The splendid feast of reason / S. Jonathan Singer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Singer, Seymour Jonathan, 1924-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Life sciences--Philosophy.

Life sciences.

Rationalism.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (267 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2001.

Summary:

Jonathan Singer's witty, erudite book is a celebration of rationality and an urgent call to make use of intelligence and reason to better cope with human problems. Emphasizing the importance of rationality's greatest achievement, modern science, Singer--one of the foremost biologists of our era--argues that for the first time in several million years humanity has at its disposal the tools for an objective understanding of the external world.

Contents:

PREFACE; 1 Homage to the Square; 2 Making the External World Safe for Humanity: The Roles of Myth and Religion; 3 Deciphering the Real World; 4 Modern Biology and the Response to Vitalism; 5 Biological Repair and the Realities of Human Life, Aging, and Death; 6 Behavior and the Genes; 7 Life's Ancient Strategies for Survival; 8 The Future Prospects of Biology; 9 Off with the Old Ideas, On with the New; 10 Our Dual Worlds: The Concept of Complementarity; 11 Rationalists in an Irrational World; Appendix A: The Structures and Functions of Protein Molecules; Appendix B: The Genetic Code

Appendix C: Mitosis (Asexual Reproduction)Appendix D: Meiosis (Sexual Reproduction); Appendix E: Unequal Crossing-Over

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-520-93732-5

1-59734-914-3

OCLC:

475931583