History of evolutionary theories

| www.bmgn-lchr.nl | e-issn 2211-2898 | print issn 0165-0505 Robert-Jan Wille, Mannen van de microscoop. De laboratoriumbiologie op veldtocht in Nederland en Indië, 1840-1910 (Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2019, 365 pp., isbn 9789460043796). Hoe ontstaat een wetenschappelijke discipline? Om antwoord te geven op die vraag kan men enerzijds bestuderen hoe methoden, theorieën, instrumenten of onderzoeksvragen zijn samengevoegd. Anderzijds kan men zich buigen over de politieke, culturele of sociale factoren die de oprichting van onderzoeksinstellingen,-banen en-financiering in de hand hebben gewerkt.

Nell'ambito della riflessione che Telmo Pievani ha costantemente dedicato all'arricchimento conosciuto in tempi recenti dal programma di ricerca evoluzionistico, non è mai mancata un'attenzione speciale per la figura di Charles Darwin. Dopo le importanti curatele riservate ai Taccuini (Laterza, 2008) e a L'origine delle specie. Abbozzo del 1842 (Einaudi, 2009) -alle quali si sono aggiunte più di recente le Lettere sulla religione (Einaudi, 2013) -, dopo l'agile Introduzione a Darwin uscita presso la collana laterziana "I filosofi" (2012), Pievani torna nelle librerie con un volume interamente e specificamente dedicato a L'origine delle specie. Un'attenzione, quella di Pievani per Darwin, che ha saputo sempre coniugare l'interesse più peculiarmente storico con l'esame scrupoloso degli aspetti teorici ancora fecondi quest'oggi, un binomio che ritroviamo senza dubbio nella dettagliata analisi condotta in Anatomia di una rivoluzione.

SIGLO )I(I SIGLO )I<I ESPAÑA MÉXICO ARGENTINA Políticas del cuerpo: estrategias modernas de normallzacló individuo y la sociedad/ compilado por Gustavo Vall . \~el . M' d 1 d B e10 y iviartS<t Adnana 1ran a.a e . -uenos Aires: Siglo XXI Editor Iberoamericana, 2007. ª 576 p.; 21x15 cm. ISBN 978-987-1013-63-0 l. Comportamiento Social. 2. Comportamiento Humano. 3. Genétic Vallejo, Gustavo, comp. II. Miranda, Marisa Adriana, comp. a. l.

En ny idéhistorisk antologi sätter fokus på sociologen, antropologen och moralfilosofen Edvard Westermarck, som var en av Finlands internationellt mest kända forskare under 1900-talets första hälft. Efter att Westermarcks forskning i decennier haft en undanskymd roll lyfter författarna till boken fram hans skolbildande forskningsgrepp och visar att det är relevant både vetenskapligt och samhälleligt än i dag.

O ano de 2009 foi marcado pela comemoração de uma das mais importantes descobertas na história das ciências naturais. Pelo mundo todo, livros, artigos científicos e de divulgação, reportagens, documentários e congressos discutiram, analisaram e comemoraram os 150 anos da obra A Origem das Espécies de Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882). Esse ano foi, para muitos, o ano de Darwin, pois, além da comemoração dos 150 anos da Origem das Espécies, também se comemorou o bicentenário do nascimento do naturalista (1809-1888). Apesar de muito se escrever sobre a vida e a obra desse descendente da abastada família Darwin, pouca importância foi dada à obscura história desencadeada a partir de uma carta e um manuscrito por ele recebidos em 1858. Mesmo o dia em que tal carta chegou às mãos de Darwin é hoje motivo de discussão. O autor da carta era Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), um jovem naturalista galês de 35 anos que, da ilha Ternate (atualmente Pulau Ternate, província das Molucas do Norte, Indonésia) enviou para Darwin um manuscrito intitulado Sobre a Tendência de as Variedades se Afastarem Indefinidamente do Tipo Original. Durante um ataque de malária, no delírio da febre, Wallace sonhara com a seleção natural. Ao invés de publicar a descoberta, mandou-a para Darwin.

This chapter complements the preceding one by comparing the prevailing socioeconomic beliefs in Padua to the biological-anatomical views of Paduan botanists. It focuses on Giuseppe Meneghini's research on the brain and on algae above all. Giuseppe was a pioneer of cell theory, yet his ideas differ significantly from those of other European savants of his time. Cell theory marked an anatomical revolution, because it added a new dimension to discussions of the constitution of living bodies, in particular the relationship between parts and wholes. Meneghini articulated a concept of cooperation between all parts, rejecting the idea of dominance of 'higher' over 'lower' entities. These conceptions foreshadow the introduction of metaphors like the 'republic of cells'. A second important shift in Meneghini's biological thought, paralleled by the emerging historicism among the students of the humanities and by Vico's concept of perfectioning, can be found in his view of development. Giuseppe thought of living beings as products of time and as connected by historical ties, a conception that places him squarely among the ranks of pre-Darwinian evolutionists. The final section emphasizes Meneghini's role as promoter of cellular and developmental ideas among the members of his local, regional, and international botanical networks.

The point of departure of the present paper is Coleridge’s obsessive, as if performatively repetitive claim concerning the gap separating animals and humans: e.g. in Theory of Life, in various essays of The Friend, in his notes “On the Passions”, in On the Constitution of the Church and State, or in Opus Maximum. I suggest that being aware of the threats posed by the various pre-Darwinian theories of the classification of the species, and in order to secure and widen this gap between man and beast, Coleridge draws a sharp distinction between man as a species and man as a Person, and introduces the idea of cultivation to guide man from being merely part of the human species to becoming a human Person.

Even the humanities have buckled under to the science-driven natural philosophy of the academy, physicalism. Outside the academy, however, folk psychology still reigns, the belief that consciousness is free, to some extent at least, of physical determinism, allowing us both creativity and free will. These two natural philosophies grind up against each other most viscerally over evolution. Clearly implied by science's mechanism for evolution being purely physical is that any product of such purely physical processes will be purely physical too, thus denying folk psychology any non-physical basis. The "40-Point Compass…" sets out to redefine the two positions. It begins with something we know we are capable of-consciously choosing what to think about today with the goal of enriching conscious experiences in the future-and asks what that tells us must be true of evolution. Weaving together the original account of evolution, that of Charles' grandfather Erasmus, with modern genomics it arrives at a new theory of evolution respecting both the findings of science and the convictions of folk psychology.