For History and the Rise of Modern Biology

为了历史和现代生物学的兴起

• 批准号: 9529326
• 负责人: Lynn Nyhart
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fixed Amount Award
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-07-01 至 2000-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9529326&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: History; Rise; Modern; Biology

Modern biology arose from a number of sources including medicine, agriculture, animal husbandry, and `natural history.` Historians of science have already examined how natural history affected the rise of modern biology in England, especially with respect to Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution. But, just as the United States does not represent all of progressive science that is currently being undertaken in the world today, England certainly did not represent all of the major contributions to the rise of modern biology. Indeed, one of the most significant traditions in the rise of modern biology came from German natural history of animals. It is this subject that Dr. Nyhart is examining. By analyzing the history, social organization, and intellectual contributions of institutions of natural history that lay largely outside the university realm, Dr. Nyhart seeks to provide the first integrated picture of activities surrounding natural history. These activities extend across a spectrum from the popular end (fireworks at the zoo) all the way to the most esoteric scientific studies (the systematics and anatomy of sponges). In doing so, she has two aims: first to broaden our sense of the culture of German natural history and biology and second to identify the sources of the great upsurge in interest in animal geography and `biology.` This interest in the study of the living animal in relation to its conditions of existence became the basis for new research streams in animal behavior, ecology, and evolutionary studies. Dr. Nyhart is using archival sources in Berlin as well as all over the rest of Germany. She is examining university papers, government archives, and materials in museums, zoos, aquariums, independent natural history societies and even private firms. Her study promises to extend our understanding of the origins of several biological fields beyond the narrow Anglo-American focus that we currently confront.

现代生物学起源于许多领域，包括医学、农业、畜牧业和自然历史。科学史学家已经研究了自然历史如何影响了现代生物学在英国的兴起，特别是在查尔斯·达尔文和进化论方面。但是，正如美国并不代表当今世界正在进行的所有进步科学一样，英国当然也不代表现代生物学崛起的所有主要贡献。事实上，现代生物学兴起中最重要的传统之一来自德国的动物自然史。尼哈特博士正在研究的正是这个问题。通过分析大学以外的自然历史机构的历史、社会组织和智力贡献，尼哈特博士试图提供围绕自然历史活动的第一幅完整图景。这些活动从受欢迎的一端(动物园的烟花)一直延伸到最深奥的科学研究(海绵的系统学和解剖学)。她这样做有两个目的：第一，拓宽我们对德国自然历史和生物学文化的认识；第二，找出人们对动物地理和生物学兴趣高涨的根源。这种对活着的动物与其生存条件相关的研究的兴趣，成为动物行为、生态学和进化论研究中新的研究流派的基础。尼哈特使用的是柏林和德国其他地方的档案资料。她正在研究大学论文、政府档案，以及博物馆、动物园、水族馆、独立自然历史学会甚至私人公司的材料。她的研究承诺将扩展我们对几个生物学领域起源的理解，超越我们目前面临的狭隘的英美焦点。