Author : Alfred Day Hershey
Publisher : CSHL Press
Page : 396 pages
File Size : 17,94 MB
Release : 2000
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780879695675
An absorbing portrait of the pioneering molecular biologist best known for demonstrating that DNA is the genetic component of phages, through essays and reminiscences from twenty–three distinguished scientists whose work and careers were influenced by the man and his science.
Author : Franklin W Stahl
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,9 MB
Release : 2000-06-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781621822349
Author : Howard Markel
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 526 pages
File Size : 30,64 MB
Release : 2021-09-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 1324002247
An NPR Best Book of the Year An authoritative history of the race to unravel DNA’s structure, by one of our most prominent medical historians. James Watson and Francis Crick’s 1953 discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is the foundation of virtually every advance in our modern understanding of genetics and molecular biology. But how did Watson and Crick do it—and why were they the ones who succeeded? In truth, the discovery of DNA’s structure is the story of five towering minds in pursuit of the advancement of science, and for almost all of them, the prospect of fame and immortality: Watson, Crick, Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, and Linus Pauling. Each was fascinating and brilliant, with strong personalities that often clashed. Howard Markel skillfully re-creates the intense intellectual journey, and fraught personal relationships, that ultimately led to a spectacular breakthrough. But it is Rosalind Franklin—fiercely determined, relentless, and an outsider at Cambridge and the University of London in the 1950s, as the lone Jewish woman among young male scientists—who becomes a focal point for Markel. The Secret of Life is a story of genius and perseverance, but also a saga of cronyism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and misconduct. Drawing on voluminous archival research, including interviews with James Watson and with Franklin’s sister, Jenifer Glynn, Markel provides a fascinating look at how science is done, how reputations are undone, and how history is written, and revised. A vibrant evocation of Cambridge in the 1950s, Markel also provides colorful depictions of Watson and Crick—their competitiveness, idiosyncrasies, and youthful immaturity—and compelling portraits of Wilkins, Pauling, and most cogently, Rosalind Franklin. The Secret of Life is a lively and sweeping narrative of this landmark discovery, one that finally gives the woman at the center of this drama her due.
Author : Michael Fry
Publisher : Academic Press
Page : 572 pages
File Size : 11,49 MB
Release : 2016-06-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 012802108X
Landmark Experiments in Molecular Biology critically considers breakthrough experiments that have constituted major turning points in the birth and evolution of molecular biology. These experiments laid the foundations to molecular biology by uncovering the major players in the machinery of inheritance and biological information handling such as DNA, RNA, ribosomes, and proteins. Landmark Experiments in Molecular Biology combines an historical survey of the development of ideas, theories, and profiles of leading scientists with detailed scientific and technical analysis. - Includes detailed analysis of classically designed and executed experiments - Incorporates technical and scientific analysis along with historical background for a robust understanding of molecular biology discoveries - Provides critical analysis of the history of molecular biology to inform the future of scientific discovery - Examines the machinery of inheritance and biological information handling
Author : Michel Morange
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 529 pages
File Size : 10,74 MB
Release : 2020-06-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 0674281365
In this masterful account, a historian of science surveys the molecular biology revolution, its origin and continuing impact. Since the 1930s, a molecular vision has been transforming biology. Michel Morange provides an incisive and overarching history of this transformation, from the early attempts to explain organisms by the structure of their chemical components, to the birth and consolidation of genetics, to the latest technologies and discoveries enabled by the new science of life. Morange revisits A History of Molecular Biology and offers new insights from the past twenty years into his analysis. The Black Box of Biology shows that what led to the incredible transformation of biology was not a simple accumulation of new results, but the molecularization of a large part of biology. In fact, Morange argues, the greatest biological achievements of the past few decades should still be understood within the molecular paradigm. What has happened is not the displacement of molecular biology by other techniques and avenues of research, but rather the fusion of molecular principles and concepts with those of other disciplines, including genetics, physics, structural chemistry, and computational biology. This has produced decisive changes, including the discoveries of regulatory RNAs, the development of massive scientific programs such as human genome sequencing, and the emergence of synthetic biology, systems biology, and epigenetics. Original, persuasive, and breathtaking in its scope, The Black Box of Biology sets a new standard for the history of the ongoing molecular revolution.
Author : Thomas Söderqvist
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 35,28 MB
Release : 2016-03-03
Category : History
ISBN : 1317028899
Biographies of scientists carry an increasingly prominent role in today's publishing climate. Traditional historical and sociological accounts of science are complemented by narratives that emphasize the importance of the scientific subject in the production of science. Not least is the realization that the role of science in culture is much more accessible when presented through the lives of its practitioners. Taken as a genre, such biographies play an important role in the public understanding of science. In recent years there has been an increasing number of monographs and collections about biography in general and literary biography in particular. However, biographies of scientists, engineers and medical doctors have rarely been the topic of scholarly inquiry. As such this volume of essays will be welcomed by those interested in the genre of science biography, and who wish to re-examine its history, foundational problems and theoretical implications. Borrowing approaches and methods from cultural studies and the history, philosophy and sociology of science, the contributions cover a broad range of subjects, periods and locations. By presenting such a rich diversity of essays, the volume is able to chart the reoccurring conceptual problems and devices that have influenced scientific biographies from classical antiquity to the present day. In so doing it provides a compelling overview of the history of the genre, suggesting that the different valuations given scientific biography over time have been largely fuelled by vested professional interests.
