Evelyn Fox Keller Boeken

What do biologists want? How will we know when we have 'made sense' of life? Explanations in the biological sciences are provisional and partial, judged by criteria as heterogenous as their subject matter. This text accounts for this diversity. schovat popis

In a book that promises to change the way we think and talk about genes and genetic determinism, Evelyn Fox Keller, one of our most gifted historians and philosophers of science, provides a powerful, profound analysis of the achievements of genetics and molecular biology in the twentieth century, the century of the gene.

For much of her life she worked alone, brilliant but eccentric, with ideas that made little sense to her colleagues. Yet before DNA and the molecular revolution, Barbara McClintock's tireless analysis of corn led her to uncover some of the deepest, most intricate secrets of genetic organization. Nearly forty years later, her insights would bring her a MacArthur Foundation grant, the Nobel Prize, and long overdue recognition. At her recent death at age 90, she was widely acknowledged as one of the most significant figures in 20th-century science. Evelyn Fox Keller's acclaimed biography, A Feeling for the Organism, gives us the full story of McClintock's pioneering—although sometimes professionally difficult—career in cytology and genetics. The book now appears in a special edition marking the 10th anniversary of its original publication.

First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The esteemed historian and philosopher of science Evelyn Fox Keller addresses the nature-nurture debate, arguing that it is riddled by conceptual incoherence.

Refiguring Life begins by examining the history of genetics and embryology, highlighting how discipline-based metaphors have shaped scientists' searches for evidence. Keller explores the intersection of biology and physics, particularly regarding life and the law of increasing entropy. In the final section, she discusses how new metaphors from the computer revolution have influenced biological research. These metaphors initially sparked debates among differing visions of the life sciences, eventually being reinterpreted and integrated into established research agendas, often subverting those same agendas in the process. Keller illustrates that metaphors and research tools are not merely byproducts of scientific discovery; they collaboratively delineate the landscape for new metaphors and methodologies. Their dynamic interplay defines the boundaries of possibility in science. Drawing from a wide range of theoretical perspectives, including those of Schrödinger and Jacques Lacan, Keller connects issues in the humanities and social sciences with those in the physical and natural sciences, transcending disciplinary limits. She adeptly navigates topics from genetics to embryology, physics to biology, and cyberscience to molecular biology, demonstrating that scientific inquiry is deeply intertwined with the broader societal context in which it operates.

The memoir explores the life of a wandering academic who embraces multiple identities while navigating a long and successful career. It delves into the opportunities and challenges of rejecting conventional definitions of belonging and discipline, highlighting the complexities of self-discovery and the personal costs of a nomadic intellectual journey.

Evelyn Fox Keller: "Liebe, Macht und Erkenntnis". Männliche oder weibliche Wissenschaft? Aus dem Amerikanischen von Bettina Blumenberg. Carl Hanser Verlag, München 1986, 216 S., 29,80 DM