Star news
History of the creation of biology. A brief history of the development of biology. Prospects for the development of biology. Development of biological science
Biology(from Greek bios - life, logos - science) - the science of life, the general laws of existence and development of living beings. The subject of its study is living organisms, their structure, growth, functions, development, relationships with the environment and origin. Like physics and chemistry, it belongs to the natural sciences, the subject of study of which is nature.
Biology is one of the oldest natural sciences, although the term “biology” to denote it was first proposed only in 1797 by the German professor of anatomy Theodor Ruz (1771-1803).
Biology, like other sciences, arose and has always developed in connection with the material conditions of society, the development of social production, medicine, and the practical needs of people.
In our time, it is characterized by an exceptionally wide range of fundamental problems being developed, starting with studies of elementary cellular structures and reactions occurring in cells, and ending with the knowledge of processes unfolding and developing at the global (biosphere) level. In a relatively short historical period, fundamentally new research methods were developed, the molecular basis of the structure and activity of cells was revealed, the genetic role of nucleic acids was established, the genetic code was deciphered and the theory of genetic information was formulated, new justifications for the theory of evolution appeared, and new biological sciences emerged. The newest revolutionary stage in the development of biology is the creation of the methodology of genetic engineering, which has opened up fundamentally new opportunities for penetrating into the depths of biological processes in order to further characterize living matter.
STAGES OF BIOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
The most first information Man began to collect information about living beings, probably from the time when he realized his difference from the world around him. Already in the literary monuments of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians and other peoples there is information about the structure of many plants and animals, about the application of this knowledge in medicine and agriculture. In the XIV century. BC e. many cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia contained information about animals and plants, about the systematization of animals by dividing them into carnivores and herbivores, and plants into trees, vegetables, medicinal herbs, etc. In medical writings created in IV-I centuries BC e. in India, contains ideas about heredity as the reason for the similarity of parents and children, and the monuments “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana” describe a number of features of the life of many animals and plants.
In p period of the slave system Ionian, Athenian, Alexandrian and Roman schools emerged in the study of animals and plants.
Ionian the school originated in Ionia (VII-IV centuries BC). Not believing in the supernatural origin of life, the philosophers of this school recognized the causality of phenomena, the movement of life along a certain path, and the accessibility to study of the “natural law” that, according to them, governs the world. In particular, Alcmaeon (late 6th - early 5th century BC) described the optic nerve and the development of the chick embryo, recognized the brain as the center of sensations and thinking, and Hippocrates (460-370 BC) gave the first relatively detailed description of the structure of humans and animals, pointed out the role of environment and heredity in the occurrence of diseases.
Athens The school was established in Athens. The most outstanding representative of this school, Aristotle (384-322 BC), created four biological treatises, which contained comprehensive information about animals. Aristotle divided the surrounding world into four kingdoms (the inanimate world of earth, water and air, the plant world, the animal world and the human world), between which a sequence was established. Later this sequence turned into the “staircase of creatures” (XVIII century). Aristotle probably belonged to the very first classification of animals, which he divided into four-legged, flying, feathered and fish. He combined cetaceans with land animals,but not with fish, which he classified into bony and cartilaginous. Aristotle knew the basic characteristics of mammals. He gave a description of the external and internal organs of humans, sexual differences in animals, their methods of reproduction and lifestyle, the origin of sex, the inheritance of individual characteristics, deformities, multiple births, etc. Aristotle is considered the founder of zoology. Another representative of this school, Theophrastus (372-287 BC), left information about the structure and reproduction of many plants, the differences between monocotyledons and dicotyledons, and introduced the terms “fruit”, “pericarp”, “ core". He is considered the founder of botany.
Alexandria The school entered the history of biology thanks to scientists mainly engaged in the study of anatomy. Herophilus (the heyday of creativity in the 300s BC) left information on the comparative anatomy of humans and animals, was the first to point out the differences between arteries and veins, and Erasistratus (about 250 BC) described the cerebral hemispheres brain, its cerebellum and convolutions.
Roman The school did not provide independent developments in the study of living organisms, limiting itself to collecting information obtained by the Greeks. Pliny the Elder (23-79) - author of Natural History in 37 books, which also contained information about animals and plants. Dioscorides (1st century AD) left a description of about 600 plant species, drawing attention to their healing properties. Claudius Galen (130-200) extensively performed autopsies on mammals (cattle and small cattle, pigs, dogs, bears, etc.), and was the first to give a comparative anatomical description of humans and monkeys. He was the last great biologist of antiquity, who had an exceptionally great influence on anatomy and physiology.
IN Middle Ages the dominant ideology was religion. According to the figurative expression of the classic, science in those days turned into the “handmaiden of theology.” Biological knowledge, based on the descriptions of Aristotle, Pliny, Galen, was reflected mainly in the encyclopedia of Albertus Magnus (1206-1280). In Rus', information about animals and plants was summarized in the “Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh” (11th century). The outstanding scientist and thinker of the Middle Ages, Abu Ali Ibn Sina (980-1037), known in Europe under the name of Avicenna, developed views on the eternity and uncreated nature of the world, and recognized causal patterns in nature.
During this period, biology had not yet emerged as an independent science, but was separated from the perception of the world on the basis of distorted religious and philosophical views.
The beginnings of biology, like all natural sciences, are associated with the Renaissance. During this period, the collapse of feudal society and the destruction of the dictatorship of the church occurred. As Engels noted, real “natural science begins in the second half of the 15th century, and since that time it has continuously made increasingly rapid progress.” For example, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) discovered the homology of organs, described many plants, birds in flight, the thyroid gland, the way bones are connected by joints, the activity of the heart and the visual function of the eye, and noted the similarity of human and animal bones. Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) created the anatomical work “Seven Books on the Structure of the Human Body,” which laid the foundations of scientific anatomy. V. Harvey (1578-1657) discovered blood circulation, and D. Borely (1608-1679) described the mechanism of animal movement, which laid the scientific foundations of physiology. Since that time, anatomy and physiology have developed together for many decades.
The extremely rapid accumulation of scientific data about living organisms led to the differentiation of biological knowledge, to the division of biology into separate sciences. In the XVI-XVII centuries. Botany began to develop rapidly; with the invention of the microscope (early 17th century), microscopic anatomy of plants arose, and the foundations of plant physiology were laid. From the 16th century Zoology began to develop faster. It was subsequently greatly influenced by the system of classification of animals created by C. Linnaeus (1707-1778). Having introduced four-member taxonomic divisions (class - order - genus - species), C. Linnaeus divided animals into six classes (mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, insects, worms). He classified humans and apes as primates. The German scientist G. Leibniz (1646-1716), who developed the doctrine of the “ladder of beings,” had a significant influence on the biology of that time.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries. the scientific foundations of embryology are being laid - K.F. Wolf (1734-1794), K.M. Baer (1792-1876). In 1839, T. Schwann and M. Schleiden formulated the cell theory.
