Essay review: Ernst Mayr on the history of biology
Essay review: Ernst Mayr on the history of biology
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论文评论：恩斯特·迈尔论生物学史
DOI：
10.1007/bf00127960
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发表时间：
1985
影响因子：
0.8
通讯作者：
P. Sloan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
P. Sloan
作为第一次接触生物史和一般科学史的人，我是通过恩斯特·迈尔（Ernst Mayr）的历史论文（而不是通过库恩（Kuhn）、科尔布（KoyrB）、罗杰（Roger），甚至是拉德尔（Radl）和诺登斯科德（Nordenskiold）的传统途径）接触到的，所以我带着一种特殊的智力债务感来阅读迈尔的新书。《生物学思想的成长：多样性、进化和遗传》（剑桥，马萨诸塞州）（哈佛大学出版社，1982）迈尔汇集了一生在生物学及其历史上的理论和实证工作的反思，并综合了该学科的重要概述。迈尔作品的长期读者对其广泛的方面会很熟悉，但以前从未有过对他的观点和结论的完整陈述。一段很长的序言论述阐述了迈尔关于生物学历史概念的基本轮廓。这一节之后是我认为是本书中最好的一章——讨论了生物科学的本质，它的潜在主题问题，以及它与其他科学的关系。我特别喜欢它对哲学、方法论和生物学历史等广泛问题的有效总结，以一种清晰而简单的方式呈现。对于对生物学的历史和哲学感兴趣的初级研究生或高级本科生来说，没有比这更好的论文了。该地区的基本问题和问题都在这里。有选择性地介绍生物学的历史，因为它自古以来已经发展结束了第一部分。这本书的核心部分有400页，专门讨论了迈尔的两个主要专业兴趣领域：分类学和进化理论。关于遗传学和遗传的一长节结束了这篇文章。尽管那些想深入讨论形态学、胚胎学或生理学的人会
As one whose first exposure to the history of biology, and to the history of science in general, was through the historical papers of Ernst Mayr (rather than the usual route through Kuhn, KoyrB, Roger, or even Radl and Nordenskiold), I approach Mayr’s newest book with a particular sense of intellectual debt. In The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982) Mayr has brought together the reflections of a lifetime of theoretical and empirical work in biology and its history, and has synthesized an important overview of the discipline. The broad aspects will be familiar to long-time readers of Mayr’s works, but never previously has such a complete statement of his views and conclusions been available.’A long prefatory discussion sets forth the basic outlines of Mayr’s conception of the history of biology. This section is followed by what I consider to be the finest single chapter of the book-a discussion of the nature of biological science, its underlying thematic issues, and its relation to the other sciences. I particularly liked the effective summary of a broad range of issues in the philosophy, methodology, and history of biology, presented in a clear and uncomplicated way. There is no better essay to give the beginning graduate student or advanced undergraduate who is interested in the history and philosophy of biology. The fundamental questions and problems in the area are all here. A selective presentation of the history of biology as it has developed since antiquity concludes the first section. The heart of the book comprises four hundred pages devoted to two long discussions of Mayr’s chief areas of professional interest, taxonomy and evolutionary theory. A lengthy section on genetics and inheritance conclude the text. Although those seeking extended discussions of morphology, embryology, or physiology would