Ahead of the Curve: Hidden Breakthroughs in the Biosciences

by Michael Levin, Dany Adams

Overview

The popular conception of science is of a steady, upward climb of progress. The reality is not that simple. Highly significant discoveries often stay unrecognized for decades, particularly if they conflict with the current paradigm or extend it in ways hard to imagine at the time. Ahead of the Curve: Hidden breakthroughs in the biosciences is a fascinating collection of lost research that the editors believe are important scientific contributions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780750316750
Publisher:	Iop Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	01/31/2019
Series:	IPH001 , #2
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	7.34(w) x 10.31(h) x 1.01(d)

About the Author

Dany Adams is a research professor in the Department of Biology at Tufts University, USA. Michael Levin is the Vannevar Bush Professor in the Department of Biology at Tufts University, USA. He is also the director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts and Tufts Center for Regenerative Developmental Biology.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgement x

Editor biographies xi

Introduction xiii

Part I Hindsight

1 It's obvious, now 1-1

Case Study 1 Maitland 1722 Small Pox Vaccine 1-1

Case Study 2 Power 1912 Antibiotic Resistance 1-16

Part II Foresight

2 Foundations 2-1

Case Study 3 Anderson 1972 More is different 2-1

Case Study 4 Friston 2013 Life as we know it 2-16

Case Study 5 Bowman 1978 The "before picture" control 2-44

3 Bioelectricity 3-1

Case Study 6 Mathews 1903 Hydroid electrical polarity 3-1

Case Study 7 Burr 1944 Electric cucurbits 3-11

Case Study 8 Jaffe 1974 The vibrating ion probe 3-20

Case Study 9 Morgan 1904 Electric earthworms 3-42

Case Study 10 Novak 1975 Electric acetabularia 3-54

Case Study 11 Child 1914 Gradients in infusoria 3-60

Case Study 12 Child 1924 Patterning problems 3-73

Case Study 13 Lev 1993 Currents without channels 3-82

4 Developmental Biology 4-1

Case Study 14 Illmensee & Mahowald 1974 Pole plasm 4-1

Case Study 15 Asashima 1991 Earth's magnetic field needed for normal development 4-13

Case Study 16 Brown & Wolpert 1990 Left-right asymmetry 4-27

Case Study 17 Jaffe 1953 Polarized light to polarized cell 4-47

Case Study 18 Bongard 2006 Toward Robotic Regeneration 4-65

5 Medicine 5-1

Case Study 19 Finsen 1901 The Light Cure 5-1

Case Study 20 Ellis & Linden 1955 How long have I had, doc? 5-8

6 Cognition 6-1

Case Study 21 Vogel & Dussotour 2016 Brainless learners 6-2

Case Study 22 Watson 2010 Gene network memory 6-13

Case Study 23 Rosenthal 1963 Rats, bright and dull 6-34

Case Study 24 Koshland 1983 Bacterium as neuron 6-39

Case Study 25 Grossberg 1978 Communication, memory, development 6-49