In 1859, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) published “The Origin of Species.” This work formulated the theory of evolution.
In the first half of the 19th century. bacteriology arises, which, thanks to the works of L. Pastra, R. Koch, D. Lister and I.I. Mechnikov
In 1865, the work of G. Mendel (1822-1884) “Experiment on plant hybrids” was published, in which the existence of genes was substantiated and patterns were formulated, currently known as the laws of heredity. After the rediscovery of laws in the 20th century. genetics is established as an independent science.
Back in the first half of the 19th century. ideas arose about the use of physics and chemistry to study the phenomena of life (G. Devi, Yu. Liebig). The implementation of these ideas led to the fact that in the middle of the 19th century. physiology became isolated from anatomy, and the physicochemical direction took a leading place in it. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. modern biological chemistry was formed. In the first half of the 20th century. Biological physics is established as an independent science.
The most important milestone in the development of biology in the 20th century. began in the 40-50s, when ideas and methods of physics and chemistry poured into biology, and microorganisms began to be used as objects. In 1944, the genetic role of DNA was discovered, in 1953 its structure was elucidated, and in 1961 the genetic code was deciphered. With the discovery of the genetic role of DNA and the mechanisms of protein synthesis from genetics and biochemistry, molecular biology and molecular genetics emerged, which are often called physicochemical biology, the main subject of study of which was the structure and function of nucleic acids (genes) and proteins. The emergence of these sciences meant a giant step in the study of life phenomena at the molecular level of organization of living matter.
On April 12, 1961, for the first time in history, a man ascended into space. This first cosmonaut was a citizen of the USSR, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. In the Soviet Union, this day became Cosmonautics Day, and in the world - World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day. But we can say that this day is the day of space biology, the birthplace of which is rightfully the Soviet Union.
In the 1970s The first works on genetic engineering appeared, which raised biotechnology to a new level and opened up new prospects for medicine.
Biology is a complex science, which became such as a result of differentiation and integration of different biological sciences.
The process of differentiation began with the division of zoology, botany and microbiology into a number of independent sciences. Within zoology, vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, protozoology, helminthology, arachnoentomology, ichthyology, ornithology, etc. arose. In botany, mycology, algology, bryology and other disciplines emerged. Microbiology was divided into bacteriology, virology and immunology. Simultaneously with differentiation, there was a process of emergence and formation of new sciences, which were divided into narrower sciences. For example, genetics, having emerged as an independent science, was divided into general and molecular, into the genetics of plants, animals and microorganisms. At the same time, genetics of sex, genetics of behavior, population genetics, evolutionary genetics, etc. appeared. Comparative and evolutionary physiology, endocrinology and other physiological sciences arose in the depths of physiology. In recent years, there has been a tendency to formulate narrow sciences that are named after the problem (object) of research. Such sciences are enzymology, membranology, karyology, plasmidology, etc.
As a result of the integration of sciences, biochemistry, biophysics, radiobiology, cytogenetics, space biology and other sciences emerged.
The leading position in the modern complex of biological sciences is occupied by physical and chemical biology, the latest data of which make a significant contribution to the understanding of the scientific picture of the world, to the further justification of the material unity of the world. Continuing to reflect the living world and man as part of this world, deeply developing cognitive ideas and improving as the theoretical basis of medicine, biology has acquired exceptionally great importance in scientific and technological progress and has become a productive force.
RESEARCH METHODS
New theoretical concepts and the advancement of biological knowledge have always been and are determined by the creation and use of new research methods.
The main methods used in biological sciences are descriptive, comparative, historical and experimental.
Descriptive the method is the oldest and consists of collecting factual material and describing it. Having emerged at the very beginning of biological knowledge, this method for a long time remained the only one in the study of the structure and properties of organisms. Therefore, old biology was associated with a simple reflection of the living world in the form of a description of plants and animals, that is, it was essentially a descriptive science. The use of this method made it possible to lay the foundations of biological knowledge. It is enough to recall how successful this method turned out to be in the taxonomy of organisms.
The descriptive method is still widely used today. The study of cells using a light or electron microscope and the description of the microscopic or submicroscopic features revealed in their structure is one example of the use of the descriptive method at the present time.
Comparative The method consists in comparing the studied organisms, their structures and functions with each other in order to identify similarities and differences. This method was established in biology in the 18th century. and has proven to be very fruitful in solving many major problems. Using this method and in combination with the descriptive method, information was obtained that made it possible in the 18th century. lay the foundations for the taxonomy of plants and animals (C. Linnaeus), and in the 19th century. formulate the cell theory (M. Schleiden and T. Schwann) and the doctrine of the main types of development (K. Baer). The method was widely used in the 19th century. in substantiating the theory of evolution, as well as in restructuring a number of biological sciences on the basis of this theory. However, the use of this method was not accompanied by biology moving beyond the boundaries of descriptive science.
The comparative method is widely used in various biological sciences in our time. Comparison acquires special value when it is impossible to define a concept. For example, an electron microscope often produces images whose true content is unknown in advance. Only comparing them with light microscopic images allows one to obtain the desired data.
In the second half of the 19th century. thanks to Charles Darwin, biology is included historical a method that made it possible to put on a scientific basis the study of the patterns of appearance and development of organisms, the formation of the structure and functions of organisms in time and space. With the introduction of this method into biology, immediatelysignificant qualitative changes have occurred. The historical method transformed biology from a purely descriptive science into a science that explains how diverse living systems arose and how they function. Thanks to this method, biology rose several steps higher at once. At present, the historical method has essentially gone beyond the scope of the research method. It has become a universal approach to the study of life phenomena in all biological sciences.
Experimental The method consists in actively studying a particular phenomenon through experiment. It should be noted that the question of the experimental study of nature as a new principle of natural scientific knowledge, that is, the question of experiment as one of the foundations in the knowledge of nature, was raised back in the 17th century. English philosopher F. Bacon (1561-1626). His introduction to biology is associated with the works of V. Harvey in the 17th century. on the study of blood circulation. However, the experimental method widely entered biology only at the beginning of the 19th century, and through physiology, in which they began to use a large number of instrumental techniques that made it possible to register and quantitatively characterize the association of functions with structure. Thanks to the works of F. Magendie (1783-1855), G. Helmholtz (1821-1894), I.M. Sechenov (1829-1905), as well as the classics of the experiment C. Bernard (1813-1878) and I.P. Pavlova (1849-1936) physiology was probably the first of the biological sciences to become an experimental science.
Another direction in which the experimental method entered biology was the study of heredity and variability of organisms. Here the main merit belongs to G. Mendel, who, unlike his predecessors, used experiment not only to obtain data about the phenomena being studied, but also to test the hypothesis formulated on the basis of the data obtained. The work of G. Mendel was a classic example of the methodology of experimental science.
In substantiating the experimental method, the work carried out in microbiology by L. Pasteur (1822-1895), who first introduced the experiment to study fermentation and refute the theory of spontaneous generation of microorganisms, and then to develop vaccination against infectious diseases, was of great importance. In the second half of the 19th century. following L. Pasteur, significant contribution to the development and substantiation of the experimental method in microbiology was contributed by R. Koch (1843-1910), D. Lister (1827-1912), I.I. Mechnikov (1845-1916), D.I. Ivanovsky (1864-1920), S.N. Vinogradsky (1856-1890), M. Beyernik (1851-1931), etc. In the 19th century. biology has also been enriched by the creation of methodological foundations for modeling, which is also the highest form of experiment. The invention by L. Pasteur, R. Koch and other microbiologists of methods for infecting laboratory animals with pathogenic microorganisms and studying the pathogenesis of infectious diseases on them is a classic example of modeling that carried over into the 20th century. and supplemented in our time by modeling not only various diseases, but also various life processes, including the origin of life.
Starting, for example, from the 40s. XX century The experimental method in biology has undergone significant improvements due to an increase in the resolution of many biological techniques and the development of new experimental techniques. Thus, the resolution of genetic analysis and a number of immunological techniques was increased. Cultivation of somatic cells, isolation of biochemical mutants of microorganisms and somatic cells, etc. were introduced into research practice. The experimental method began to be widely enriched with methods of physics and chemistry, which turned out to be extremely valuable not only as independent methods, but also in combination with biological methods. For example, the structure and genetic role of DNA have been elucidated through the combined use of chemical methods for isolating DNA, chemical and physical methods for determining its primary and secondary structure, and biological methods (transformation and genetic analysis of bacteria) to prove its role as genetic material.
Currently, the experimental method is characterized by exceptional capabilities in the study of life phenomena. These capabilities are determined by the use of various types of microscopy, including electron microscopy with ultra-thin sectioning techniques, biochemical methods, high-resolution genetic analysis, immunological methods, a variety of cultivation methods and intravital observation in cell, tissue and organ cultures, embryo labeling, in vitro fertilization, the labeled atom method, X-ray diffraction analysis, ultracentrifugation, spectrophotometry, chromatography, electrophoresis, sequencing, design of biologically active recombinant moleculescool DNA, etc. The new quality inherent in the experimental method caused qualitative changes in modeling. Along with modeling at the organ level, modeling at the molecular and cellular levels is currently being developed.
Assessing the methodology for studying nature in the 15th-19th centuries, F. Engels noted that “the decomposition of nature into its specific parts, the division of various processes and objects of nature into certain classes, the study of the internal structure of organic bodies according to their diverse anatomical forms - all this was fundamental a condition for the gigantic successes that have been achieved in the field of knowledge of nature over the past four hundred years.” The “separation” methodology carried over into the 20th century. However, there have been undoubted changes in approaches to the study of life. The new inherent in the experimental method and its technical equipment also determined new approaches to the study of life phenomena. Advancement of biological sciences in the 20th century. was largely determined not only by the experimental method, but also by the system-structural approach to the study of the organization and functions of living organisms, the analysis and synthesis of data on the structure and functions of the objects under study. The experimental method in modern equipment and in combination with a systemic-structural approach has radically transformed biology, expanded its cognitive capabilities, and further connected it with medicine and production.
BIOLOGY - THEORETICAL BASIS OF MEDICINE
The connections between biological knowledge and medicine go back a long way and date back to the same time as the emergence of biology itself. Many outstanding physicians of the past were also outstanding biologists (Hippocrates, Herophilus, Erasistratus, Galen, Avicenna, Malpighi, etc.). Then and later, biology began to serve medicine by “delivering” information about the structure of the body. However, the role of biology as the theoretical basis of medicine in the modern understanding began to take shape only in the 19th century.
Creation in the 19th century cell theory laid the truly scientific foundations for the connection between biology and medicine. In 1858, R. Virchow (1821-1902) published “Cellular Pathology”, in which he formulated
The position on the connection of the pathological process with cells, with changes in the structure of the latter, has been outlined. By combining cell theory with pathology, R. Virchow directly “brought” biology under medicine as a theoretical basis. Significant achievements in strengthening the ties between biology and medicine in the 19th century. and the beginning of the 20th century. belong to K. Bernard and I.P. Pavlov, who revealed the general biological foundations of physiology and pathology, L. Pasteur, R. Koch, D.I. Ivanovsky and their followers, who created the doctrine of infectious pathology, on the basis of which ideas about asepsis and antiseptics arose, which led to the acceleration of the development of surgery. Studying the processes of digestion in lower multicellular animals, I.I. Mechnikov laid the biological foundations of the doctrine of immunity, which is of great importance in medicine. Genetics makes a significant contribution to strengthening the connections between biology and medicine. Investigating the biochemical manifestations of the action of genes in humans, the English physician A. Garrod in 1902 reported “congenital defects of metabolism,” which marked the beginning of the study of human hereditary pathology.
BIOLOGY AND PRODUCTION
For the first time, practice began to formulate its orders for biology with the introduction of the experimental method into this science. At that time, biology influenced practice indirectly, through medicine. The direct influence on material production began with the creation of biotechnology in those areas of industry that are based on the biosynthetic activity of microorganisms. For a long time now, microbiological synthesis of many organic acids has been carried out under industrial conditions, which are used
are used in the food and medical industries and medicine. In the 40-50s. XX century an industry was created for the production of antibiotics, and in the early 60s. XX century - for the purpose of producing amino acids. The production of enzymes plays an important role in the microbiological industry. The microbiological industry now produces vitamins and other substances needed in the national economy and medicine in large quantities. The industrial production of substances with pharmacological properties from steroid raw materials of plant origin is based on the transforming ability of microorganisms.
