Biographical

In retrospect, the sixth decade of the nineteenth century was truly remarkable with respect to the development of the science of biology. By the end of those ten years all of the pieces were in place for the maturation of what had been a purely observational discipline into one with a strong theoretical basis. The key elements of what would become modern biology had been discovered and formulated. However, it took more than eighty years to bring all of them together (1). The result, the field of molecular biology and its attendant sub-disciplines, is grounded philosophically in a mechanistic, deterministic and reductionist view that derives from the logical empiricist setting in which it was born and which has not changed, despite the radical shift that has come about in the physical sciences.

Marin Mersenne attended school at the College of Mans, then, from 1604 spent five years in the Jesuit College at La Fleche. From 1609 to 1611 he studied theology at the Sorbonne.
Mersenne joined the religious order of the Minims in 1611. The name of the order comes since the Minims regard themselves as the least (minimi) of all the religious; they devote themselves to prayer, study and scholarship. Mersenne continued his education within the order at Nigeon and then at Meaux. He returned to Paris where in 1612 he became a priest at the Place Royale.

Cardiotonic drugs (digitalis, strophantus, etc) were firstly used in the myocardial infarction by Doctor James Bryan Herrick who developed the Thrombogenic Theory to explain the origin of the MI, what happened 86 years ago.
Our aim with this article is to pay tribute to Doctor James Herrick reproducing the therapeutical recommendations about his paper of 1912, part of which remains very actual.

There are many collections of private papers of botanists including material from former Directors not forming part of their working documentation plus amongst many famous scientists: John Ray (1627-1705), Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Richard Spruce (1817-1893), Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), Henry Nicholas Ridley (1855-1956), Isaac Henry Burkill (1870-1965), and Richard Eric Holttum (1895-1990).

Richard Dawkins was educated at Oxford University and has taught zoology at the universities of California and Oxford. He is the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. His books about evolution and science include The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, River Out of Eden, Climbing Mount Improbable, and most recently, Unweaving the Rainbow

This site is devoted to the life and times of Dr. John Snow (1813-1858), a legendary figure in the history of public health, epidemiology and anesthesiology.

Since the earliest times, humans could view stars at night whenever it happened not to be cloudy. As in prehistoric times, there was barely no light polution in most regions of Earth, our ancestors could view stars of very faint light, and thus some of those objects we now summarize as Deep Sky Objects. This way, some of these objects are known as long as anything is known.

This is an informal and incomplete guide to the history of evolutionary biology from about 1800 to about 1950. It is maintained by John Alroy. Its main emphases are on the late 19th century and on paleontology. However, I hope to see the coverage become more comprehensive in the near future. If you have any comments or suggestions or wish to contribute to the site, I strongly encourage you to do so; please write me. The only limits on contributions are that they must follow the site's format and carry your byline. Contributors to date include Mark Largent.

Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) was born on Feb. 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England, the son of Robert Waring Darwin (1766-1848) and Susannah Wedgwood (1765-1817). Robert Waring was a well-to-do country physician, whose father, Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was himself a physician and writer on biological topics. His writings included epic poems and a treatise on zoology which contained speculations concerning evolutionary ideas. Susannah Wedgwood was the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, one of the founders of the Wedgwood pottery works known for its "blue china" and a supporter of the movement to abolish slavery in the British Empire. Susannah Wedgwood attended the Unitarian Chapel in Shrewsbury located on High Street and conducted by Rev. G. Case

The paper deals with some of the scientific research of Charles R. Darwin (1809-1882), specifically his monumental 1859 publication entitled On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. This paper also points out the "human" side of this most noted of human beings and Darwin's ideas are presented in the context of his times. Today, Darwin's theory of "natural selection" is hopefully well known but how did the culture of his times influence his ideas and the development and acceptance of his theory? What happened before Darwin published Origin and what came after his numerous other publications? Charles Darwin was an extremely important individual for a variety of reasons: the data he collected, the experiments he conducted, and the theories he proposed influenced a variety of disciplines, from anthropology to zoology as well as ecology, geology, and the general social sciences. His influence continues to be condemned, supported, and debated after almost 150 years. [168 words]