Biology Its Makers PDF Download

Excerpt from Biology and Its Makers: With Portraits and Other Illustrations The writer is annually in receipt of letters from students, teachers, ministers, medical men, and others, asking for information on topics in general biology, and for references to the best reading on that subject. The increasing frequency of such inquiries, and the wide range of topics covered, have created the impression that an untechnical account of the rise and progress of biology would be of interest to a considerable audience. As might be surmised, the references most commonly asked for are those relating to different phases of the Evolution Theory; but the fact is usually overlooked by the inquirers that some knowledge of other features of biological research is essential even to an intelligent comprehension of that theory. In this sketch I have attempted to bring under one view the broad features of biological progress, and to increase the human interest by writing the story around the lives of the great Leaders. The practical execution of the task resolved itself largely into the question of what to omit. The number of detailed researches upon which progress in biology rests made rigid selection necessary, and the difficulties of separating the essential from the less important, and of distinguishing between men of temporary notoriety and those of enduring fame, have given rise to no small perplexities. The aim has been kept in mind to give a picture sufficiently diagrammatic not to confuse the general reader, and it is hoped that the omissions which have seemed necessary will, in a measure, be compensated for by the clearness of the picture. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.