Questions relating to how the field of biology has developed over time (including the discussion of theories now considered incorrect).
13
votes
2answers
162 views
Why is there now only one Salmonella species?
Once upon a time, I chanced upon an old microbiology book that detailed the rather colorful world of enterobacteria. Salmonella in particular stood out, as it seemed there were a lot of species: typhi ...
12
votes
2answers
424 views
Impact of Alan Turing's approach to morphogenesis
Shortly before his untimely passing, the computing pioneer Alan Turing published his most cited paper The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis (1952).
The central question for Turing was: how does a ...
11
votes
10answers
462 views
A good book for history of biology/biotechnology for lay people
I have many friends who are interested in Biology and want to know more about the subject in general (like a history of biology, from Darwin's theory, to DNA structure discovery, to the human genome ...
9
votes
2answers
120 views
Acknowledging differentiation of species, in historical times
This is at least partly an historical question, and I am not even remotely a biologist of any sort, so apologies beforehand if it's a little obscure.
I often wonder how many distinctions were made in ...
8
votes
1answer
266 views
What did Richard Feynman contribute to molecular biology?
Some time ago, I read James Gleick's "Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman", a wonderful biography of Feynman and, by extension, most of modern physics.
In this book, the author mentions ...
7
votes
1answer
80 views
On which date did the official name change of Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis change?
When did the change of official name from Lactobacillus sanfrancisco to Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis happen? An answer ((to the exact day OR within a few days) AND the name of the conference at ...
6
votes
1answer
166 views
First discovery of long-term depression?
LTP was first described by Tim Bliss and Terje Lømo in their paper Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the ...
4
votes
1answer
38 views
Tool use by animals: research history
I was under impression that data about quite a lot different species using different tools is a fairly modern phenomenon, i.e., all of the research is fairly recent.
Around 50 years ago it was ...
2
votes
2answers
30 views
Recommendation of a comprehensive book on the history of medicine
I was wondering if somebody could recommend a book on the history of medicine, be it comprehensive or an introduction to the history of medicine. I know there are a lot of medical books that cover ...
2
votes
1answer
138 views
Why apes started to contemplate and become altruistic? [closed]
I was asking this first on philosophy forums, but it is suggested, that answer could be found from evolutionary view of point, so here we go:
Again my question raised when thinking of myths, their ...
