long horn. Filings from the horn were believed to be an antidote to poison Came out of the surf Perhaps unicorn deer, or elasmotherium? Mentioned through mistranslation of Re'em in the old testament translating Hebrew to Greek (3rd century) Also mentioned by Pliny: Orsaean Indians hunt an exceedingly wild beast called monceros: stags head, elephants feet and rest of body like a horse, and one black horn 2 cubits long. Cannot be taken alive Arab mythology the unicorn was huge: it killed elephants by skewering them but after 3 or 4 it grew tired and could not shake them off Jewish mythology it could not fit on Noah's ark, and survived by treading water resting its horn on the ark In christian mythology the unicorn could be pacified only by virgins. to catch a unicorn you would need 1) a virgin 2) a very large net Marco polo discerned the source of unicorn legend (indian rhinocerous) when he passed through India. Wondered how such an ugly beast could give rise to a beautiful legend

Developmental stages of islamic science

First there was some awareness of ancient knowledge - how it came about (e.g. Aristotle) Then expansion of knowledge - new inquiry REvolutionary thinking: up to debate whether islamic age was considered a "revolutionary" time in science

Newton's influence

His work was so influencial that the search for simple quantitative univeral laws became model for what science ought to be doing (including biology) - may have had a negative impact on biology - many biologists tried to make "biological laws" to no avail

Jan Baptista van Helmont 1579-1644

Flemish mystic, physician and chemist who was inspired by paracelsus. he subscribed to approach of iatrochemistry - conservation of matter in chemical reactions: Everything is made of water except air - Willow tree experiment considered first experiment in plant physiology - quantitative The growth of the tree could not just have come from the soil thought there were many kinds of airs (vapours, spirits) Charcoal experiment: burned charcoal and found product was much less weight in ash and vapours that could not support a candle SPIRITUS SYLVESTER (CO2) - since fermentation of food/wine gave off similar vapour, he believed that food consumption, alcoholic fermentation and burning of wood are all the same processes: FERMENTATION - unity of living and non-living

Medieval universities

Flourished during the Scholastic period Grew out of church schools founded by Charlemagne (768-814) They were international - students from all over Europe made they way to distant universities to study. Most study was in Latin - international language of scholarship Modern universities have an unbroken chain of continuity with medieval universities (I learn from my prof who learnt from his prof etc) Many were founded in medieval times (oxford, cambridge, Naples) INDEPENDENCE: students could do whatever the fcck they wanted, were free of law, could debate existence of God

Aristotles modification of plato's idealism

Forms are ideas and they are in the world , not outside it. Potentiality + form = actuality Matter is potentiality, form gives matter reality (e.g. bronze sculptor)

Leschenault

French naturalist went out to resolve the truth behind Upas tree legend: In Java he was shown a toxic tree (Antiaris toxicaria) but vegetation grew around it. He was able to collect poisonous latex from the tree

Galen's study of anatomy

Galen derived much of his work on human anatomy from dissection of Barbary monkeys (and goats, dogs, pigs) Did a lot of vivisections on animals Learned a lot from works of erasistatus and herophilus examined bones from destroyed tombs Learned much as a physician at gladiatorial school

Giovanni Borelli 1608-1697

Gathered evidence that digestion consists of mechanical pulverization of food - mechanicist

Robert Hooke 1635-1703

Genesis skeptic sedimentary rocks are not remains of glod Earth movements reform Earth's surface which expose marine layers believed in extinction

Neptunism (18th) century

Geological landscape the result of recession of the oceans (and precipitation of minerals from receding oceans - most neptunists made no reference to bible or great flood) layers: newer forms on older established the STRATIGRAPHICAL PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOISITION (origins Nicholas Steno) and PRINCIPLE OF ORIGINAL HORIZONTALITY horizontality: they were formed horizontally but sometimes got tilted such as the mountain in Banff

Gerard scholastic

Gerard learned arabic when her arrived in Toledo to translate into Latin

Gin and tonic

Gin invented by Franciscus Sylvius Tonic (has quinone) developed by brits Helps fend of malaria

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Greatest of the Scholastics Walked all the way from Italy to Paris to be Magnuses pupil. A true server of the Roman Church. Proposed something which nothing can be greater... Arguments from design Wanted to prove existence of GOd could be proven rationally

Apple of Sodom

Grows at the site of the former towns of Sodom and Gomorrah, which God destroyed in righteous wrath over lustful behaviour. When an apple from the tree is picked, it turns to ashes and smoke in the hand

Plato

Had no interest in the natural world for itself, only abstract ideas and theology. Ernst Mayr accuses plato of imepding the progress of biology for over 2000 years for his anti-evolutionary teachings to Aristotle There iexits changeless, eternal and ideal forms. Objects in our world are imperfect reflections of these forms. (Essentialist thinking - we have a lot of absolutist/essentialist terminology today) Also harmful to development of biology was Plato's teleological (purposeful) explanation for everything. Humans had small ears so we could wear hats.

To what extend did relgious thought influence islamic science?

Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111)- very important theologian. Declined to bring together science and religion. From 11th century onwards this caused a reaction that inhibited science. He thought mathematics was the work of the devil House of WIsdom destroyed in 1258 by religious forces

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250)

Holy Roman Emperor Most interesting man in the world (13th century) Grew up in Sicily under very little supervision, became fluent in Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Italian Highborn but parents died young and ran around like an urchin. Never had formal education but very curious Highly intelligent and extremely competent, and possessed universal curiosity Said to be the most competent ruler of the holy roman empire wrote the Art of Falconry - one of the few works of medieval science that is worth anything Did not share the religion or the approach of the scholastics Played chess with many emperors, probably atheist and at least a religious skeptic Believed in free thought in religious matters, but only for himself - punished heretics established the University of Naples in 1224 (still exists) Chartered the Salern Medical college in 1231 (didn't found it) By law he separated the duties of the physician from the duties of the pharmacist

Other aspects of islamic medicine

Human dissection was not allowed in early centuries, but was permitted by the 13th century large public hospitals: most famous were in Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo Seriously deranged people were treated as an illness in islamic medicine, and were not found so guilty of crime

Biology in hunter-gatherers

Hunter-gatherer peoples needed working knowledge of the habits of animals (e.g. seasonal migrations, attack/defense behaviour) and how to kill them. They also needed knowledge of plant diversity- what's poisonous whats not - plants as weapons, tools, medicine

George Louis Leclerc Compte de Buffon 1707-1788

In his life Buffon gained great fame and popular regard published 36 volumes of his work "Natural History" (and another 8 posthumously) Was director of Royal Botanical Garden which he turned into greatest natural history museum in the world was originally an Atheist but turned towards Deism (first cause) 20 000 people at his funeral

Buffon's Natural history

Included: Geology and minerals origins of life and embryology physiology biogeography functional anatomy systematics mammals birds anthropology sociology cultural history general and theoretical articles reptiles, fish and whales in posthumous volumes

Aristotle conclusions

Inspiration to later biologists - took biology seriously Founded natural history Approach was fatally infected with Plato's essentialism Not Rigorously natural - law of nature imposed by the divine his natural history could fit Christian theology Was taken too narrowly by later ages, his spirit of inquiry was not emulated - he would not have welcomed much that his works were taken as law

Lamarck 1778

Invented Biological Keys - got an organism in your left hand a library to look through Invented the term "biology" and "biosphere" and a few others Needle leaf go to 3, non-needle go to 4 Keys are based on 2fold decisions

Invention of paper

Invented by the Chinese, of of the 4 great inventions of them Paper Gunpowder Printing Compass

Heron

Invented many machines like a holy water vending machine

Rene Antoine Ferchault Reaumur 1683-1757

Is digestion physical process or chemical? put meat inside cylinder and put it into stomach of a hawk, when he retrieved it, the meat was partially digested. sponge soaked with digestive secretions from bird would partially digest meat in a dish

Medicine in Islamic era

Islamic biology was largely practical medicine - not much speculation about how things worked Over 300 writers on the subject Main contributions were medical encyclopedism and preparation and use of drugs

3 aspects of islamic civilization encouraged development of science

Islamic expansion (contact with ancient learning- openess to other cultures - wasn't just people of the church that were taught to read and write) Muhammed (AD 570-632) and the Quran welcomed education and in1quiry into nature (he who leaves his home in search of knowledge walks the path of GOd) The wealth and unity of islamic civilization supported the activities of a secular intellectual class

DNA is a double helix

James Watson tells the story of how he realizes the minute he sees Rosalind Franklin's X ray ofthe B DNA that it must be a helix. A double helix.

Johannes Kepler 1571-1630

Kepler was an astronomist that showed planetary orbits are ELLIPSES, not circles ... explained by Earth always speeding up or slowing down

Basilisk

King of snakes, one glance at basilisk brings death (fossil titanoboa would have been Basilisk in size) Cadborosaurus? Ogopogo? Oarfish?

Scientific revolution

Most importantly: calculus, physics, mechanics

Why Galen's named endured

Most of his works survived (60%) Very experimental His works could fit a Christian theology (church championed aristotle and galen)

Thales of miletus (650-580 BC)

Left no writings (perhaps illiterate) but had disciples Predicted a soar eclipse The earth is a disc surrounded on all sides by water - when the sea got agitated it would cause earthquakes Water is the beginning of all things, fundamental element Fores that cause change in matter (water) are consolidation and expansion Considered to be the first natural philosopher - Thales can lay a claim to have invented science (or the scientific approach) (other candidates as inventors: anaximander, democritus, aristotle)

Hippocrates (460-361 BC)

Legend: teach under Plane tree on Cos Born to asclepiad father Travelled balkans and Asia minor. Famous (plato mentions him) Legends say honey on from bees that get pollen from flowers of his tomb is magical Cured democritus of madness Refused to treat the King of Persia

Kropotkin was no Crackpot

Leo Tolstoy wrote to Gandhi in 1909. Couldn't live in conditions of luxury. He was positive about humanity in his life, and argued that Darwin's claim to evolution left no room for morality, and was reduced to "bloody battle". While this was not true, Darwin DID base his idea of natural selection on Malthus' that growth in population must outstrip food supply. Tolstoy in Russia of course would never had witnessed this. However, natural selection favours none and provides no moral guidlines. Kropotkin argues for MUTUAL AID which struggle for existence can lead to. This is another means in which natural selection can occur. This latter view made more sense in russia, but how could any Russian understand ever increasing population infringing on resources. Danilevsky critiqued Darwin's evolution as being too "English" in it's "war against all" Kropotkin spoke of 2 struggles: the hobbsian Struggle of organism against organism for resources, but he also notes the struggle against the environment, which leads to Coooperation. Mutual aid must benefit individual organisms in Darwin's world of explanation.

Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778

Linnaeus was a manager of scientific information - this quite a problem in his day student of evolutionary thinking without realizing it -first to use binomial nomenclature consistently: this separated the naming of organisms from description of them (many of his names we still have e.g. homo sapien) Canna foliis untruqye accminatus nervosis became Canna indica (more general family name first then more specific) INCLUSIVE hierarchy (class --> order --> genus --> species. contrasts Aristotles exclusive military ranking) -formed nested hierarchical classification system: used sexual features for plants (despite this still being controversial #stamen/#pistils - diandry etc) named the ugliest plant Siegesbeckestia Knew the importance of NATURAL groups -inspired cataloguing of biodiversity (indiana Jones: many risked their lives - including David Douglas, rhododendron from Tibet)

Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79)

Lived 2 lives, one in the service of roman society and the roman state (lawyer, administrator, military officer) and other in service of scholarship (historian, encyclopedist) Wrote 37- volume encyclopedia: Natural History. Claims to have had access to over 2000 works. Pliny the younger wrote that his uncle thought any moment not working was a moment wasted Pliny included plenty of good info, and became a standard reference work for the next 1500 years -he was a little too credulous stated elephants were second closest to man in intelligence Died in the eruption of Pompeii

Books that told tales of the Upas tree

Loves of the Plants -Erasmus Darwin (1789) The Law of Java; or, the Poison Tree (London play, 1820) Anchar (Alexandar Pushkin, 1828)

MIDTERM 2

MIDTERM 2

Cryptogarden

Mandrake, apple of Sodom, Zieba tree

example of micro/macrocosm in the five elements: Fire

Mars, creativity, happiness, heart and small intestine, 11am - 3pm most beneficial to treat heart and small intestine

Primary strengths of Islamic science

Mathematics Optics CHemistry (alchemy) --> most important medicine More focused on EXPERIMENT than Greek science had been

Before 19th century, 2 disciplines studied living things:

Medicine and Natural history (There were of course connections between the two - many studies were carried out on dissection of animals, knowledge of human anatomy was skewed. Physicians were often botanists) (Darwin called himself a natural historian)

Galen's therapies

More interventionalist than Hippocrates Balance the humours with diet primarily, and then if not with bloodletting and purging He thought bloodletting could be used for almost anything Surgery: Was his strong suit. A quick surgeon is a fast surgeon. Renown for doing all sorts of surgery Favoured complex drug mixtures, especially THERIAC (polypharmacy)

Old use for biology

More like "stamp collecting" - Rutherford Useful though for compiling evolutionary relationships between organisms Focused on "classification" rather than "function" Giving everything a unique name allows scientists to be exact on what they discuss - sometimes people want to put organisms in one and others want to put the organisms in others (e.g. whalefish, bignose, tailtip)

Mythical conclusions: how do these stories arise and spread?