The greatest successes in the production of various substances, including drugs (insulin, somatostatin, interferon, etc.), are associated with genetic engineering, which now forms the basis of biotechnology. Genetic engineering has a significant impact on food production, the search for new energy sources, and environmental conservation. The development of biotechnology, the theoretical basis of which is biology, and the methodological basis of genetic engineering, is a new stage in the development of material production. The emergence of this technology is one of the moments of the latest revolution in the productive forces (A.A. Baev).
In the depths of genetic engineering and biotechnology in the 21st century. the first steps are being taken in developing the methodological foundations of bionanotechnology.
Everyone knows well that biology is the science of life. Currently, it represents the totality of sciences about living nature. Biology studies all manifestations of life: the structure, functions, development and origin of living organisms, their relationships in natural communities with their environment and with other living organisms.
Since man began to realize his difference from the animal world, he began to study the world around him. At first his life depended on it. Primitive people needed to know which living organisms could be eaten, used as medicine, to make clothing and homes, and which of them were poisonous or dangerous.
With the development of civilization, man was able to afford the luxury of engaging in science for educational purposes.
Studies of the culture of ancient peoples have shown that they had extensive knowledge about plants and animals and used them widely in everyday life.?
Modern biology is a complex science, which is characterized by the interpenetration of ideas and methods of various biological disciplines, as well as other sciences - primarily physics, chemistry and mathematics.
Main directions of development of modern biology. Currently, three directions in biology can be roughly distinguished.
Firstly, this is classical biology. It is represented by natural scientists who study the diversity of living nature. They objectively observe and analyze everything that happens in living nature, study living organisms and classify them. It is wrong to think that in classical biology all discoveries have already been made. In the second half of the 20th century. not only many new species were described, but also large taxa were discovered, up to kingdoms (Pogonophora) and even superkingdoms (Archebacteria, or Archaea). These discoveries forced scientists to take a fresh look at the entire history of the development of living nature. For real natural scientists, nature is its own value. Every corner of our planet is unique for them. That is why they are always among those who acutely sense the danger to the nature around us and actively advocate for its protection.
The second direction is evolutionary biology. In the 19th century, the author of the theory of natural selection, Charles Darwin, began as an ordinary naturalist: he collected, observed, described, traveled, revealing the secrets of living nature. However, the main result of his work, which made him a famous scientist, was the theory that explains organic diversity.
Currently, the study of the evolution of living organisms is actively continuing. The synthesis of genetics and evolutionary theory led to the creation of the so-called synthetic theory of evolution. But even now there are still many unresolved questions, the answers to which evolutionary scientists are looking for.
Created at the beginning of the 20th century. Our outstanding biologist Alexander Ivanovich Oparin's first scientific theory of the origin of life was purely theoretical. Experimental studies of this problem are currently being actively conducted and, thanks to the use of advanced physicochemical methods, important discoveries have already been made and new interesting results can be expected.
New discoveries made it possible to supplement the theory of anthropogenesis. But the transition from the animal world to humans still remains one of the biggest mysteries of biology.
The third direction is physical and chemical biology, which studies the structure of living objects using modern physical and chemical methods. This is a rapidly developing area of biology, important both theoretically and practically. It is safe to say that new discoveries await us in physical and chemical biology that will allow us to solve many problems facing humanity,
Development of biology as a science. Modern biology has its roots in antiquity and is associated with the development of civilization in the Mediterranean countries. We know the names of many outstanding scientists who contributed to the development of biology. Let's name just a few of them.
Hippocrates (460 - ca. 370 BC) gave the first relatively detailed description of the structure of humans and animals, and pointed out the role of the environment and heredity in the occurrence of diseases. He is considered the founder of medicine.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) divided the world around us into four kingdoms: the inanimate world of earth, water and air; world of plants; the animal world and the human world. He described many animals and laid the foundation for taxonomy. The four biological treatises he wrote contained almost all the information about animals known at that time. Aristotle's merits are so great that he is considered the founder of zoology.
Theophrastus (372-287 BC) studied plants. He described more than 500 plant species, provided information about the structure and reproduction of many of them, and introduced many botanical terms into use. He is considered the founder of botany.
Guy Pliny the Elder (23-79) collected information about living organisms known by that time and wrote 37 volumes of the Natural History encyclopedia. Almost until the Middle Ages, this encyclopedia was the main source of knowledge about nature.
Claudius Galen made extensive use of mammal dissections in his scientific research. He was the first to make comparative
anatomical description of man and monkey. Studied the central and peripheral nervous system. Historians of science consider him the last great biologist of antiquity.
In the Middle Ages, the dominant ideology was religion. Like other sciences, biology during this period had not yet emerged as an independent field and existed in the general mainstream of religious and philosophical views. And although the accumulation of knowledge about living organisms continued, biology as a science in that period can only be spoken of conditionally.
The Renaissance is a transition from the culture of the Middle Ages to the culture of modern times. The radical socio-economic transformations of that time were accompanied by new discoveries in science.
The most famous scientist of this era, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), made a certain contribution to the development of biology.
He studied the flight of birds, described many plants, ways of connecting bones in joints, the activity of the heart and the visual function of the eye, the similarity of human and animal bones.
In the second half of the 15th century. natural science knowledge begins to develop rapidly. This was facilitated by geographical discoveries, which made it possible to significantly expand information about animals and plants. Rapid accumulation of scientific knowledge about living organisms
led to the division of biology into separate sciences.
In the XVI-XVII centuries. Botany and zoology began to develop rapidly.
The invention of the microscope (early 17th century) made it possible to study the microscopic structure of plants and animals. Microscopically small living organisms - bacteria and protozoa - were discovered, invisible to the naked eye.
A great contribution to the development of biology was made by Carl Linnaeus, who proposed a system of classification of animals and plants.
Karl Maksimovich Baer (1792-1876) in his works formulated the basic principles of the theory of homologous organs and the law of germinal similarity, which laid the scientific foundations of embryology.
In 1808, in his work “Philosophy of Zoology,” Jean Baptiste Lamarck raised the question of the causes and mechanisms of evolutionary transformations and outlined the first theory of evolution.
The cell theory played a huge role in the development of biology, which scientifically confirmed the unity of the living world and served as one of the prerequisites for the emergence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The authors of the cell theory are considered to be the zoologist Theodor Schwann (1818-1882) and the botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden (1804-1881).
Based on numerous observations, Charles Darwin published his main work in 1859, “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life.” In it, he formulated the main provisions of the theory of evolution, proposed mechanisms of evolution and ways of evolutionary transformations of organisms.
The 20th century began with the rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's laws, which marked the beginning of the development of genetics as a science.