Author : Lois N. Magner
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 456 pages
File Size : 48,71 MB
Release : 2002-08-13
Category : Science
ISBN : 0824743601
A clear and concise survey of the major themes and theories embedded in the history of life science, this book covers the development and significance of scientific methodologies, the relationship between science and society, and the diverse ideologies and current paradigms affecting the evolution and progression of biological studies. The author discusses cell theory, embryology, physiology, microbiology, evolution, genetics, and molecular biology; the Human Genome Project; and genomics and proteomics. Covering the philosophies of ancient civilizations to modern advances in genomics and molecular biology, the book is a unique and comprehensive resource.
Author : Barry Robson
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 612 pages
File Size : 27,1 MB
Release : 2009-05-27
Category : Medical
ISBN : 0470461799
A unique, integrative look at information-based medicine The convergence of medical science, biology, pharmacology, biomedical engineering, healthcare, and information technology is revolutionizing medical and scientific practice, and has broader social implications still being understood. The Engines of Hippocrates provides a unique, integrative, and holistic look at the new paradigm of information-based medicine, covering a broad range of topics for a wide readership. The authors take a comprehensive approach, examining the prehistory, history, and future of medicine and medical technology and its relation to information; how history led to such present-day discoveries as the structure of DNA, the human genome, and the discipline of bioinformatics; and what the future results of these discoveries may hold. Their far-ranging views are their own and not necessarily those of the IBM Corporation or other employers. The Engines of Hippocrates helps readers understand: Forces shaping the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries today, including personalized medicine, genomics, data mining, and bionanotechnology The relationship between pharmaceutical science today and other disciplines such as philosophy of health, history, economics, mathematics, and computer science The integrated role alternative and non-Western medicines could play in a new, information-based medicine Practical, ethical, organizational, technological, and social problems of information-based medicine, along with a novel data-centric computing model and a self-adaptive software engineering model, and corresponding information technology architectures, including perspectives on sharing remote data efficiently and securely for the common good An unmatched, cross-disciplinary perspective on the big picture of today and tomorrow's medicine, The Engines of Hippocrates provides a reference to interested readers both inside and outside the pharmaceutical and medical communities, as well as a peerless classroom supplement to students in a wide variety of disciplines.
Author : Rowland H. Davis
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 29,17 MB
Release : 2003-09-11
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780195348316
This book explains the role of simple biological model systems in the growth of molecular biology. Essentially the whole history of molecular biology is presented here, tracing the work in bacteriophages in E. coli, the role of other prokaryotic systems, and also the protozoan and algal models - Paramecium and Chlamydomonas, primarily - and the move into eukaryotes with the fungal systems - Neurospora, Aspergillus and yeast. Each model was selected for its appropriateness for asking a given class of questions, and each spawned its own community of investigators. Some individuals made the transition to a new model over time, and remnant communities of investigators continue to pursue questions in all these models, as the cutting edge of molecular biological research flowed onward from model to model, and onward into higher organisms and, ultimately, mouse and man.
Author : T. Hugh Pennington
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 47,28 MB
Release : 2003-09-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9780191588778
The 'food scare' concept took on new meaning in 1996, which opened with variant CJD emerging as the human form of BSE, and closed with Britain's worst E.coli O157 outbreak in central Scotland. As people died, so did trust in government and science. This book tells the story of these events, what led up to them, and what has happened since. It breaks new ground by dissecting these tragedies alongside catastrophes like Aberfan, Piper Alpha, Chernobyl, and the worst ever railway accidents in Ireland and Britain (Armagh and Quintinshill), as well as classical outbreaks of botulism, typhoid, E.coli O157 and Salmonella food poisoning. Britain's ability to win Nobel prizes marches with a propensity to have disasters. The book explains why, demonstrating failures in policy making, failures in the application of science, and failing inspectorates. A unique feature of this book is its breadth since it covers history, politics and law as well as science. It also makes some fascinating connections, like those between 1930's nuclear physics, E.coli, and molecular biology, and the links between manslaughter in 19th century mental hospitals, syphilis, the Nobel Prize, and the prospects for successfully treating variant CJD. Royal murderers, vaccine research in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, and the race to develop the atom bomb appear as well. For the general reader its non-technical but authoritative account of the science behind these tragedies, its critical appraisal of how the government responded to them, its coverage of public inquiries and its analysis of risk will be informative and stimulating. Scientists will find its approach to the prion theory and the origins of BSE challenging and controversial. Policy makers will find not only diagnoses of what went wrong in the past, but remedies ror the future.