Observation of real organisms (e.g. piltdown- based on real evolutionary history) a priori reasoning - everything must have its opposite - upas Confounding of more organisms (CO2 and upas) secondhand reporting (e,g, unicorn) mistranslation (re'em: wildox-unicorn) exaggeration - satisfying a craving for wondrous, unusual, freakish - size of unicorn authorities given too much credence Difficulty of verification (proving something doesn't exist is harder than proving it does) Appearance in literature Outright fakery (narwhal tusk) Good story

Hippocratic method

Observe all with all senses (tasting ear - sign of diabetes) - combine contradictory observations Gather observations WITHOUT PREJUDICE Study the PATIENT rather than the disease - age, diet, dreams EVALUATE HONESTLY - at least let them know whats coming assist nature to heal the patient (healings were gentle - opposite to "heroic medicine")

Girolamo Fabrici 1537-1619

On the Valves in the Veins Showed there were valves (squirt water into different ends... one end it doesn't come out) also university of Padua

Michael Servetus 1511 1553

One of the finest intellects of his day, martyr to freedom of thought an conscience. Wandering student, theologian, physician and anatomist - followed vesalius at university of Paris doing dissections for Sylvius. Lived during reformation - denied Holy trinity- had both catholics and protestants angry at hm Wrote Restoration of Christianity (got him burned at the stake)

Galen of Pergamon (AD 130-200)

One of the most influential medical writers of all time Early in career was a surgeon at gladiatorial school at Pergamon (aside: the book was invented in pergamon - Greece) Used cupping: help balance humours? He was the most prestigious physician in ROme, favoured by the emporer Marcus Aurelius, and Commodus. Very unpopular with his colleagues. Had no disciples

Herophilus and Erasistratus

Performed human dissection (and accused of vivisection) Blood is synthesized from food and is distributed in the veins (e.g. hepatic portal vein) Pneuma (spirit) is replenished by respiration, and vital pneuma is carried by the arteries to the brain, where it is converted into animal spirits. From there the animal spirits are carried vy the hollow nerves to the muscles. In the muscles the inrush of animal spirits causes muscle movement Veins and arteries are dead- end canals though which blood and pneuma seep into the tissues.

Water

Phlegm --> phlegmatic (very calm tempered)

Charles Dawson

Piltdown man - fossil collector (for british museum) made most of the piltdown discoveries - was involved in many fraudulent findings - many suspect he was the lead fraudster

Roman encyclopedism

Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) Celsus (1st century AD) Galen of Pergamon (AD 130-200)

Johannes Gutenberg (1440-1450s)

Printing press: books all of a sudden were affordable. Now everyone can learn to read and write. 42 line Gutenberg bible

Joseph Priestly 1733-1804

Produced dephlogisticated air (oxygen) from mercuric oxide. - could support a flame (and a mouse) much longer than regular air (air void of phlogiston) Minister in Church of England- got into conflict so fled to the states believed animals load air with phlogiston by respiration, just like combustion - venous blood loaded with phlogiston absorbed from tissues, which is then released. Arterial blood has no phlogiston - plants restore dephlogisticated air - therefore they must take up phlogiston

Aristarchus

Proposed a heliocentric model: circular planetary orbits around the sun

Jackalope

Rare rabbit "Shopes" disease - even depicted in hieroglyphs

19th century debates about RATE of geographical change

Rate: Catastrophism (e.g. Cuvier): times of rapid large scale change separated by calm uniformitarianism: slow steady uniform change (hutton) debate was won however by uniformitarianists (though catastrophes are pretty important such as comet that wiped out the dinosaurs or the extinction 500 mya - probably gamma ray burst)

The Art of Falconry

Still used to this day, one of the most important works of medieval science. Not just about falconry, an extensive collection of ornithology. Frederick II would always compare his own observations with that of the ancients

William Harvey 1578-1657

Student of Fabrici at Padua after returned home to England and became physician to King James 1 and King Charles 1, lectured at College of Physcian By 1616 privately concluded that blood circulates but was scared to publish because he might be vilified Did dissections on pigs like leonardo Published On the Movement of the Heart and Blood 1628

Frederick Wohler 1800-1882

Synthesized Urea (along with student Kolbe showed it was possible to synthesize organic molecules in vitro)

