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The Seeds of Life

Page 32

by Edward Dolnick


  as new, 62

  faith, 127, 134, 189

  Fallopian tubes, 100, 121

  Farley, John, 226

  fertilization, 212, 227

  eggs and, 220, 223, 263

  as external, 217–218, 262

  mechanics of, 247, 252

  through semen, 84, 216, 220, 225, 226

  by sperm, 154n, 224

  fetus, 49

  fire, 250

  Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 251

  Flammarion, Camille, 288n

  follicles, 101

  for eggs, 200

  Graafian follicles as, 100, 254

  Fontenelle, Bernard de, 186, 194

  food, 246

  formaldehyde, 161

  fossils, 92, 93

  Foster, George, 241–242

  France, 57, 68

  Frankenstein (Shelley, M.), 245

  Franklin, Ben, 234

  frogs, 221

  eggs from, 217–219, 253

  electricity and, 238–239, 240

  heart of, 222

  mating and, 141

  in silk pants, 209–219, 219n

  tadpoles as, 218, 219, 226

  toads and, 65

  Galen, 39, 64, 75

  on conception, 70

  Galileo, 105, 286n

  The Starry Messenger by, 96

  Galvani, Luigi, 238–241, 246

  Gasking, Elizabeth, 224

  gelding, 71

  generation, 67

  regeneration as, 174, 178, 179

  as spontaneous, 205, 212, 214

  On Generation (Aristotle), 32

  On Genesis of the Egg of Mammals and of Men (paper, Baer), 257

  genetics, 138, 170, 264

  DNA and, 204

  Mendel and, 198

  genitals, 19, 43, 229

  Gentleman’s Magazine, 162, 232

  geology, 92

  Germany, 180, 252

  gladiators, 39, 40

  God, 18, 31, 175, 192

  biology and, 35

  circles and, 22

  conception and, 131

  craftsmanship of, 139

  creation of, 113

  as designer, 97, 131

  faith in, 127, 134

  image of, 152

  laws of, 177

  as mathematician, 11, 21

  plan by, 156

  power of, 132, 181

  restoration by, 36

  riddles and, 130

  secrets of, 40

  text dictated by, 187

  theories and, 146

  Gonzalez-Crussi, Frank, 97

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 271n

  Graafian follicles, 100, 254

  Graham, James, 236–237

  grave robbery, 59, 60

  gravity, 197–198, 232

  Greeks, 38, 44, 76

  Grew, Nehemiah, 118

  Gulliver’s Travels (Swift), 188

  Haller, Albrecht von, 185, 257

  Halley, Edmond, 127

  the Hard Problem, 15

  Hare, William, 60

  Hartsoeker, Nicolaas, 153

  Harvey, William, 66 (fig.), 98, 148, 216

  allies of, 146

  analogies and, 85

  as anatomist, 64–69

  On the Circulation of the Blood by, 66, 87

  on conception, 119

  deer and, 2–4

  Disputations Touching the Generation of Animals by, 86

  on embryo development, 145

  experiments of, 82

  as physician, 1

  Hawking, Stephen, 110

  heart, 147

  arteries in, 48

  da Vinci and, 62

  of frogs, 222

  as pump, 1, 67

  soul and, 2

  heat, 231, 250, 251

  Helmholtz, Hermann von, 251

  heredity

  questions of, 167

  for scientists, 164–165, 185

  sex and, 160, 170

  hermaphrodites, 142

  Hertwig, Oscar, 260–262

  Hervey, John, 160

  Highmore, Nathaniel, 72

  Hippocrates, 91

  historians, 22, 204, 221, 235

  history, 41, 114, 220

  Hoefnagel, Joris, 140 (fig.)

  Hogarth, William, 163, 164 (fig.)

  Holland, 90

  Hood, Thomas, 59n

  Hooke, Robert, 108 (fig.), 192

  cell term by, 260

  Micrographia by, 107, 187

  at Royal Society, 105

  theory of, 109

  Howard, John, 161

  human body

  for anatomists, 47, 55, 59

  anatomy of, 231

  blood in, 67

  complexity of, 42

  dissection and, 44, 47

  secrets of, 13

  vital force in, 185

  humans, 25, 81, 131, 137

  benefits for, 105

  development and, 18

  electricity by, 230, 240

  embryo as, 153

  insects and, 138

  penises and, 91n

  preservation of, 19

  hymns, 36, 139

  hypotheses, 14

  ideas, 16, 41, 201, 205

  identity, 196, 264

  ignorance, 27

  infertility, 26

  Ingenhousz, Jan, 193

  Inhorn, Marcia, 33

  insects, 112

  authority on, 176

  development for, 139, 140

  plants and, 213

  study of, 10, 138, 143

  “Joy to the World” (Watts), 36

  Kant, Immanuel, 168, 255

  Keele, Kenneth, 49

  Knox, Robert, 60

  Lake Geneva, 244

  Lancet, 115–116, 278n

  language

  of anatomists, 99

  mathematics as, 12, 13

  as written, 183

  Laqueur, Thomas, 70

  Latin, 110

  Lavoisier, Antoine, 250

  laws, 198, 251, 255

  about dissection, 58

  of God, 177

  of mathematics, 128

  as mechanical, 129

  of nature, 176

  of perspective, 7

  Leclerc, Georges-Louis, 199–200

  lectures, 154

  Leeuwenhoek, Antony van, 113, 122, 192, 264, 268

  animalcules and, 104–107, 216

  aphid writings by, 177

  calculations by, 112

  capillaries and, 112

  enemies of, 150

  introduction for, 103

  lenses and, 108

  letters from, 118, 282n

  microscope and, 119, 150 (fig.), 150n

  on rabbits, 169

  techniques of, 109

  Leibniz, Gottfried, 151

  computer by, 183–184

  Leiden University, 92

  lenses

  experimentation with, 108

  eyeglasses as, 108n

  magnifying glass as, 105, 107, 172

  telescopes as, 187, 188, 189

  See also microscopes

  Leyden jar, 233

  Liceti, Fortunio, 166

  life, 246

  building blocks of, 228

  cells as, 259

  conception of, 85

  as microscopic, 152

  mysteries of, 13

  organisms and, 9, 10, 76, 101, 117, 201, 247

  origin experiments on, 214

  science and, 255

  study of, 67

  Lightman, Alan, 247

  lightning, 234

  Linnaeus, Carl, 217

  liver, 48

  Locke, John, 191

  Essay Considering Human Understanding by, 166

  logic, 122, 134

  machines, 18, 175

  animals as, 173

  body as, 87

  devices and, 182

  as programmable, 183, 194

  magic, 77

  magnifying glass, 105, 107, 172


  Malebranche, Nicolas, 134

  Malinowski, Bronislaw, 28–30

  Malpighi, Marcello, 134

  mammals, 71, 84, 101, 257

  Marshall, Lorna, 31

  “Mary’s Ghost” (Hood), 59n

  masturbation, 156–157, 158 (fig.)

  mathematicians, 209

  Buffon as, 181, 199

  God as, 11, 21

  mathematics, 136, 190n

  analysis and, 210

  language of, 12, 13

  law of, 128

  music and, 7

  mating

  for animals, 26

  for aphids, 178n

  frogs and, 141

  mammals and, 101

  for snails, 142 (fig.)

