The restless clock : a history of the centuries-long argument over what makes living things tick
Riskin, Jessica2017
Book
Total copies: 1
Today, a scientific explanation is not supposed to ascribe agency to natural phenomena: we would not say a rock falls because it seeks the centre of the Earth. Even for living things, in the natural sciences and often in the social sciences, the same is true. A modern botanist would not say that plants pursue sunlight. This has not always been the case, nor, perhaps, was it inevitable. Since the 17th century, many thinkers have made agency, in various forms, central to science. This book examines the history of the principle of banning agency in the life sciences, but also tells the story of dissenters embracing the opposite idea: that agency is essential to nature.
Main title:
Author:
Riskin, Jessica, author
Work:
Imprint:
Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Collation:
xiii, 548 pages : illustrations (black and white, and colour) ; 23 cm
Notes:
Originally published: 2016.Includes bibliographical references and index.
Audience:
Specialized.
ISBN:
9780226528267 (pbk)
Dewey class:
147
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
2645603