READING: Professor and the Naturalist

Richard Owen rose as young age and was appointed Hunterian Professor of Anatomy, and married Clift's daughter. He lectured some of the most enthralling lectures at the Royal College of Physicians He believed Aristotles most significant contribution was his recognition of homology - built to a common plan - his point being that the "new" theories of the Continent that were sweeping London were in fact not new at all. Geoffrey disagreed- tried to find bones that were present in all animals - the gill flaps of fish he attributed to the hammer anvil and stirrup of mammals. Buckland and Lyell attended and admired too. Owen continued his lectures for the next 2 decades never once repeating a lecture. Became Director of the British Museum, but wholeheartedly disagreed with embryonic slits because they hinted at transmutation of species (evolution) - He was Christian. New species that appeared were not "superior" to older ones, opposing the idea of evolution from lower to higher. Wrote over 600 pages, had access to London Zoo's carcasses, and catalogued all the museums 20 000 specimens. Lyell introduced him to Darwin. Lyell was so fond of Darwin and vice versa. Darwin paid many visits to Owen with fossils, and they Owen came up with interesting names as they were having tea together, examining new ones such as the Toxodon, Macruachenia, Glyptodon, Scelidotherium. Owen attributed their death to environment but Darwin thought otherwise, questioning Cuvier's catastrophic explanation as advocated by Owen and Buckland. He discussed privately with Lyell and few others his suspicions of evolution. All the while working with Owen on South American fossils, learning from him and inspiring, but not towards the Christian beliefs that Owen held.

Idea of change over time peneterated European consciousness in a wide array of fields

SOlar system's formation and evolution - Nebular hypothesis - gradual Solar arrow of time - exhaustion of sun's energy stores Similarities among words in Sanskirt, Latin and Greek suggested they were desceneded from a common language now extinct

Scholasticism and medieval science in Europe

Scholars did much translating of ancient text into latin e.g Gerard, St. Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus

Copernicus (1473-1543)

Scientific revolution: 1543-1727 (copernicus' death to Newton's) Copernicus was a church warden. "On the motions of Heavenly bodies" 1543 argued in favour of heliocentric model Died conveniently just before it was published Remember: aristarchus also proposed the heliocentric model - though he gave them perfectly circular orbits

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Scientist-priest. Jesuit, theologian, paleontologist, friend and assistant to Dawson - tried to bring together evolution with God. Humans coming together to reach the omega point - absolute perfect evolution - seeing god in all thinga

Patrick Mathew (1790)

Scottish traveler. On Naval Timber and Arboriculture (1831): describes natural selection and common descent 28 years before publication of Origin of Species in its appendices.

Selected traits in plant domestication

Seed size increases shattering (teosinte - corn ancestor) corn doesn't shatter (shed seeds) means we have complete control. Some seeds require dormancy under cold conditions A lot of crops have developed ability to self polinate

Function vs type similarities.

Similarity due to function: e.g. bat and bird wing Similarity due to unity of type: penguin and hummingbird wings: same origin different function

Aristotle, Socrates, Plato

Socrates, Aristole and plato represent a sharp shift away from purely natural curiosity of the Ionian philosophers, twoard more human-centered and theological interests

As islamic civilization expanded, scholars collected scattered remains of classical learning and translated them and built on them

Some scrolss from library of alexandria survived (wasn't destroyed by a muslim army Byzantine libraries preserved some greek works (House of Wisdom - Grand library of Bagdad) Aided by construction of a paper-making plant in Bagdad (794)

Legacy of the Ancient World

Spirit of natural, rational thought and enquiry Natural history (aristotle) Pragmatic, ethical medicine (Experience of doctor, close observation -hippocrates) Dogmatic adherence to ancient authorities The first jobs of modern science were to assimilate ancient science, and then travel beyond or overthrow the most influential ancients

London magazine article 1783 on Upas tree

Spoke that danger zone was 12-14 miles, only criminals approached to get sap - equipped with leather clothes and protective glasses, and a priest blessed they efforts. Of the 700 who had attempted their freedom, only 70 returned - tree was littered with dead bodies

Scientists in Medieval Europe outside Scholastic tradition

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250) Roger Bacon (1214-1292)

Robert Chambers

Vestiges of Natural History of Creation (1844) (published anonymously) evolution of life occurs as a general law of the universe - evidence was based on -Fossils (strata) -comparative anatomy -comparative embryology -apparent progression from simple to complex within groups of organisms Believed new life arose by frequent spontaneous generation events. After they formed species evoled by a means of variable stopping points in embryological development. New species remain as embryos longer during development Vestiges of... Creation was full of errors of fact since CHambers was not a sicentist, however it was very successful among the intelligent liberal-minded public.

