History of Science 2220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Dyscrasia, Vitalism, Phlegm

• School: Western University
• Department: History of Science
• Course: History of Science 2220
• Professor: Lawrence Burns

Document Summary

Studies function rather than structure (ex. anatomy) Chemistry and cell biology are very important in physiology. William blake (isaac) newton 1795-1805 painting: creature of nature. Key themes: vitalism (about life and living things) vs mechanism (physics, empiricism (science, observation, proof) vs teleology (purpose and goals, experimentation vs speculaation, physiology as a discipline, positivism. Living things have a unique property: life. Life cannot be reduced to physical laws. Life force = spirit (pneuma: often seen in religious terms. Essential traits of living things: movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition, (mrs. gren) Mechanism: the reduction of life to physical and chemical forces . Physics is the model for mechanism = matter in motion. Forces in nature apply to living and non-living things equally. Ancient/classical period (776 bce to 323 bce): from rst olympics to death of. Greek science begins to ourish: observation and speculation. Religion is pervasive but does not sti e inquiry.