History of Biology
Integrative Biology 494/History 465
Fall 2004
Development of biological thought from antiquity to the present, emphasizing evolutionary theory and physiology in the nineteenth century and genetics in the twentieth century.
- Office: 302 Gregory Hall - Phone: 333-2450
- Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, 2:00-3:00 p.m., and by appointment.
- Email: burkhard@uiuc.edu
- Course Reading List and Evaluation Procedures
- Essays and Term Papers
(Readings: Harvey, The Motion of the Heart and Blood, chapters I - VII.)
Part I: THE FOUNDATIONS OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(Readings: Harvey, chapters VIII - XVII.)
(Readings: René Descartes, Discourse on Method, part five, at http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/psi/demethod.htm.)
(Readings: E. G. Ruestow, "Leeuwenhoek's perception of the spermatozoa," at http://zygote.swarthmore.edu/fert1a.html.).
(Readings: Lisbet Koerner, "Carl Linnaeus in his Time and Place," from Cultures of Natural History, pp. 145-162, in History 465 Reader.)
(Readings: Stephen Hales, selection from Haemastaticks, and Clara Pinto-Correia, "Frogs with boxer shorts," in History 465 Reader.)
(Readings: William Coleman, Biology in the 19th Century, pp. 16-34, in History 465 Reader.)
(Readings: Coleman, 143-159, in History 465 Reader; and Claude Bernard, pp. 59-86, from Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, in History 465 Reader).
Part II: EVOLUTION AND HEREDITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
(Readings: J.-B. Lamarck, Chapters 3 and 7 of Zoological Philosophy, in History 465 Reader.)
Darwinian Revolution
(Readings: Appleman, Darwin, pp. 39-44, 49-52.)
(Readings: Wallace in Appleman, pp. 61-64; and Darwin in Appleman, pp. 67-81.)
(Readings: Darwin in Appleman, Darwin, pp. 82-174)
(Readings: Appleman, 257-288, Jenkin in History 465 Reader.)
(Readings: Hofstadter, Carnegie, and Kropotkin in Appleman, pp. 389-402 )
((Reading: Darwin, "Provisional hypothesis of pangenesis," vol. 2, ch. 27 of Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, at http://charles-darwin.classic-literature.co.uk/
variation-of-animals-and-plants-under-domestication-v2/ -- read pages 212-240; Galton, "experiments in pangenesis", at http:www.mugu.com/galton/index.html [at this website you will find a facsimile of Galton's paper in the section "Galton as geneticist"]..)
Readings: Richards in Appleman, 434-444; W. K. Brooks, "The condition of women from a zoological point of view," in History 465 Reader)
Part III: BIOLOGY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
(Readings: Allen, Life Science in the 20th Century, pp. 41-50, in History 465 Reader.)
(Readings: Francis Galton, "Hereditary Talent and Character," http://www.mugu.com/galton/index.html; [at this website you will find a link to this piece in the section "Galton as psychologist"] and Gould, The Mismeasure of Man, pp. 176-263).
(Readings: Allen, Life Science in the 20th Century, pp. 50-72. in History 465 Reader).
(Readings: T. D. Lysenko, from The Situation in the Biological Sciences, in History 465 Reader).
(Readings: Gunther Stent (ed.), The Double Helix, pp. ix-158, 237-241).
(Readings: Niko Tinbergen, "Watching and Wondering"; in History 465 Reader; and "Nature and Nurture" in Appleman, Darwin, 409-425)
Thanksgiving Vacation (November 20 - November 28)
(Readings: James Watson, "In Defense of DNA," and E. Mendelsohn, "Frankenstein at Harvard," in History 465 Reader.)
(Readings: James Watson, "The Human Genome Project: Past, Present, and Future" (1990); Robert Wright, "Achilles' Helix" (1990); and Elizabeth Pennisi, "Finally the book of life and the instructions for navigating it" (2000), in History 465 Reader; and David Baltimore, "Our Genome Unveiled," at http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v409/n6822/
full/409814a0_fs.html).
(Readings: Aldous Huxley, chapters 1-2 from Brave New World, in History 465 Reader; and King and Stabinsky, "Patents on cells, genes, and organisms undermine the exchange of ideas in the scientific world," at http://www.gene-watch.org/programs/patents/undermine.html.)