Galen's biological insights

Voice is controlled by the laryngeal nerves that lead to the brain (supported the idea that the brain is center of thought and reason) Arteries contain blood, not air (tied of sections of artery) The kidney makes urine, not the bladder Gut peristalsis Cutting the spinal cord at different places leads to different results

Celsus (1st century)

WRote a large encyclopedia, of which only the portion on medicine (de medicina) has remained He believed (following hippocrates) that the surgeon should assist nature De Medicina became one of the first medical books to be printed after the invention of the printing press (by pure coincidence)

Lamarck Evolution

believed that life evolved -linneaen hierarchies suggest relationship -reality of environmental change means that evolution must occur -evoltuiton solves problem of extinction first 2 books proposed two causes Primary- innate tendency for living things to increase the complexity of their organization and function via sloshing fluids Secondary - use and disuse 3rd book: changed origin of animals to 1 not 2, and swapped order of importance so use and disuse primary

Galens spinal cord cutting

between vertebrae 3-4 = no respiration below 6 = paralysis of thoracic muscles lower= paralysis of lower limbs, bladder, and intestine

Manticore

body of a lion, face of a person, can shoot arrows from stinging tail - maneater

John Gerard

botanist of 16th century wrote a large book called "herbal" - became standard English plant identification manual - complete fraud, lot of mistakes in the book, published as his work

Alexandria

both Library and Museum were founded by Ptolemy I of Soter (general to Alexander)

Why did they classify plants?

by 17th century already 18 000 types of plants recorded... needed some way to manage the information

Truth of Upas tree

cardiac glycoside- sap can stop your heart Perhaps confounding 2 phenomena: a poisonous tree and deadly CO2 emissions from dormant volcanos (human and animal skeletons near the volcano) - same thin happened to Lake Nyos, Cameroon in 1986- 1700 people died

Salerno medical college

chartered (not founded) by Freddy II Had formalized curriculum and exams and produced many medical treatises, with Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna as influences. Program consisted of logic and rhetoric (3 years) medicine and surgery (5 years) dissections intern for 1 year write licensing exam (if you pass you can practice on your own)

Life o Vesalius

classical education- youth precocious anatomist - dissected animals studied at a conservative university in Paris. - did dissections for Jacobus Sylvius (Galenist)where he noticed discrepancies Graduatedfrom university of Padua 1537 and was appointed lecturer-demonstrator. Claimed Ga;en never dissected a human body - freed him from this ancient's shackles Took a year leave to print book and afterward quit academia

Important tasks of biological classification

compiling inventory of diversity providing a scientific name to each species and grouping Distinguishing species (but on what basis - based on our own interpretations or reality of what ties them together?) essentialism (perfect defined view for each species) vs population thinking (variation is reality) fitting species into higher (more inclusive) natural groupings

Marcello Malphigi of Bologna (1661)

completed William Harvey's work on circulation by examining frog lungs an saw capillary connections between arteries and veins Also oberseved early stages of embryological development in chickens using the microscope - thus bgan the long debate between preformationists and epigeneticists

Aristotles biological writings

constitute 1/4 of his total survivng writings. Some were intended for distribution but some were very crude (despite his fluency) indicating they were notes Mainly interested in zoology, mentions 580 animals. Keep observer and dissector of animals (especially sea creatures)

Galen's philosophy

deeply religious -believed in god but not Christian Romans were very tolerant of other religions- saw it more as a civic duty Galen was moreso: "True piety comes not from sacrificing beasts, rather by loving oneself and they creator" "God made us with small ears so we could wear hats" - Galen (GOd made us perfect) Had a very teleological view of human body Revered hippocrates and insisted on ethical practice in medicine- that physicians should disdain money and seek wisdom

Charles Lyell 1797-1875

defended Hutton nd uniformitarism in Principles of Geology (3 volumes 1830-1833) - 19th century's most important geology textbook. Lyell's first volume Darwin had with him on Beagle - became friends upon Darwin's return (though Lyell didn't believe in Darwn's evolution)

asclopius

deity with the staff - thought to be in image of imhotep.

Leonardo Da Vinci 1452-1519

finished few projects, and did not organize or publish his work. Had a lot of talent but rarely used it to complete things Learned anatomy as a teenage art apprentice, continued with his interest in anatomy as mature artist, and his main influence in biology and medicine was incorporation of anatomy into art. Dissected around 30 corpses, artistically drew them built a Flapping flying machine - combining lift and propulsion - had fascination with flight Fascinated by anatomy of animals Loved fossils (believed they were extinct organisms) Didn't believe in the biblical flood

Coffee

first brewed Ethiopia ~1100 Brought to Europe 16-17th centuries - coffee houses - places of suspicion. Clarified thought

Ctesias

first describer of the unicorn- attributed it antidotal properties

Hippocratic Oath

first record 400 eyars after Hippocrates. Developed some Christian ideology over the years such as no suicide. basically just being respectful.

Ptolemy I soter

founded library and museum of alexandria. After Alexander the great passed, ptolemy was granted all of Egypt and became a pharoah (Greeks were pharoahs beginning of his rule for 300 years until death of Cleopatra, the last ptolemy)

five subdivisions of history

geography, political, military, economic, biographical - and then many more: impressionism, music, everyday life, chess history etc etc.