In the 40-50s of the XX century. In biology, ideas and methods of physics, chemistry, mathematics, cybernetics and other sciences began to be widely used, and microorganisms were used as objects of research. As a result, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, radiation biology, bionics, etc. arose and began to rapidly develop as independent sciences. Research in space contributed to the emergence and development of space biology.
In the 20th century a direction of applied research appeared - biotechnology. This direction will undoubtedly develop rapidly in the 21st century. You will learn more about this direction of development of biology when studying the chapter “Fundamentals of selection and biotechnology”.
Currently, biological knowledge is used in all spheres of human activity: in industry and agriculture, medicine and energy.
Ecological research is extremely important. We finally began to realize that the fragile balance that exists on our small planet can be easily destroyed. Humanity is faced with a grandiose task - preserving the biosphere in order to maintain the conditions of existence and development of civilization. It is impossible to solve it without biological knowledge and special research. Thus, at present, biology has become a real productive force and a rational scientific basis for the relationship between man and nature.
Scientists, their contribution to the development of biology .
ScientistHis contribution to the development of biology
Hippocrates 470-360 BC
The first scientist to create a medical school. The ancient Greek physician formulated the doctrine of four main types of physique and temperament, described some skull bones, vertebrae, internal organs, joints, muscles, and large vessels.
Aristotle
One of the founders of biology as a science, he was the first to generalize the biological knowledge accumulated by humanity before him. He created a taxonomy of animals and devoted many works to the origin of life.
Claudius Galen
130-200 AD
Ancient Roman scientist and doctor. Laid the foundations of human anatomy. Physician, surgeon and philosopher. Galen made significant contributions to the understanding of many scientific disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic.
Avicenna 980-1048
An outstanding scientist in the field of medicine. Author of many books and works on oriental medicine.The most famous and influential philosopher-scientist of the medieval Islamic world. From that time, many Arabic terms have been preserved in modern anatomical nomenclature.
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
He described many plants, studied the structure of the human body, the activity of the heart, and visual function. He made 800 precise drawings of bones, muscles, and the heart and scientifically described them. His drawings are the first anatomically correct depictions of the human body, its organs, and organ systems from life.
Andreas Vesalius
1514-1564
Founder of descriptive anatomy. He created the work “On the structure of the human body.”
Vesalius corrected over 200 errors of the canonized ancient author. He also corrected Aristotle’s mistake that a man has 32 teeth and a woman 38. He classified teeth into incisors, canines and molars. He had to secretly obtain corpses from the cemetery, since at that time the autopsy of a human corpse was prohibited by the church.
William Harvey
Opened the blood circulation.
William HARVEY (1578-1657), English physician, founder of the modern sciences of physiology and embryology. Described the systemic and pulmonary circulation. Thanks to Harvey,
in particular, is that it is he
experimentally proved the existence of a closed
human circulation, in parts
which are arteries and veins, and the heart is
pump. For the first time he expressed the idea that “all living things come from eggs.”
Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778
Linnaeus is the creator of a unified system of classification of flora and fauna, in which the knowledge of the entire previous period of development was generalized and largely streamlined . Among the main achievements of Linnaeus is the introduction of precise terminology when describing biological objects, the introduction into active use , establishing a clear subordination between .
Karl Ernst Baer
Professor of the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy. He discovered the egg in mammals, described the blastula stage, studied the embryogenesis of the chicken, established the similarity of the embryos of higher and lower animals, the theory of the sequential appearance in embryogenesis of characters of type, class, order, etc. Studying intrauterine development, he established that the embryos of all animals in the early stages of development are similar. The founder of embryology, formulated the law of embryonic similarity (established the main types of embryonic development).
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Biologist who created the first holistic theory of the evolution of the living world.Lamarck coined the term "biology" (1802).Lamarck has two laws of evolution:
1. Vitalism. Living organisms are governed by an internal desire for improvement. Changes in conditions immediately cause changes in habits and through exercise the corresponding organs are changed.
2. Acquired changes are inherited.
Georges Cuvier
Creator of paleontology - the science of fossil animals and plants.Author of the “catastrophe theory”: after catastrophic events that destroyed animals, new species arose, but time passed, and again a catastrophe occurred, leading to the extinction of living organisms, but nature revived life, and species well adapted to new environmental conditions appeared, then again those who died during the terrible disaster.
T. Schwann and M. Schleiden
C. Darwin
1809-1882
Created the theory of evolution, evolutionary doctrine.The essence of evolutionary teaching lies in the following basic principles:
All types of living beings inhabiting the Earth were never created by anyone.
Having arisen naturally, organic forms were slowly and gradually transformed and improved in accordance with environmental conditions.
The transformation of species in nature is based on such properties of organisms as heredity and variability, as well as natural selection that constantly occurs in nature. Natural selection occurs through the complex interaction of organisms with each other and with factors of inanimate nature; Darwin called this relationship the struggle for existence.
The result of evolution is the adaptability of organisms to their living conditions and the diversity of species in nature.
G. Mendel
1822-1884
The founder of genetics as a science.
1 law
:
Uniformity
first generation hybrids. When crossing two homozygous organisms belonging to different pure lines and differing from each other in one pair of alternative manifestations of the trait, the entire first generation of hybrids (F1) will be uniform and will carry the manifestation of the trait of one of the parents.
2nd law
:
Split
signs. When two heterozygous descendants of the first generation are crossed with each other in the second generation, splitting is observed in a certain numerical ratio: by phenotype 3:1, by genotype 1:2:1.
3rd law: Law independent inheritance
. When crossing two homozygous individuals that differ from each other in two (or more) pairs of alternative traits, the genes and their corresponding traits are inherited independently of each other and are combined in all possible combinations.
Karl Maksimovich
Bare
Founder of comparative embryology. Baer established the similarity of embryos of higher and lower , sequential appearance in embryogenesis of characters of type, class, order, etc.; described the development of all major organs of vertebrates.
Nikolai Alekseevich Severtsov
He paid especially much attention to the study of birds; he was one of the largest ornithologists of his time.
A.I.Oparin
Theory of the origin of life on Earth. “On the Origin of Life,” in which he proposed the theory of the origin of life from a broth of organic substances. In the middle of the 20th century, complex organic substances were experimentally obtained by passing electrical charges through a mixture of gases and vapors, which hypothetically coincides with the composition of the atmosphere of the ancient Earth.
Louis Pasteur
Founder of microbiology. Developed methods of vaccination against infectious diseases (anthrax, rubella, rabies)
S.G. Navashin
Discovered double fertilization in plants
R. Koch 1843-1910
One of the founders of microbiology. In 1882, Koch announced his discovery of the causative agent of tuberculosis, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize and world fame. In 1883, another classic work by Koch was published - on the causative agent of cholera. This outstanding success was achieved by him as a result of studying cholera epidemics in Egypt and India.
