Biology Under the Influence

Biology Under the Influence PDF

Author: Richard Lewontin

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2007-11-01

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 158367392X

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How do we understand the world? While some look to the heavens for intelligent design, others argue that it is determined by information encoded in DNA. Science serves as an important activity for uncovering the processes and operations of nature, but it is also immersed in a social context where ideology influences the questions we ask and how we approach the material world. Biology Under the Influence: Dialectical Essays on the Coevolution of Nature and Society breaks from the confirms of determinism, offering a dialectical analysis for comprehending a dynamic social and natural world. In Biology Under the Influence, Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins provide a devastating critique of genetic determinism and reductionism within science while exploring a broad range of issues including the nature of science, biology, evolution, the environment, pubic health, and dialectics, They dismantle the ideology that attempts to naturalize social inequalities, unveil the alienation of science and nature, and illustrate how a dialectical position serves as a basis for grappling with historical developments and a world characterized by change. Biology Under the Influence brings together the illuminating essays of two prominent scientists who work to demystify and empower the public's understanding of science and nature.

The Dialectical Biologist

The Dialectical Biologist PDF

Author: Richard Levins

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1987-03-15

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0674255313

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Scientists act within a social context and from a philosophical perspective that is inherently political. Whether they realize it or not, scientists always choose sides. The Dialectical Biologist explores this political nature of scientific inquiry, advancing its argument within the framework of Marxist dialectic. These essays stress the concepts of continual change and codetermination between organism and environment, part and whole, structure and process, science and politics. Throughout, this book questions our accepted definitions and biases, showing the self-reflective nature of scientific activity within society.

The Impact of Biology on Modern Psychiatry

The Impact of Biology on Modern Psychiatry PDF

Author: Elliot Gershon

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 1468407783

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viii beginning to understand-their action, as will be brought out in this symposium. During this same period another development took place in psychiatry, namely, social and community psychiatry, interpreted by some, incorrectly, in my opinion, as the antitheses of the biological approach. The whole area of the delivery of mental health services, which quickly became more of a political and social issue than a medical one, led to confusion, disillusionment, despair, and also soul-searching by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. The remarkable Pablo Picasso said, "the development of photography freed the artist to express his own creativity. " I have paraphrased Picasso's insightful remark, namely, "the development of biology and social and community psychiatry should free the psychiatrist to express his own creati vity as a physician. " It should allow him to regain his basic medi cal identity. As his medical identity becomes paramount, then the pejorative classification of psychiatrists into those "organically oriented" and those "dynamically-oriented" will no longer be valid. The psychiatrist, like his medical colleague, must be concerned with the psychological, psychosocial, biological, and technical aspects of psychiatry. The strengthening and development of the medical identity of the psychiatrist imposes increased responsibilities on him and on psychiatry as a medical discipline. On the one hand, he will have to become more of a neuro-bi_ gist and, on the other, more of a behavioral scientist.

Under the Influence

Under the Influence PDF

Author: Rebecca Shannonhouse

Publisher: Modern Library

Published: 2003-02-04

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0375757163

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Drawing on two centuries of important literary and historical writings, Rebecca Shannonhouse has shaped a remarkable collection of works that are, in turn, tragic, compelling, hilarious, and enlightening. Together, these selections comprise a profound and truthful portrait of the life experience known as addiction. Under the Influence offers classic selections from fiction, memoirs, and essays by authors such as Tolstoy, Cheever, Parker, and Poe. Also included are topical gems by writers who illuminate the causes, dangers, pleasures, and public perceptions surrounding people consumed by excessive use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Recent provocative works by Abraham Verghese, the Barthelme brothers, Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, and others expand and modernize the definition of addiction to include sex, gambling, and food. Together, these incomparable writings give shape and meaning to the raw experience of uncontrollable urges. Shannonhouse’s recent anthology, Out of Her Mind: Women Writing on Madness, is also available as a Modern Library Paperback.