Natural groups of organisms

groups whose members have correlated attributes (e.g. green, or mammals...) Best definition: Attributes that lead to natural groups are inherited from the same common ancestor, and are correlated with other things because of relatedness. Attributes that do not lead to natural groupings are not inherited from the same common ancestor

Evolution

heritable change in a population or species over generational time, and the divergence of lineages from a common source. Involves more than just elimination of inviable forms, is open ended, and species are related by descent

Time and environmental change

how could well adapted organisms remain well adpated throughout periods of environmental change?

Piltdown discoveries

human cranium, humanlike molar teeth, ape-like lower jaw -evolutionarily expected as link found over several years in gravel Supported brain-led development Many thought they were looking at 2 different creatures Hoax exposed in 1953, when bones and teeth were found to be modern (by fluoride absorption test)

Inerited variablility within species

if species were created to be adapted to their environments, why do we see any inherited variability at all?

Genesis geology

in the beginning everything was great then there was the flood so terrible and tehn after the flood things were good but not as great as creation

Reformation

initiated by Martin Luther 1517 western Christianity fractured into catholic an protestant camps - much scientific technology was invented in the church but only things that weren't blasphemous

why study history

intellectual curiosity to expand one's imagination (remember: study in light of the knowledge and values of the period under study, not with hindsight bias To use the past as a guide to our actions int the future (many greats loved history- others didn't care for it) To connect with the past on an emotional or spiritual level (e.g. Greece 2004 held shotput at old olympic stadium Guilty pleasure (guilty because many of the best stories aren't true)

Intellectual history

internal factors: driving change external factors

Johann Becher1635-1681

invented phlogiston (though called it Terra pinguis) renown scientist and conman wood is composed of ash and TERRA PINGUIS (phlogiston) which is released into the air when it burns

Luca Ghini

invented the Herbarium

honey to egyptians

knew it could be preserved a long time so speculated it was an antibiotic.

Buffon again

last person to try to integrate a theory of Earths origins with a theory of geological change

Herbarium

library of pressed/dried plants - invention acredited to Luca Ghini. Plant specimens can be stored indefinitely- also serve as a record of occurence (i.e. given place it was harvested)

Biological significance of stratographical columns

life changes over time different sites can be related in a temporal way

Stratographical columns

link biology to geology: first people to assemble them were Georges Cuvier and William Smith in 1800-1820 key idea: fossils tell chronological story and can determine relative dates

fossil skeptics

many were skeptical of extinction, and thought fossils were not remains of organisms. idea of extinction at variance with idea that all species were created by wise god

mechanical view of Life

mechanicism vs vitalism mechanicism: living processes are consequence of fundamental laws of physics, mechanics and chemistry Vitalism: living processes depend upon a vital force that is not explainable in physical mechanical or chemical terms

Alicorn

medical unicorn horn, kept the unicorn legent alive until the 18th century (they used narwhal horns -actually teeth - hunted in Baltic) Alicorn touched to food would reveal the presence of poison and shavings of it were an antidote to poison (a use that goes back to Ctesias) Trade in alicorn flourished in medieval Europe, though belief in unicorn subsided over the years along with belief in magic

Hippocratic medicine

more enduring for its APPROACH. Acknowledged medicine is difficult and don't know all the answers. Did not prescribe the divine to disease (including the sacred disease, epilepsy) They were suspicious of broad theory

2 great 18th century geology theories

neptunism and plutonism

Pantheism:

no conscious or divine entities in supernatural world, but instead world and its order and beauty are objects of spiritual origin e.g. Paracelsus, Spinoza, Einstein

arrow of time

one way direction of time

Roots of biology in aesthetics

over 4000 years ago, early cities of both egypt and mesopotamia had zoos and botanical gardens menageries - almost early zoos displays of wealth

gardens of paradise

pairi-daeza: the persian formal garden plan 600-400 bc

Paracelsus 1493-1541

paracelsus= better than celsus Believed in "on the road" education (life experience) better than academia."a doctor must be a traveller... knowledge is experience" -was perpetually drunk -called himself a double doctor -had no respect for authorities and ancients except Hippocrates called dissection of cadavers "dead anatomy" worked with Trithemius (alchemist) and worked in mines to learn about metallurgy Had no medical degree but opened a practice anyway and used simple inexpensive medicines. Got a position teaching at University of Basel and briefly appointed city physician until being thrown out for burning works of Galen and Avicenna -Life is a chemical process: should be central to the understanding of human function and medicine, called it "iatrochemistry" believed in astrology and chose medicines based on it thought other physicians cared more for their fees than their patients

Islamic CHemistry and ALchemy

part practical, part mythical to attain what people want most: eternal wealth and health and longevity based on transmutation and transformation

Subdivisions of early medicine:

pharmacology and surgery, and then magic and religion. No unified view (even today we have alternative practicioners.