D. I. Ivanovsky 1864-1920
Russian plant physiologist and microbiologist, founder of virology. Discovered viruses.
He established the presence of filterable viruses that were the causes of the disease along with microbes visible under a microscope. This gave rise to a new branch of science - virology, which developed rapidly in the 20th century.
I. Mechnikov
1845-1916
Laid the foundations of immunology.Russian biologist and pathologist, one of the founders of comparative pathology, evolutionary embryology and domestic microbiology, immunology, creator of the doctrine of phagocytosis and the theory of immunity, creator of a scientific school, corresponding member (1883), honorary member (1902) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Together with N.F. Gamaleya, he founded (1886) the first bacteriological station in Russia. Discovered (1882) the phenomenon of phagocytosis. In his works “Immunity in Infectious Diseases” (1901), he outlined the phagocytic theory of immunity. Created a theory of the origin of multicellular organisms.
L. Pasteur 1822-1895
Laid the foundations of immunology.
L. Pasteur is the founder of scientific immunology, although before him the method of preventing smallpox by infecting people with cowpox, developed by the English physician E. Jenner, was known. However, this method has not been extended to the prevention of other diseases.
I. Sechenov
1829-1905
Physiologist. He laid the foundations for the study of higher nervous activity. Sechenov discovered the so-called central inhibition - special mechanisms in the frog’s brain that suppress or inhibit reflexes. This was a completely new phenomenon, which was called “Sechenov braking.”The phenomenon of inhibition discovered by Sechenov made it possible to establish that all nervous activity consists of the interaction of two processes - excitation and inhibition.
I. Pavlov 1849-1936
Physiologist. He laid the foundations for the study of higher nervous activity. Created the doctrine of conditioned reflexes.Further, the ideas of I.M. Sechenov were developed in the works of I.P. Pavlov, who opened the way for objective experimental research of the functions of the cortex, developed a method for developing conditioned reflexes and created the doctrine of higher nervous activity. Pavlov in his works introduced the division of reflexes into unconditioned, which are carried out by innate, hereditarily fixed nerve pathways, and conditioned, which are carried out through nerve connections formed in the process of individual life of a person or animal.
Hugode
Frieze
Created the mutation theory.Hugo de Vries (1848–1935) - Dutch botanist and geneticist, one of the founders of the doctrine of variability and evolution, conducted the first systematic studies of the mutation process. He studied the phenomenon of plasmolysis (the contraction of cells in a solution whose concentration is higher than the concentration of their contents) and eventually developed a method for determining the osmotic pressure in a cell. Introduced the concept of “isotonic solution”.
T. Morgan 1866-1943
Created the chromosomal theory of heredity.
The main object with which T. Morgan and his students worked was the fruit fly Drosophila, which has a diploid set of 8 chromosomes. Experiments have shown that genes located on the same chromosome during meiosis end up in one gamete, i.e., they are inherited linked. This phenomenon is called Morgan's law. It was also shown that each gene on the chromosome has a strictly defined location - a locus.
V. I. Vernadsky
1863-1945
Founded the doctrine of the biosphere.Vernadsky's ideas played an outstanding role in the formation of the modern scientific picture of the world. The center of his natural science and philosophical interests is the development of a holistic doctrine of the biosphere, living matter (organizing the earth's shell) and the evolution of the biosphere into the noosphere, in which the human mind and activity, scientific thought become the determining factor of development, a powerful force comparable in its impact on nature with geological processes. Vernadsky's teaching on the relationship between nature and society had a strong influence on the formation of modern environmental consciousness.
1884-1963
Developed a doctrine of the factors of evolution.He authored numerous works on questions of evolutionary morphology, on the study of patterns of animal growth, on questions about the factors and patterns of the evolutionary process. A number of works are devoted to the history of development and comparative anatomy. He proposed his theory of the growth of animal organisms, which is based on the idea of an inverse relationship between the rate of growth of an organism and the rate of its differentiation. In a number of studies he developed the theory of stabilizing selection as an essential factor in evolution. Since 1948 he has been studying the question of the origin of terrestrial vertebrates.
J. Watson (1928) and F. Crick (1916-2004)
1953 The structure of DNA has been determined.James Dewey Watson - American molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist; He is best known for his participation in the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
After successfully graduating from the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson spent some time conducting chemistry research with biochemist Herman Kalkar in Copenhagen. He later moved to the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where he first met his future colleague and comrade Francis Crick.
Interest in understanding the world of living nature has accompanied humanity throughout its history. Already in primitive society, in the era of the Upper Paleolithic (Neogene) and Neolithic (Anthropocene), interest in the living environment reflected the practical needs of people. The desire to find out whether one should avoid encounters with certain animals and plants or, conversely, use them for one’s own purposes, explains why initially attention to living organisms resulted in attempts to divide them into useful and dangerous, pathogenic, of nutritional value, suitable for making clothing, tools, housing, household items, satisfying aesthetic needs. Primitive man was inquisitive and observant. After himself, he left rock paintings, primarily of animals, which are distinguished by their accuracy of depiction and dynamism. At this time it is formed primitive anthropomorphism(man does not oppose himself to the rest of nature), on its basis various religious beliefs arise in the form of “ anemism» - « doctrine of the soul" The idea of “living” and “dead” arises: everything becomes dead (man, animals, plants, water, stone) after “the soul leaves the body.” Subsequently, anemism takes on various forms. For example, according to one version, the soul is an independent entity, there can be many of them and each is located in one or another organ and controls it. However, already in the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, a rational, materialistic understanding of nature emerged, which was primarily associated with practice. The domestication of the dog occurs, which suggests the idea of domestication, which in turn gives rise to cattle breeding. Sheep, horses, cows, camels, pigs and other animals already lived next to man. Their maintenance leads to the parallel development of agriculture. So, in VI – V t. BC. Wheat, barley, rye, corn, garden, fruit and industrial crops were cultivated. The centers of their origin were discovered and described by our great compatriot N.I. Vavilov (1921). Charles Darwin writes: “All cultivated plants and domestic animals descended from wild forms as a result of unconscious artificial selection in the era of early slave-owning civilizations” (1839). In this regard, a fundamentally important fact is stated by F. Engels: “In a slave society there is a transition from use of finished products for their production».