Activist Biology

Activist Biology PDF

Author: Regina Horta Duarte

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2016-11-15

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 081653201X

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Activist Biology is the story of a group of biologists at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro who joined the drive to renew the Brazilian nation, claiming as their weapon the voice of their fledgling field. It offers a portrait of science as a creative and transformative pathway. This book will intrigue anyone fascinated by environmental history and Latin American political and social life in the 1920s and 1930s.

Applied Biophysics of Activated Water

Applied Biophysics of Activated Water PDF

Author: Vladimir I Vysotskii

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2009-07-06

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 981463073X

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This book provides a detailed review of the modern theories dealing with the structure and properties of water. It also presents an analysis of the research on the effect of activated water on biological systems such as animals, microorganisms, and plants. The results of experiments on the influence of activated water on “pure” microbiological cultures and their natural associations are described, the studies being carried out under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The results demonstrate a significant influence of activated water on higher plants (vegetable crops), sterile plants, and callus tissues. It is shown that the activation of water under definite conditions gives rise to the appearance of very strong bactericidal properties: activated water inhibits the development of pathogenic microbiological cultures by tens and hundreds of times more strongly, and can be used for sterilization. In addition, a potent positive effect of activated water on the prevention and treatment of cancer in mice has been observed, and its efficacy compared to that of chemotherapy is discussed in the book. The information provided in this book is supported by intensive experimental data and developed theories. The research programs were conducted at the authors' laboratories in Ukraine and Russia as well as at research facilities located in the USA. Contents:Introduction to the Theory of Water Memory and General Principles of Water ActivationMolecular Resonance Effect Technology as the Basic Method for Activation of Liquid SubstancesStudy of the Physical Properties of MRET Activated WaterInfluence of MRET Activated Water on the Growth of Higher PlantsEffects of MRET Activated Water on Microbial Culture and Natural Microbial AssociationsExamination of the Influence of MRET Activated Water on Prophylaxis and Treatment of OncologyEffect of MRET Activated Water on Staphylococcal Infection in vivo in Animal Model (on the Cells of Immune System) and in vitro on the Culture of Staphylococcus aureus Wood-46The Possible Mechanisms of Effects of Activated Water on Biological SystemsConclusions and Recommendations Readership: Biophysicists; physicists; medical doctors; researchers in molecular physics, hydrodynamics, optics, electrodynamics, condensed matter physics, microbiology, epidemiology and agriculture. Key Features:Presents the results of complex experimental and theoretical studies of the characteristics of activated water obtained under a controlled action of the specific non-ionizing low-frequency electromagnetic emission on ordinary waterProvides a comprehensive overview of the authors' work that includes innovative discoveries related to the effect of subtle, low-frequency, random magnetic fields on the molecular structure and physical properties of waterGives the results of the theoretical analysis of a possible mechanism of water memory and methods of its stimulationKeywords:Activated Water;Water Memory;Biophysics;Bioengineering;Biotechnology;Treatment in Oncology;Inhibition of Pathogenic Culture Growth

Above the Gene, Beyond Biology

Above the Gene, Beyond Biology PDF

Author: Jan Baedke

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2018-07-20

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0822983400

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Epigenetics is currently one of the fastest-growing fields in the sciences. Epigenetic information not only controls DNA expression but links genetic factors with the environmental experiences that influence the traits and characteristics of an individual. What we eat, where we work, and how we live affects not only the activity of our genes but that of our offspring as well. This discovery has imposed a revolutionary theoretical shift on modern biology, especially on evolutionary theory. It has helped to uncover the developmental processes leading to cancer, obesity, schizophrenia, alcoholism, and aging, and to facilitate associated medial applications such as stem cell therapy and cloning. Above the Gene, Beyond Biology explores how biologists in this booming field investigate and explain living systems. Jan Baedke offers the first comprehensive philosophical discussion of epigenetic concepts, explanations, and methodologies so that we can better understand this “epigenetic turn” in the life sciences from a philosophical perspective.