Early medicine: egypt

physicians were among elite, organized into a hierarchy

Rumphius of the Dutch East India Company (1741)

poisonous gas emanated from the Upas tree - you could only approach if all your skin was covered in fabric, no other plants fgrew near it and dead birds littered the ground underneath it

Library of Alexandria

possessed 700 000 scrolls (1 scroll = 50 printed pages) A few 10s of 1000s of separate works Everything was done by hand - reentry after reentry. Sometimes the copier would adjust things. Many scrolls were stolen

Phlogiston

principle of combustion in 18th century - invented to explain why air in an enclosed space supports combustion at first but not later Phlogiston is in wood as well as ash- burning wood phlogiston takes up empty space of air and ash falls to the ground Product is separation of reactants Originator of phlogiston was Johann Becher

logic of stratographical colums

principle of superposition (new on top of old) unique assemblages of species (specific species in certain ages and others in others ... if A is always on B is on C, and C is always on D etc, then A is newer than F)

Paracelsus therapies

used astrology (metals/planets) and doctrine of signatures Treated wounds by keeping them clean and letting them heal by themselves One of the first to treat syphilis - used mercury (worked and was used for 400 years - in 1909 they found arsenic worked better than mercury - a night with venus leads to a life with mercury) - 1530 wrote medical treatise on syphilis Discovered LAUDANUM (tincture of opioids and alcohol) had analgesic effect (and cough suppressant) used metals for various complaints discovered Sweet Vitriol (diethyl ether - tried it on chickens at put them to sleep, died mysteriously shortly after. for 3 centuries no one picked up his work until 1846 when a surgeon used ether to give surgery to someone. thought like a chemist: believed in pure starting materials and defined drugs

Fluoride absorption test

used to identify piltdown bones as modern - they had been artificially stained (teeth had file marks) Filed chimp teeth Human cranium (from some medieval person ~600 years ago) Orangutan jaw (~500 years old)

Piltdown contributions to science

waste of time and ink science has capacity for self-correction delayed acceptance of Australopithecus (bipedal but aped size brain - piltdown told opposite story - big brain then bipedal)

Hypathia

watch "Agora": philosopher and mathematician. Rare for women. Around her death was also the death of alexandria library (AD 315: Emperor COnstanite converted to Christianity. Roman empire became Christian in AD 391 - change from classic greek to Christian era - this ended the 1000 year tradition of the Olympics, as Christians would not do sport with pagans)

medieval contributions to technology

wheelbarrow, plow, waterwheel (very important in medieval mining), trebuchet, wine press (first printing press was modification of wine press)

Vestigial structures

why are their gill slits in humans?

The problem of fossils

why do we see remains of marine organisms on mountain tops?

Edwin smith papyrus

worl'd oldest medical treatise. Contents may even predate imhotep. -diagnosis of traumatic military injuries - 48 case studies contains hardly any magic

Dr. Engelbert Kampfer (1712)

wrote Amoenitates exoticae (amusing exotic things) about a tree on Java that the locals would get criminals to collect sap from - if they survived they were set free

Nicholas Flamel

wrote Exposition of the Hieroglyphical figures parisian scivener who met "Master Canches" a Jewish physician on his pilgrimage who mentioned he found the secrets. Flamel became very rich though

William Whiston (1667-1752)

wrote New Theory of the Earth succeeded Newton as Lucesian Chair of Mathematics (Stephen Hawking had it up til now)

Sir Arthur conan doyle

wrote Sherlock Holmes. Friend and neighbour of dawson, participated in the dig Came to believe in "Spiritualism - communion with the dead" - tried to communicate with Hoodini Speculated he was "anti-science"

Erasmus Darwin

wrote Zoonomia - theory of evolution similar to Lamarcks: Mammals must be descended from a common ancestor. Evidence: wisdom teeth. Cause of evolution was Change: inheritance of characteristics. Concluded warm blooded animals were descended from one common ancester "one living filament, which the first Cause endowed with animality - suggests him as a Diest Effort-> Strengthening -> Legacy

Robert Boyle 17th century

wrote the Skeptical Chymst (dropped Al) Was on board with atomic theory. Thought chemical reactions consisted of molecular collisions

Invention of microscope

~1590 supposed inventors Hands and Zaccharias Janssen and Hans Lipphershey Galileo is known to have built his own compound microscope Compound microscopes (2 lenses) have higher mag, but also more aberrations- not everyone trusted observations