Biology as a science has been developing for a long time. There were various periods and events in its development. A study of the history of biology shows that the duration of periods of smooth development before the next leap decreases the closer we get to our time. T. Kuhn (American historian of science) in his work “The Structure of the Scientific Revolution” (1960) proposed to distinguish:
Periods of smooth development of science
· Revolutionary transformations culminating in the formation of a new paradigm (key points).
It is the nodal moments (aromorphoses) that determine PERIODS (STAGES) development of this or that science. So, in natural history, and subsequently in natural science and BIOLOGY highlight the following PERIODS (STAGES) OF DEVELOPMENT:
· Initial ideas about living nature and the first attempts at scientific generalizations (from the beginning of the formation of man as a social being - about 15 thousand years ago)
· Antique period (c. VI century BC – III century AD)
· Middle Ages (III – XIV centuries)
· Renaissance, development of the principles of natural science knowledge of nature (XIV – XVII)
· Metaphysical period (XVII – XVIII). The emergence and development of ideas about the variability of living nature
· Formation of evolutionary ideas and theories (evolutionary period) – the first half of the 19th century. (1809, 1859)
· The period of differentiation of biological sciences based on an evolutionary approach (second half of the 19th century.
· The period of integration of biology with other sciences of the natural science cycle (XX century)
· The newest directions of biological research – XXI century.
At a certain stage of acquaintance with living nature in the minds of people, along with ideas about diversity of organisms, an idea arises unity all living things, including people. At the same time, the role and origins of diversity in living nature become clearer. Understanding arises consistency of biological uniformity and diversity.
The decisive scientific proof of the unity of all living things was CELL THEORY T. Schwann and M. Schleiden (1838-39). The discovery of the cellular principle of the structure of plant and animal organisms marked the beginning of a fruitful study of GENERAL REGULARITIES that form the basis of morphology, physiology, reproduction and individual development of living organisms.
The discovery of fundamental LAWS OF HERITANCE biology is indebted to G. Mendel, who described the rules of inheritance of traits based on the transmission of discrete hereditary tendencies in generations (1865), G. de Vries, K. Correns and K. Chermak, who rediscovered independently of each other in 1900 and made the rules of inheritance a property of science G. Mendel, G. de Vries, who discovered mutational variability (1901), the founders of population genetics G. Hardy and V. Weinberg, who formulated the law of genetic balance in populations of organisms (1908), T. Morgan and his students, who created the chromosomal theory of heredity ( 1910-1916), J. Watson, F. Crick, M. Wilkins and R. Franklin, who discovered the DNA double helix (1953). These laws reveal the mechanism of transmission of hereditary information from cell to cell, and through cells - from individual to individual and its redistribution within the species in a series of generations, the principles of the structural and functional organization of the genetic apparatus. Thanks to these discoveries, the role of such biological phenomena as sexual reproduction, generational change, ontogenesis and phylogeny becomes clear.
The unity of all living things is also confirmed by research biochemical (metabolic, metabolic) and biophysical mechanisms of cell activity. The beginning of these studies dates back to the second half of the 19th century, but the most significant achievements molecular biology(second half of the 20th century). Thanks to molecular biological research, which focuses on the patterns of storage, transmission and use of biological information by cells, the physicochemical basis of such universal properties of living things as heredity and variability, the specificity of biological macromolecules, structures and functions, regular reproduction in a number of generations of cells and organisms of a certain type of structural and functional organization.
In the context of the idea of the unity of living nature, it is important that living forms store hereditary information in a fundamentally identical way, pass it on through a series of generations or use it in their life activities, provide life processes with energy and translate energy into work.
Cell theory, achievements of genetics, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology substantiate the thesis about the unity of the organic world in its modern state. What's alive on the planet united historically, justified theory of evolution (evolutionary doctrine). The natural scientific foundations of the theory were laid by Charles Darwin (1859). It received further development related to the achievements of genetics and population biology, comparative embryology and morphology, paleontology in the works of A.N. Severtsov, N.I. Vavilov, S.S. Chetverikov, F.R. Dobzhansky, N.V. Timofeev-Resovsky, I.I. Shmalhausen, whose scientific activity dates back to the first half - mid-twentieth century.
Evolutionists at the turn of the 20th – 21st centuries. develop ideas about new, including “non-Darwinian” factors, mechanisms and forms of the evolutionary process.
The evolutionary idea calls DIRECTIONS, WAYS, METHODS and MECHANISMS, which over several billion years led to what is now observed variety of living forms, equally adapted to the environment and differing in the level of structural and functional organization. Another important result evolutionary paradigm is to recognize that living forms are related to each other by a common origin (genetic relationship). The degree of relatedness varies for representatives of different groups, and it is expressed in the continuity and commonality of the fundamental molecular, cellular and systemic mechanisms of development and life activity. Such continuity (heredity) is combined with variability, which allows one to master new living conditions in space and time (evolutionary and ecological plasticity) and achieve high levels of structural and functional organization.
Evolutionary ideas need to be supplemented taking into account the specific function of living forms in the “economy” of nature as factor of intensification and stabilization of the earth’s material and energy cycles and flows – planetary geochemical role of living matter (V.I. Vernadsky). Due to this evolution of living things (or life) should be presented not only as speciation, but also as a transformation of the biosphere, during which communities (ecosystems, biocenoses) evolve, the historical dynamics of which are determined by the EVOLUTION of SPECIES.
The convergence of two evolutionary paradigms - the evolution of species (taxa) and the evolution of ecosystems and the biosphere - makes the contribution of the evolutionary idea to substantiate the thesis about the unity of the living world especially significant.
The theory of evolution focuses on conventionality of the boundaries between the inanimate and living nature of the planet, between living nature and humans. In accordance with the geochemical hypothesis of the origin of life, the assumption is justified that the most important attributes of life:
· Self-reproduction based on autocatalysis (matrix synthesis)
· Use of high molecular weight carbon compounds (nucleic acids, proteins)
· Preservation of existing and creation of new biological information over time
· Progressive complication of structures based on random variability and selection
Could arise on " pre-biological» stage of the history of the planet.
Does not contradict the laws of evolution of biological forms THE APPEARANCE OF MAN– a social being, whose life is inseparable from the principle of cellular organization of structures and functions, molecular BIOLOGICAL, GENETIC AND ECOLOGICAL LAWS OF EXISTENCE. EVOLUTIONARY THEORY SHOWS THE SOURCES OF BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF DEVELOPMENT AND LIFE, PREREQUISITES FOR INTELLECTUAL AND LABOR ACTIVITY OF PEOPLE, THAT IS WHAT RELATES TO THEIR BIOLOGICAL “HERITAGE”.
