284 research outputs found
The scientific memoirs of Thomas Henry Huxley. Edited by Michael Foster and E. Ray Lankester
No full textTHE SCIENTIFIC MEMOIRS OF THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY. EDITED BY MICHAEL FOSTER AND E. RAY LANKESTER
The scientific memoirs of Thomas Henry Huxley. Edited by Michael Foster and E. Ray Lankester (-
La sacculina e il "Regno dell'uomo". Edwin Ray Lankester, la degenerazione e il futuro della civiltà
No full textEdwin Ray Lankester (1847-1929), a British zoologist and evolutionary biologist, described degeneration as one of three possible effects of natural selection (the others being “balance” and “elaboration”). He defined it as a gradual change of structure by which an organism becomes adapted to less various and complex conditions of life. Degeneration could result in atrophy or “suppression of form”, as in parasites. Lankester himself applied this idea to human societies, past and present, to warn that regression was as possible as progress. To him, degeneration was a law of life, based on observations in comparative anatomy and embryology. Still, one can wonder if the concept was not, as it were, ‘tainted’ with an axiological connotation since its first use by Lankester, as it had clearly been the case with its inventor, Morel. If so, its application to human affairs was not only understandable in their context, but, to some extent, inevitable. Some instances of the uses of degeneration in bio-social contexts are also discussed, including writings by the theologian Henry Drummond, the science fiction author H.G. Wells, the Belgian socialists Demoor, Massart and Vandervelde, and the entomologist William Morton Wheeler
Zoological articles contributed to the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" / by E. Ray Lankester, to which are added kindred articles by W. Johnson Sollas ... [et al.].
No full textThe natural history of the marketable marine fishes of the British Islands, with a preface by E. Ray Lankester.
No full textPaley, William: science and rhetoric in his natural theology
No full textWilliam Paley's Natural Theology is probably the nineteenth century's most well- known design argument. As such an influential book, it is almost expected that twentieth century intellectual historians should at least pay a footnote to it. In midst of all these studies about the impact of Natural Theology upon the nineteenth century, one key fact is forgotten: Natural Theology and its sources were written in the eighteenth century. It is the goal of this thesis to demonstrate that Paley's design argument must be compared to the intellectual climate of that time period. Chapters 1 and 2 outline the rhetorical argument and the tools that Paley used to persuade his polite eighteenth century audience. The majority of scientific sources and examples he used were well-known names and therefore implicitly contributed to the believability of his argument. Accordingly, chapters 3 and 4 investigate why Paley's scientific sources added credibility to Natural Theology. Chapters 5 and 6 examine the actual scientific data that Paley turned into examples for his design argument. Setting the rhetoric aside, what was the actual scientific picture communicated by his examples? In these chapters, we find that even though Paley argues against random change, he does support a morphological telic change—the development of a supplemental part based on a pre-existing, fixed body part. As every chapter of this thesis unfolds, it will become more apparent that Paley was an intellectual heir to the eighteenth century. He wrote in a polite manner and employed a body of standard eighteenth century natural philosophical knowledge. It is this context that must be addressed and seriously considered when studying the nineteenth century intellectual legacy of Natural Theology
De l'embryologie et de la classification des animaux / par E. Ray-Lankester,...
No full textCollection : Bibliothèque biologique internationale ; IIIAvec mode text
Degenerazioni
No full textBreve storia del concetto di degenerazione nella letteratura medica e biologica. L'opera di B.-A. Morel. E. Ray Lankester. Usi morali, ideologici, sociali e politici del concetto di degenerazione. Evoluzione e degenerazione. M. Nordau e C. Lombroso
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