The institutionalisation of biology in the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1866-1894 / A institucionalização da biologia na British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1866-1894

Abstract Biology, like most scientific disciplines, emerged in the nineteenth century. However, disciplinary institutionalisation processes are not linear; a concept can be proposed, but not develop. Biology originated in the presence of established traditions such as anatomy, physiology, botany, and zoology, which represent the thematic and practical diversity under which it was understood. Based on the records of the annual meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the process by which biology emerged will be described. We will also recount how the discipline underwent changes throughout the century, where contrasting methodologies and theories were emphasized at different times.

Resumo A biologia, assim como a maioria das disciplinas, surgiu no século XIX. No entanto, os processos de institucionalização das disciplinas não são lineares; um conceito pode ser proposto, mas não ser desenvolvido. A biologia originou-se em meio a tradições estabelecidas, como a anatomia, fisiologia, botânica e zoologia, que representam a diversidade temática e prática sob a qual era compreendida. O processo do qual a biologia emergiu será descrito com base nos registros dos encontros anuais da British Association for the Advancement of Science. Relatamos também como a disciplina passou por modificações ao longo do século, em que metodologias e teorias contrastantes ganharam evidência em diferentes momentos.

Apontamentos acerca da Cadeia do Ser e o lugar dos negros na filosofia natural na Europa setecentista / Notes on the Chain of Being and the place of blacks in eighteenth-century European natural philosophy

Por meio da análise de obras acadêmicas produzidas por filósofos naturais no século XVIII, pretendemos discutir algumas ideias recorrentes acerca da Grande Cadeia do Ser. Para tal, analisamos as relações entre filosofia e teologia natural no período. Reavaliamos ainda alguns elementos da Cadeia do Ser, investigando autores que discorreram sobre o tema em seus escritos. Por fim, elencamos um ponto específico das discussões setecentistas sobre a scala naturae, qual seja, as diversas e nem sempre convergentes ideias de que, a partir de características específicas, haveria diferenças entre os homens, bem como seu consequente lugar na Cadeia do Ser.

This examination of academic works produced by eighteenth-century natural philosophers discusses some recurring ideas about the Chain of Being. To this end, the article analyzes the relations between natural philosophy and theology during the period. It also re-evaluates some elements of the Chain of Being through an exploration of authors who addressed the topic in their writings. Lastly, it identifies a specific element within eighteenth-century discussions of scala naturae, to wit, the various and not always convergent ideas about whether there are differences between humans based on specific characteristics and, consequently, about the places they occupy in the chain of being.

Various theories on cosmology and its evolution in western medicine and Chinese medicine / 中华中医药杂志

Philosophy has exerted greatly influences on both western medicine and Chinese medicine,both medicines have quite distinctive and interesting recognitions on illness and human being which reflect their own cosmology and its evolutionary progress.A renown scholar ZHU Xi in the Song dynasty of China has reached the peak of neo-Confucianism and elaborated a lot of theories on Chinese cosmology by summarizing scientific achievements at that time;while Immanuel Kant has done very similar to the western world of cosmology.However,their theories make obvious different.As far as the evolution of humankind is concerned,Karl Popper has contributed his distinguished idea that the brain is the center for evolution.To this point,the theory of Chinese medicine,regarding the human-brain as the Ni Wan,ocean of the marrow.Furthermore,the system that the Ren Meridian and the Du Meridian corresponding to human upright vertebrae column in traditional Chinese medicine,makes an in-depth sense,too.