1. What does biology study?
Answer. Biology is a complex science that studies all manifestations of life, the structure, functions and origin of living organisms, their relationships in natural communities with their environment and other living organisms.
2. What biological sciences do you know?
Answer. Biology is a set of sciences about living nature. Due to the variety of areas in the study of life, a number of independent sciences have emerged in the field of biology: botany, zoology, cytology, histology, physiology, ecology, evolutionary theory, genetics, embryology, molecular biology, etc.
Sciences that study various groups of organisms are divided into morphological (Greek morphe - form) disciplines that study the form and structure of organisms, which include cytology, histology, anatomy and sciences that study the functions of living beings - a complex of physiological disciplines. Anatomy studies the internal structure of organisms.
At the same time, areas of biology have emerged and are developing that study the special properties of living organisms: for example, biochemistry studies the ways of transformation of organic molecules.
The diversity of organisms, their distribution into groups is studied by taxonomy, the patterns of individual development - developmental biology, the historical development of life - evolutionary teaching, the laws of heredity and variability - genetics. Phylogenetics is a branch of biology that studies the origin and historical continuity of organisms. The relationship of organisms and populations with environmental conditions is the object of study of ecology.
3. What biological scientists do you know?
Answer. Biology emerged as an independent scientific discipline about the general properties of living things only in the 19th century. In connection with the problematization of the concept of life and the definition of the fundamental difference between inanimate and living natural bodies. Meanwhile, knowledge about living nature began to develop long before this, during antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the beginning of the New Time.
Actually, the word biology only began to be used in the 19th century to denote the science of living things. Many scientists of the past, whom we now call biologists, during their lifetime were called experts in natural history, doctors, naturalists, and naturalists. In particular, Gregor Mendel was a monk and abbot of a monastery, Carl Linnaeus was a doctor, Louis Pasteur was a chemist, and Charles Darwin was simply a wealthy gentleman.
The most famous scientists of the past:
Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), a Scottish bacteriologist, discovered lysozyme, an enzyme that kills some bacteria without causing harm to healthy tissue. He was awarded 25 honorary degrees.
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was a Dutch naturalist. He was the first to notice how blood moves in the smallest blood vessels - capillaries. He saw microbes and sperm for the first time.
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), - Austrian biologist and botanist. Founder of the science of heredity. The researcher’s work served as the beginning of a new science, which was later called genetics.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829), - French natural scientist. He was the first, half a century before Darwin, to propose a theory about the natural origin and development of the organic world.
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) - French biologist, zoologist, naturalist, naturalist, one of the first historians of natural sciences. He created paleontology and comparative anatomy of animals.
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1783), - famous Swedish naturalist. He proposed binary nomenclature - a system of scientific naming of plants and animals. He divided all plants into 24 classes, highlighting individual genera and species.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) - English naturalist and traveler. He managed to solve the greatest problem of biology: the question of the origin of species. Darwin also created an original theory of the development of the organic world.
Questions after §1
1. What directions in the development of biology can you highlight?
Answer. Currently, three directions in biology can be roughly distinguished. First, this is classical biology. It is represented by natural scientists who study the diversity of living nature. They objectively observe and analyze everything that happens in living nature, study living organisms and classify them. The second direction is evolutionary biology. In the 19th century the author of the theory of natural selection, Charles Darwin, began as an ordinary naturalist: he collected, observed, described, traveled, revealing the secrets of living nature. However, the main result of his work, which made him a famous scientist, was the theory that explains organic diversity. The third direction is physical and chemical biology, which studies the structure of living objects using modern physical and chemical methods. This is a rapidly developing area of biology, important both theoretically and practically. It is safe to say that new discoveries await us in physical and chemical biology that will allow us to solve many problems facing humanity.
2. Which ancient scientists made a significant contribution to the development of biological knowledge?
Answer. Modern biology has its roots in antiquity and is associated with the development of civilization in the Mediterranean countries. We know the names of many outstanding scientists who contributed to the development of biology. Let's name just a few of them.
Hippocrates (460 - ca. 370 BC) gave the first relatively detailed description of the structure of humans and animals, and pointed out the role of the environment and heredity in the occurrence of diseases. He is considered the founder of medicine.
Aristotle (384–322 BC) divided the world around us into four kingdoms: the inanimate world of earth, water and air; world of plants; the animal world and the human world. He described many animals and laid the foundation for taxonomy. The four biological treatises he wrote contained almost all the information about animals known at that time. Aristotle's merits are so great that he is considered the founder of zoology.
Theophrastus (372–287 BC) studied plants. He described more than 500 plant species, provided information about the structure and reproduction of many of them, and introduced many botanical terms into use. He is considered the founder of botany.
Guy Pliny the Elder (23–79) collected information about living organisms known by that time and wrote 37 volumes of the Natural History encyclopedia. Almost until the Middle Ages, this encyclopedia was the main source of knowledge about nature.
Claudius Galen (c. 130 – c. 200) made extensive use of mammalian dissections in his scientific research. He was the first to make a comparative anatomical description of man and monkey. Studied the central and peripheral nervous system. Historians of science consider him the last great biologist of antiquity.
3. Why in the Middle Ages could one speak only conditionally about biology as a science?
Answer. In the Middle Ages, the dominant ideology was religion. Like other sciences, biology during this period had not yet emerged as an independent field and existed in the general mainstream of religious and philosophical views. And although the accumulation of knowledge about living organisms continued, biology as a science in that period can only be spoken of conditionally.
4. Why is modern biology considered a complex science?
Answer. Reflecting living nature and humans as part of it, biology is becoming increasingly important in scientific and technological progress, becoming a productive force. Biology creates a new technology - biological, which should become the basis of a new industrial society. Biological knowledge should contribute to the formation of biological thinking and ecological culture in every member of society, without which the further development of human civilization is impossible. In the 40–50s of the XX century. In biology, ideas and methods of physics, chemistry, mathematics, cybernetics and other sciences began to be widely used, and microorganisms were used as objects of research. As a result, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, radiation biology, bionics, etc. arose and began to rapidly develop as independent sciences. Research in space contributed to the emergence and development of space biology. Currently, biological knowledge is used in all spheres of human activity: in industry and agriculture, medicine and energy.
5. What is the role of biology in modern society?
Answer. Ecological research is extremely important. We finally began to realize that the fragile balance that exists on our small planet can be easily destroyed. Humanity is faced with a tremendous task - preserving the biosphere in order to maintain the conditions of existence and development of civilization. It is impossible to solve it without biological knowledge and special research. Thus, at present, biology has become a real productive force and a rational scientific basis for the relationship between man and nature.
