Epistemology of the Cell

Epistemology of the Cell PDF Author: Edward R. Dougherty
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118104870
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
"Honorable mention – Biomedicine and Neuroscience, 2011 Prose Awards" An examination of how the cell should be described in order to effectively process biological data "The fruitful pursuit of biological knowledge requires one to take Einstein's admonition [on science without epistemology] as a practical demand for scientific research, to recognize Waddington's characterization of the subject matter of biology, and to embrace Wiener's conception of the form of biological knowledge in response to its subject matter. It is from this vantage point that we consider the epistemology of the cell." —from the Preface In the era of high biological data throughput, biomedical engineers need a more systematic knowledge of the cell in order to perform more effective data handling. Epistemology of the Cell is the first authored book to break down this knowledge. This text examines the place of biological knowledge within the framework of science as a whole and addresses issues focused on the specific nature of biology, how biology is studied, and how biological knowledge is translated into applications, in particular with regard to medicine. The book opens with a general discussion of the historical development of human understanding of scientific knowledge, the scientific method, and the manner in which scientific knowledge is represented in mathematics. The narrative then gets specific for biology, focusing on knowledge of the cell, the basic unit of life. The salient point is the analogy between a systems-based analysis of factory regulation and the regulation of the cell. Each chapter represents a key topic of current interest, including: Causality and randomness Translational science Stochastic validation: classification Stochastic validation: networks Model-based experimentation in biology Epistemology of the Cell is written for biomedical researchers whose interests include bioinformatics, biological modeling, biostatistics, and biological signal processing.

Epistemology of the Cell

Epistemology of the Cell PDF Author: Edward R. Dougherty
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118104870
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Honorable mention – Biomedicine and Neuroscience, 2011 Prose Awards" An examination of how the cell should be described in order to effectively process biological data "The fruitful pursuit of biological knowledge requires one to take Einstein's admonition [on science without epistemology] as a practical demand for scientific research, to recognize Waddington's characterization of the subject matter of biology, and to embrace Wiener's conception of the form of biological knowledge in response to its subject matter. It is from this vantage point that we consider the epistemology of the cell." —from the Preface In the era of high biological data throughput, biomedical engineers need a more systematic knowledge of the cell in order to perform more effective data handling. Epistemology of the Cell is the first authored book to break down this knowledge. This text examines the place of biological knowledge within the framework of science as a whole and addresses issues focused on the specific nature of biology, how biology is studied, and how biological knowledge is translated into applications, in particular with regard to medicine. The book opens with a general discussion of the historical development of human understanding of scientific knowledge, the scientific method, and the manner in which scientific knowledge is represented in mathematics. The narrative then gets specific for biology, focusing on knowledge of the cell, the basic unit of life. The salient point is the analogy between a systems-based analysis of factory regulation and the regulation of the cell. Each chapter represents a key topic of current interest, including: Causality and randomness Translational science Stochastic validation: classification Stochastic validation: networks Model-based experimentation in biology Epistemology of the Cell is written for biomedical researchers whose interests include bioinformatics, biological modeling, biostatistics, and biological signal processing.

Discovering Cell Mechanisms

Discovering Cell Mechanisms PDF Author: William Bechtel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521812474
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Bechtel emphasises how mechanisms were discovered by cell biologists and the instruments that made these inquiries possible.

Molecular Theory of the Living Cell

Molecular Theory of the Living Cell PDF Author: Sungchul Ji
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461421527
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 751

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Book Description
The book presents the first comprehensive molecular theory of the living cell ever published since the cell doctrine was formulated in 1838-1839. It introduces into cell biology over thirty key concepts, principles and laws imported from physics, chemistry, computer science, linguistics, semiotics and philosophy. The author formulates physically, chemically and enzymologically realistic molecular mechanisms to account for basic living processes such as ligand-receptor interactions, enzymic catalysis, force-generating mechanisms in molecular motors, chromatin remodelling, and signal transduction. Possible solutions to basic and practical problems facing contemporary biology and biomedical sciences have been suggested, including pharmacotherapeutics and personalized medicine.

Issues in Evolutionary Epistemology

Issues in Evolutionary Epistemology PDF Author: Kai Hahlweg
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791400128
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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Book Description
This book provides the fullest philosophical examination of theories of evolutionary epistemology now available. Here for the first time are found major statements of new theories, new applications, and many new critical explorations. The book is divided into four parts: Part I introduces several new approaches to evolutionary epistemology; Part II attempts to widen the scope of evolutionary epistemology, either by tackling more traditional epistemological issues, or by applying evolutionary models to new areas of inquiry such as the evolution of culture or of intentionality; Part III critically discusses specific problems in evolutionary epistemology; and Part IV deals with the relationship of evolutionary epistemology to the philosophy of mind. Because of its intellectual depth and its breadth of coverage, Issues in Evolutionary Epistemology will be an important text in the field for many years to come.

