Rebels, mavericks, and heretics in biology / edited and with an introduction by Oren Harman and Michael R. Dietrich ; and with an epilogue by R.C. Lewontin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harman, Oren.

Contributor:

Harman, Oren Solomon.

Dietrich, Michael R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biology--History.

Biology.

Biologists--Biography.

Biologists.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (412 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is the first devoted to modern biology's innovators and iconoclasts: men and women who challenged prevailing notions in their fields. Some of these scientists were Nobel Prize winners, some were considered cranks or gadflies, some were in fact wrong. The stories of these stubborn dissenters are individually fascinating. Taken together, they provide unparalleled insights into the role of dissent and controversy in science and especially the growth of biological thought over the past century. Each of the book's nineteen specially commissioned chapters offers a detailed portrait of the intellectual rebellion of a particular scientist working in a major area of biology--genetics, evolution, embryology, ecology, biochemistry, neurobiology, and virology as well as others. An introduction by the volume's editors and an epilogue by R. C. Lewontin draw connections among the case studies and illuminate the nonconforming scientist's crucial function of disturbing the comfort of those in the majority. By focusing on the dynamics and impact of dissent rather than on "winners" who are credited with scientific advances, the book presents a refreshingly original perspective on the history of the life sciences. Scientists featured in this volume:Alfred Russel Wallace Hans DrieschWilhelm JohannsenRaymond Arthur DartC. D. DarlingtonRichard GoldschmidtBarbara McClintockOswald T. AveryRoger SperryLeon CroizatVero Copner Wynne-EdwardsPeter MitchellHoward TeminMotoo KimuraWilliam D. HamiltonCarl WoeseStephen Jay GouldThelma RowellDaniel S. Simberloff

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: On Rebels, Icons, and the Value of Dissent

2. Alfred Russel Wallace, the Discovery of Natural Selection, and the Origins of Humankind

3. Rebel With Two Causes: Hans Driesch

4. Wilhelm Johannsen: A Rebel or a Diehard?

5. Raymond Arthur Dart: The Man Who Unwillingly Ushered in a Revolution in the Evolution of Humankind

6 In Weismann's Footsteps: The Cyto-Rebellion of C. D. Darlington

7. Striking the Hornet's Nest: Richard Goldschmidt's Rejection of the Particulate Gene

8. Rebellion and Iconoclasm in the Life and Science of Barbara McClintock

9. Challenging the Protein Dogma of the Gene: Oswald T. Avery, a Revolutionary Conservative

10. Roger Sperry and Integrative Action in the Nervous System

11. Leon Croizat: A Radical Biogeographer

12. Dogma, Heresy, and Conversion: Vero Copner Wynne-Edwards's Crusade and the Levels-of-Selection Debate

13. Peter Mitchell: Changing the Face of Bioenergetics

14. Howard Temin: Rebel of Evidence and Reason

15. Motoo Kimura and the Rise of Neutralism

16. Against the Grain: The Science and Life of William D. Hamilton

17. The Iconoclastic Research Program of Carl Woese

18. Stephen Jay Gould, Darwinian Iconoclast?

19. Culture and Gender Do Not Dissolve into How Scientists "Read" Nature: Thelma Rowell's Heterodoxy

20. Bringing Statistical Methods to Community and Evolutionary Ecology: Daniel S. Simberloff

Epilogue: Legitimation Is the Name of the Game

Contributors

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-35330-6

9786612353307

0-300-15054-7

OCLC:

667009993