文档介绍：Thinking about Life
Paul S. Agutter • Denys N. Wheatley
Thinking about Life
The History and Philosophy
of Biology and Other Sciences
Paul S. Agutter Denys N. Wheatley
Theoretical and Cell Biology Director, BioMedES
Consultancy Leggat House, Whiterashes Road
26 Castle Hill Keithhall, Inverurie
Glossop, Derbyshire AB51 OLX
United Kingdom SK13 7RR United Kingdom
ISBN 978-1-4020-8865-0 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-8866-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008933269
© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media .
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Preface
Our previous book, About Life, concerned modern biology. We used our present-day
understanding of cells to ‘define’ the living state, providing a basis for exploring
several general-interest topics: the origin of life, extraterrestrial life, intelligence,
and the possibility that humans are unique. The ideas we proposed in About Life
were intended as starting-points for debate – we did not claim them as ‘truth’– but
the information on which they were based is currently accepted as ‘scientific fact’.
What does that mean? What is ‘scientific fact’ and why is it accepted? What is
science – and is biology like other sciences such as physics (except in subject mat-
ter)? The book you are now reading investigates these questions – and some related
ones. Like About Life, it may particularly interest a reader who wishes to change
career to biology and its related subdisciplines. In line with a mendation by
the British Association for the Advancement of Science – that the public shoul