Philosophy of Cancer

Philosophy of Cancer PDF Author: Marta Bertolaso
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9402408657
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Since the 1970s, the origin of cancer is being explored from the point of view of the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT), focusing on genetic mutations and clonal expansion of somatic cells. As cancer research expanded in several directions, the dominant focus on cells remained steady, but the classes of genes and the kinds of extra-genetic factors that were shown to have causal relevance in the onset of cancer multiplied. The wild heterogeneity of cancer-related mutations and phenotypes, along with the increasing complication of models, led to an oscillation between the hectic search of ‘the’ few key factors that cause cancer and the discouragement in face of a seeming ‘endless complexity’. To tame this complexity, cancer research started to avail itself of the tools that were being developed by Systems Biology. At the same time, anti-reductionist voices began claiming that cancer research was stuck in a sterile research paradigm. This alternative discourse even gave birth to an alternative theory: the Tissue Organization Field Theory (TOFT). A deeper philosophical analysis shows limits and possibilities of reductionist and anti-reductionist positions and of their polarization. This book demonstrates that a radical philosophical reflection is necessary to drive cancer research out of its impasses. At the very least, this will be a reflection on the assumptions of different kinds of cancer research, on the implications of what cancer research has been discovering over 40 years and more, on a view of scientific practice that is most able to make sense of the cognitive and social conflicts that are seen in the scientific community (and in its results), and, finally, on the nature of living entities with which we entertain this fascinating epistemological dance that we call scientific research. The proposed Dynamic and Relational View of carcinogenesis is a starting point in all these directions.

Visions of Cell Biology

Visions of Cell Biology PDF Author: Karl S. Matlin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022652065X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
Although modern cell biology is often considered to have arisen following World War II in tandem with certain technological and methodological advances—in particular, the electron microscope and cell fractionation—its origins actually date to the 1830s and the development of cytology, the scientific study of cells. By 1924, with the publication of Edmund Vincent Cowdry’s General Cytology, the discipline had stretched beyond the bounds of purely microscopic observation to include the chemical, physical, and genetic analysis of cells. Inspired by Cowdry’s classic, watershed work, this book collects contributions from cell biologists, historians, and philosophers of science to explore the history and current status of cell biology. Despite extraordinary advances in describing both the structure and function of cells, cell biology tends to be overshadowed by molecular biology, a field that developed contemporaneously. This book remedies that unjust disparity through an investigation of cell biology’s evolution and its role in pushing forward the boundaries of biological understanding. Contributors show that modern concepts of cell organization, mechanistic explanations, epigenetics, molecular thinking, and even computational approaches all can be placed on the continuum of cell studies from cytology to cell biology and beyond. The first book in the series Convening Science: Discovery at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Visions of Cell Biology sheds new light on a century of cellular discovery.

The Cell: A Very Short Introduction

The Cell: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Terence Allen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199578753
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Introduces cells, discussing their structure, life cycle, and what they can do.

Thinking about Android Epistemology

Thinking about Android Epistemology PDF Author: Kenneth M. Ford
Publisher: AAAI Press
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Articles by various authors arranged in 5 parts.

The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology

The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology PDF Author: Paul K. Moser
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019020818X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 649

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology contains 19 previously unpublished chapters by today's leading figures in the field. These chapters function not only as a survey of key areas, but as original scholarship on a range of vital topics. Written accessibly for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professional philosophers, the Handbook explains the main ideas and problems of contemporary epistemology while avoiding overly technical detail.

Integrating History and Philosophy of Science

Integrating History and Philosophy of Science PDF Author: Seymour Mauskopf
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400717458
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Though the publication of Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions seemed to herald the advent of a unified study of the history and philosophy of science, it is a hard fact that history of science and philosophy of science have increasingly grown apart. Recently, however, there has been a series of workshops on both sides of the Atlantic (called '&HPS') intended to bring historians and philosophers of science together to discuss new integrative approaches. This is therefore an especially appropriate time to explore the problems with and prospects for integrating history and philosophy of science. The original essays in this volume, all from specialists in the history of science or philosophy of science, offer such an exploration from a wide variety of perspectives. The volume combines general reflections on the current state of history and philosophy of science with studies of the relation between the two disciplines in specific historical and scientific cases.