Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description
Genes and Generation
Instructor(s): Bernard Possidente, Biology
Description: Aristotle argued that females contribute the "raw material" for an offspring
and males contribute a force that shapes it into an organism. Beginning with this
ancient Greek account of generation, students study explanations of the generation
of organisms from historical and scientific perspectives. We compare Aristotle's concept
of generation to later scientific theories typical of the 17th to 19th centuries,
including spontaneous generation, vitalism, epigenesis and the idea that germ cells
contain a tiny version of the organism that develops into the adult. We follow the
demise of some of these theories and the transformation of others into the modern
concepts of genes and developmental biology, and end with a discussion of current
perspectives on the role of genes in the development of organisms.
Course Offered
