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"Anctil, Michel, 1945- author"
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Dawn of the neuron : the early struggles to trace the origin of nervous systems
Examines \"the labours and lives of scientists who studied coelenterate nervous systems over several generations, and who approached the puzzling origin of the first nerve cells through the process outlined in evolutionary theory, [and also explores] how these scientists, who were willing to embrace improved and paradigm-changing scientific methods, still revealed their cultural backgrounds, their societal biases, and their attachments to schools of thought and academic traditions while presenting their ground-breaking work\"--Amazon.com.
Book
Dawn of the Neuron
In science, sometimes it is best to keep things simple. Initially discrediting the discovery of neurons in jellyfish, mid-nineteenth-century scientists grouped jellyfish, comb-jellies, hydra, and sea anemones together under one term - \"coelenterates\" - and deemed these animals too similar to plants to warrant a nervous system. In Dawn of the Neuron, Michel Anctil shows how Darwin's theory of evolution completely eradicated this idea and cleared the way for the modern study of the neuron. Once zoologists accepted the notion that varying levels of animal complexity could evolve, they began to use simple-structured creatures such as coelenterates and sponges to understand the building blocks of more complicated nervous systems. Dawn of the Neuron provides fascinating insights into the labours and lives of scientists who studied coelenterate nervous systems over several generations, and who approached the puzzling origin of the first nerve cells through the process outlined in evolutionary theory. Anctil also reveals how these scientists, who were willing to embrace improved and paradigm-changing scientific methods, still revealed their cultural backgrounds, their societal biases, and their attachments to schools of thought and academic traditions while presenting their ground-breaking work. Their attitudes toward the neuron doctrine - where neurons are individual, self-contained cells - proved decisive in the exploration of how neurons first emerged. Featuring photographs and historical sketches to illustrate this quest for knowledge, Dawn of the Neuron is a remarkably in-depth exploration of the link between Darwin's theory of evolution and pioneering studies and understandings of the first evolved nervous systems
eBook
Luminous creatures : the history and science of light production in living organisms
\"Charles Darwin was perplexed by the chaotic diversity of luminous organisms, which he found difficult to reconcile with his evolutionary theory. For other reasons bewilderment confronted many observers watching living lights throughout the ages. It fell on naturalists and scientists to try and make sense of the dazzling luminous displays by fireflies and other organisms. In Luminous Creatures, Michel Anctil shows how the mythical perceptions of bioluminescence gradually gave way to a scientific understanding of its mechanisms, functions and evolution, and to the recognition of its usefulness for biomedical and other applied fields. Naturalists since the Antiquity worked hard at dispelling fanciful ideas about the meaning of living lights by giving as reliable accounts of what they saw as was in their power. But it took the circumnavigations and oceanographic expeditions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the rise of the modern scientific method, for biologists to realize how widespread bioluminescence is on the planet and how diverse are its expressions in light organs and ecological imprints. By the end of the nineteenth century an understanding of the chemical nature and physiological control of the phenomenon was at hand. Technological developments led to the recent explosion of knowledge on the ecology, evolution and molecular biology of bioluminescence. Luminous Creatures tracks these historical events and illuminates the lives and trail-blazing accomplishments of the scientists involved. It offers a unique window in the awe-inspiring, phantasmagorical world of light-producing organisms, viewed from the perspectives of the casual observer and science-maker alike.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Animal as Machine
Through the ages natural historians have puzzled over how
animals work, wavering between a vitalist belief in a soul
animating bodily functions and a mechanistic outlook in which
animal body parts are seen as pieces of organic machinery.
Animal as Machine explores the life, work, and ideas of
scientists who, branding themselves as physiologists, subscribed to
mechanistic concepts to explain how animals acquire and process
food, breathe, circulate their blood, and sense their environment.
As medical physiology thrived in the nineteenth century, zoologists
struggled to forge their own distinctive physiology predicated on
understanding animal functions in a context of environmental
adaptation and evolutionary forces. Physiological schools with
distinct emphases that shaped their outlook sprang up around the
world. Dividing their time between fieldwork in marine stations and
laboratory experimentation, animal physiologists stood in awe of
the diversity and ingenuity of the functional strategies by which
animals survived. Animal as Machine tells a remarkable and
insightful story of the larger-than-life personalities and gripping
historical episodes that marked the emergence and blossoming of
animal physiology.
eBook