  matter, 16, 250

  McMahon, Darrin, 42

  medicine, 37

  community of, 27

  dogma and, 45

  in nineteenth-century, 74

  pantheon of, 1

  quackery in, 240

  students of, 62–63

  writers of, 158

  Melzi, Francesco, 50–51

  Mendel, Gregor, 169, 198

  menstruation, 27

  blood from, 45, 74

  pregnancy and, 75

  Merrick, Joseph, the Elephant Man, 162

  Michelangelo, 247

  Micrographia (Hooke), 107, 187

  microscopes, 103, 189, 215, 262

  animalcules through, 104

  creatures under, 115, 245

  design of, 109

  dogs under, 121

  Leeuwenhoek and, 119, 150 (fig.), 150n

  objection to, 191

  plaque under, 111

  polyps under, 174

  power of, 135

  sperm under, 152, 227

  microscopists, 125, 151, 189

  military, 43

  milk, 45

  Milky Way, 7, 195

  Miller, Jonathan, 62

  The Miracle of Nature, or the Structure of the Female Uterus (Swammerdam), 102

  miscarriage, 101

  model, 184

  as chemical, 222, 223

  of development, 196, 202

  one-sex as, 71, 72–73, 81, 97

  molecules, 249

  Mona Lisa (da Vinci), 49

  On Monsters and Marvels (Paré), 167

  Moray, Robert, 213

  moths, 143–144

  murder, 60

  muscles, 93

  music

  mathematics and, 7

  musicians and, 229

  notations for, 183

  Naples, Italy, 8

  National Enquirer, 166

  National Science Foundation, 110

  Natural History (Leclerc), 199

  Natural History of Insects (Réaumur), 176

  naturalists, 178

  nature, 197

  debate over, 27

  features of, 25

  forces of, 232

  laws of, 176

  patterns in, 146

  of reality, 133

  Needham, John Tuberville, 215

  Needham, Joseph, 32

  Nero, 38 (fig.), 272n

  A New Treatise Concerning the Generative Organs of Women (de Graaf, R.), 96

  Newton, Isaac, 69, 199, 279n, 286n

  Principia Mathematica, 190n

  Nollet, Jean-Antoine, 233

  observations, 9, 46, 173, 204

  of bacteria, 111

  as correct, 155

  heredity and, 164

  hours of, 217

  procreation and, 118

  as scientific, 11

  of semen, 114

  Ockham’s razor, 190

  On the Circulation of the Blood by (Harvey), 66, 87

  On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (Copernicus), 55

  organisms, 194

  development of, 145

  as living, 9, 10, 76, 101, 117, 201, 247

  as new, 174

  organs, 95, 97

  ostriches as, 82, 83

  ovaries, 3

  of dogs, 256

  Graafian follicles in, 100

  testicles and, 94

  ovists, 155, 159, 225

  embryo and, 126

  spermists and, 125, 148, 169

  owls, 210

  Paley, William, 129, 279n

  pamphlets, 157n, 161

  papyrus manuscripts, 31

  parasites, 116 (fig.)

  sperm as, 116, 151, 188, 225, 252

  Paré, Ambroise, 167

  parents, 126, 198

  babies and, 8, 21

  traits from, 165, 168, 180, 227

  Pascal, Blaise, 191

  Pasteur, Louis, 216

  patients, 158

  patterns, 23

  penises, 20

  birds with, 83

  depictions of, 44

  erection for, 45–46

  humans and, 91n

  Pepys, Samuel, 58

  philosophers, 158, 212

  photosynthesis, 193n

  physicians, 1, 27, 39, 53

  as royal, 19, 214

  scientists and, 166

  physicists, 129, 187, 279n

  physiology, 61

  Pinto-Correia, Clara, 22

  plants, 25, 248

  insects and, 213

  under microscope, 260

  photosynthesis for, 193n

  sex and, 120

  Polidori, John, 243

  The Vampyre by, 245n

  polyps, 172–174

  Pope, Alexander, 192

  power, 139, 246

  of God, 132, 181

  as investigative, 192

  of microscopes, 135

  of reason, 134

  preformationists, 147, 169, 203

  attacks on, 180, 181

  fight for, 202

  mockery for, 197

  pregnancy, 23

  deer and, 3–4

  menstruation and, 75

  miscarriage and, 101

  sex and, 24, 33–34

  for women, 162

  Prévost, Jean-Louis, 253

  Principia Mathematica (Newton), 190n

  printing press, 108

  prisoners, 52n

  proof, 145

  Pross, Addy, 196

  Protestants, 90

  rabbits, 160–161, 169, 265

  Ray, John, 146

  reality, 133

  Réaumur, René, 175

  Natural History of Insects, 176

  Redi, Francesco, 214

  religion, 138

  believers in, 19

  biologists and, 128

  crisis of, 258

  mystics and, 147

  science and, 11

  sex and, 34

  Rembrandt, 52

  reproduction

  anatomy and, 83, 93

  sex and, 13–14, 89

  women and, 74

  reptiles. See snakes

  resurrection men. See grave robbery

  Richmann, Georg, 235, 287n

  riddles, 16, 23

  construction of, 12

  God’s role as, 130

  heredity as, 160, 170

  plants and, 120

  procreation as, 120

  sex as, 68, 120, 230

  for theologians, 36

  Ritter, Johann, 235

  Roger, Jacques, 159

  Roget, Peter, 253

  Romans, 38

  Romantic movement, 252

  Royal College of Surgeons, 241

  Royal Society, 89, 285n

  dormouse testicle to, 92

  founder Boyle of, 99

  Hooke at, 105

  letters to, 102, 104, 114, 115, 118, 136, 169

  records of, 110

  requests from, 106

  uterus to, 95

  Ruhe, Jacob, 180

  samples, 112–113, 150

  Satan, 65

  scale, 195

  Schleiden, Matthias, 258–259

  Schliemann, Heinrich, 260

  Schwa
nn, Theodor, 258–259

  Schwarzschild, Martin, 85

  science, 65, 194

  credos in, 41

  early days of, 113

  history of, 114, 220

  life and, 255

  as Newtonian, 199

  religion and, 11

  textbooks and, 85

  withdrawal from, 147

  Scientific Revolution, 12, 186

  scientists, 9, 13, 132, 182, 191

  beliefs of, 213

  Christians as, 35

  citation of, 119

  clergy as, 205, 233

  as detectives, 184

  differences between, 202

  eggs and, 88

  electricity for, 228

  as explorers, 40

  faith for, 189

  heredity and, 164–165, 185

  males as, 16, 226

  as modern, 15, 41–42

  physicians and, 166

  as problem solvers, 186

  reaction of, 211

  scolding by, 146

  shift for, 138

  theories for, 14

  understanding for, 136

  sea urchins, 261–262

  semen, 3, 20, 76, 197, 200

  animals of, 114–122, 149, 153

  blood and, 75, 77, 81, 88

  fertilization through, 84, 216, 220, 225, 226

  from frogs, 218

  observations of, 114

  ovists and, 126

  production of, 72

  purpose of, 29

  role of, 102

  value of, 159

  senses, 211n, 234

  sex, 7, 141n, 186, 200

  anatomy and, 90

  babies and, 15–22, 29, 37–51, 170

  in birds, 83

  conception and, 221

  cultures and, 25

  fluids and, 97

  heredity and, 160, 170

  hermaphrodites and, 142

  models and, 71, 72–73, 81, 97

  physiology of, 61

  plants and, 120

  pregnancy and, 24, 33–34

  religion and, 34

  reproduction and, 13–14, 89

  as riddle, 68, 120, 230

  scandals and, 243

  sexuality and, 248

  theories about, 26, 69, 73, 236

  as transport system, 153

  women and, 19, 28

  Shakespeare, 11, 57, 58n, 152

  sharks, 93, 94 (fig.)

  Shelley, Mary, 242

  Frankenstein, 245

  Shelley, Percy, 243

  Sigaud, Joseph-Aignan, 228

  silkworms, 111, 143–144

  sin, 40, 144

  skeleton, 55–57

  skeptics, 154, 179, 255

  skin, 56, 112–113

  snails

  decapitation of, 178, 210

  mating for, 142 (fig.)

  snakes

  analogies and, 221

  venom of, 214, 221

  viper powder from, 213

  Society of Naturalists, 257

  sonar, 211n

  soul, 2

  South America, 33

  Spain, 68

  Spallanzani, Lazzaro, 209, 215, 219n

  experiments of, 230

  inspiration for, 217, 219

  reputation of, 254

  statue of, 218 (fig.)

  spaying, 71

  spectators, 39, 53–54

  sperm, 8, 17, 45, 91, 177

  as cells, 122, 156, 223

  conception and, 136

  discovery of, 115, 121, 149

  fertilization by, 154n, 224

  under microscope, 152, 227

  as parasites, 116, 151, 188, 225, 252

  spermists

  criticisms of, 136

 

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