Physical Models and Physiological Concepts

Explanation in Nineteenth-Century Biology

Bibliographic Data

ID5774888
AuthorsEverett Mendelsohn (corresponding author)
Year1965
Volume2
Issue3
Pages201-219
Publication date1965-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal for the History of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0874 • E-ISSN: 1474-001X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s000708740000220x
OpenAlexW2150890536
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited11

Synopsis The response to physics and chemistry which characterized mid-nineteenth century physiology took two major directions. One, found most prominently among the German physiologists, developed explanatory models which had as their fundamental assumption the ultimate reducibility of all biological phenomena to the laws of physics and chemistry. The other, characteristic of the French school of physiology, recognized that physics and chemistry provided potent analytical tools for the exploration of physiological activities, but assumed in the construction of explanatory models that the organism involved special levels of organization and that there must, in consequence, be special biological laws. The roots of this argument about concept formation in physiology are explored in the works of Theodor Schwann, Johannes Müller, François Magendie and Claude Bernard among others

Argument (complex analysis · Physical law · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy, Science, and History

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub