
Creatures Born of Mud and Slime
The Wonder and Complexity of Spontaneous Generation
Daryn Lehoux(Author)
Johns Hopkins University Press
Will be published approx. on 10. January 2018
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-1-4214-2381-4 (ISBN)
Description
We accept that, at some point in the history of our universe, living creatures emerged from nonliving matter. Yet from the time of Aristotle until the late nineteenth century, many people believed in spontaneous generation, that living creatures sprang into existence from rotting material. As Daryn Lehoux explains in this fascinating book, spontaneous generation was perhaps the last stand of the ancient scientific worldview. In Creatures Born of Mud and Slime, Lehoux shows that-far from being a superstitious, gullible, or simplistic belief-spontaneous generation was a sophisticated and painstakingly grounded fact that stood up to the best scientific testing. Starting with the ancient Greeks' careful and detailed investigations into how animals are generated straight through to the early modern period, Lehoux brings to life the intellectual contexts, rivalries, observational evidence, and complex and fascinating theories that were used to understand and explain the phenomena. The book highlights both the weirdness and the wonder that lie at the heart of investigations into nature.
Lehoux concludes with a new look at a set of conflicting experiments that demonstrate that even the best scientific evidence can end up muddying what we take to be the truth about the world. Creatures Born of Mud and Slime is a compelling look at how we understand conceptions of scientific change, truth, and progress.
Lehoux concludes with a new look at a set of conflicting experiments that demonstrate that even the best scientific evidence can end up muddying what we take to be the truth about the world. Creatures Born of Mud and Slime is a compelling look at how we understand conceptions of scientific change, truth, and progress.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
1 s/w Photographie bzw. Rasterbild
1 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
318 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4214-2381-4 (9781421423814)
DOI
10.1353/book.56637
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2018
Johns Hopkins University Press
€34.49
Available for download
Person
Daryn Lehoux is a professor of classics and philosophy at Queen's University. He is the author of What Did the Romans Know? An Inquiry into Science and Worldmaking and Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World: Parapegmata and Related Texts in Classical and Near-Eastern Societies.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Spontaneous Generation in Aristotle
2. Aristotle and Observational Confidence
3. A Blossoming of Creatures
4. Inheritance and Innovation
5. Interlude
6. Toward a Showdown
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
Introduction
1. Spontaneous Generation in Aristotle
2. Aristotle and Observational Confidence
3. A Blossoming of Creatures
4. Inheritance and Innovation
5. Interlude
6. Toward a Showdown
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index