The history of biology. Development of modern biology

From the first days of life, the child seeks to know the world around him. The older it becomes, the more interesting and fascinating becomes its reality. The world is changing with him. So all of humanity in its development does not stand still. All new discoveries capture us. What was impossible yesterday was becoming routine today. A huge contribution to modern scientific and technological progress is made by the science of biology. She studies all aspects of life, explores the stages of the origin and development of living organisms. It is noteworthy that this science was separated into a separate branch only in the 19th century, although mankind accumulated knowledge about the surrounding world during its entire development. The history of the development of biology is very interesting and entertaining. Many people may have a question: why should we study this science? It would seem that let scientists do it. How will this discipline help a common man? But after all, without elementary knowledge of human physiology and anatomy it is impossible, for example, to recover even from a common cold. This science is capable of providing answers to the most difficult questions. The main thing that biology can shed light on is the development of life on Earth.

Science in the days of antiquity

Modern biology has its roots in antiquity. It is inextricably linked with the development of civilizations in the era of antiquity in the Mediterranean space. The first discoveries in this area were made by such outstanding figures as Hippocrates, Aristotle, Theophrastus and others. The contribution of scientists to the development of biology is priceless. Let us dwell in more detail on each of them. Ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates (460 - about 370 BC) gave the first detailed description of the structure of the human body and animals. He pointed out how environmental factors and heredity can influence the development of certain diseases. Modern scientists call Hippocrates the founder of medicine. An outstanding Greek philosopher and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) divided the surrounding world into four kingdoms: the world of man and animals, the world of plants, the inanimate world (terrestrial), the world of water and air. He made a lot of descriptions of animals, thereby initiating systematics. His hand belongs to four biological treatises, which contain all known at the time information about animals. In this case, the scientist gave not only an external description of the representatives of this kingdom, but also reflected on their origin and reproduction. He was the first to describe the live birth of sharks and the presence of a special chewing apparatus in sea urchins, today called the "Aristotelian lantern." Modern scientists appreciate the achievements of the ancient thinker and believe that Aristotle is the founder of zoology. Ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus (370-about 280 BC) studied the world of plants. He described more than 500 representatives of this kingdom. It was he who introduced many botanical terms, such as "fruit", "pericarp", "core" and so on. Theophrastus scientists consider the founder of modern botany.

Also worth noting are the works in the development of biology of ancient Roman scientists, such as Guy Pliny the Elder (22-79) and Claudius Galen (131 years - about 200). Naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote an encyclopedia entitled "Natural History", which contained all known at the time information about living organisms. Until the Middle Ages, his work, numbering 37 volumes, was the only complete source of knowledge about nature. An outstanding physician, surgeon and philosopher of his time, Claudius Galen, made a great contribution to the notion and development of such sciences as anatomy, pharmacology, physiology, neurology, etc. In his studies he widely used autopsies of mammals. He was the first to describe and compare the anatomy of a man and a monkey. Its main purpose was to study the central and peripheral nervous system. Recognition of his services by colleagues is indicated by the fact that his work on anatomy based on the opening of corpses of pigs and monkeys was used up to 1543, until the work of Andreas Vesalius "On the Structure of the Human Body" appeared. Students of medical institutions studied the works of Galen until the XIX century. And his theory that the brain controls the movements with the help of the nervous system is still relevant today. It is better to understand how the emergence and study of this science occurred throughout history, the "Development of Biology" table will help us. Its main founders are represented here.

Medieval Medicine

The contribution of scientists to the development of biology in these times is huge. The knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman figures included in their practice many doctors of the Middle Ages. It was medicine that developed at that time. A considerable part of the territory of the Roman Empire during this period was conquered by the Arabs. Therefore, the works of Aristotle and many other ancient scholars reached us in Arabic. What marked this era in terms of the development of biology? This was the time of the so-called golden age of Islam. Here it is worth noting the works of such a scientist as Al-Jahiz, who then for the first time expressed an opinion about food chains and evolution. He is also the founder of geographical determinism - the science of the influence of natural conditions on the formation of national character and spirit. And the Kurdish author Ahmad ibn Daoud ad-Dinavari did much for the development of Arab botany. He made a description of more than 637 species of different plants. Great interest in the world of flora was caused by the tendency in medicine to treat herbal medicines. The physician from Persia - Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi - reached a great height in medicine. He experimentally refuted the reigning theory of Galen about the "four life juices". Outstanding Persian doctor Avicenna created one of the most valuable books on medicine called "The Canon of Medical Science", which was a textbook for European scholars up to the 17th century. It is worth acknowledging that during the Middle Ages, few scientists achieved fame. This was the era of the heyday of theology and philosophy. Scientific medicine was then in decline. This state of affairs was observed until the beginning of the Renaissance. Next, the stages of development of biology in this time interval will be described.

Biology in the Renaissance

In the 16th century, interest in physiology and natural history in Europe increased. Anatomists practiced opening of human bodies after death. In 1543, Vesalius' book "On the Structure of the Human Body" was published. The history of the development of biology here makes a new turn. In medicine, treatment with medicinal herbs was common. This could not but affect the strengthening of interest in the world of flora. Fuchs and Brunfels in their works initiated the large-scale description of plants. Even the artists of that time showed an interest in the structure of the bodies of animals and man. They wrote their paintings, working side by side with naturalists. Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Durer in the process of creating their masterpieces tried to get detailed descriptions of the anatomy of living bodies. The first of them, by the way, often observed the flight of birds, told about many plants, shared information on the structure of the human body. No less significant contribution to the science of that era was made by such scientists as alchemists, encyclopedists, and doctors. An example of this is the work of Paracelsus. Thus, it is clear that the development of biology in the pre-Darwinian period was extremely uneven.

XVII century

The most important finding of this time is the opening of the second circle of blood circulation, which gave a new impetus to the development of anatomy and the emergence of the doctrine of microorganisms. Then the first microbiological studies were made. For the first time, a description was given of plant cells that could only be examined under a microscope. By the way, this device was invented by John Lippersgay and Zachary Yansen in 1590 in Holland. The apparatus was constantly improved. And soon the artisan Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, interested in microscopes, managed to see and draw red blood cells, human spermatozoa, as well as a number of very small living organisms (bacteria, infusoria, and so on). The development of biology as a science at this time comes to a whole new level. Much has been done in the field of physiology and anatomy. A doctor from England, William Garvey, who opened the animals and carried out research with blood circulation, made a number of important discoveries: he detected venous valves, proved isolation of the right and left ventricles of the heart. His contribution to the development of biology is difficult to overestimate. He opened a small circle of blood. A naturalist from Italy, Francesco Redi, proved the impossibility of spontaneous generation of flies from the remains of rotten meat.

The history of biology in the XVIII century

Further, human knowledge in the field of the natural sciences expanded. The most important events of the 18th century were the publication of the works of Karl Linnaeus (The System of Nature) and Georges Buffon ("Universal and Private Natural History"). Numerous experiments were carried out in the field of plant development and embryology of animals. Discoveries here were made by such scientists as Kaspar Friedrich Wolff, who on the basis of his observations proved the gradual development of the embryo from a strong rudiment, and Albrecht von Galler. These names are associated with the most important stages in the development of biology and embryology in the XVIII century. It is worth acknowledging, however, that these scientists defended different approaches to the study of science: Wolff - the ideas of epigenesis (the development of the organism in the bud), and Galler - the concept of preformism (the presence in the sexual cells of special material structures predetermining the development of the embryo).

Science in the XIX century

It is worth mentioning that the development of biology as a science began only in the XIX century. The word itself has already been used by scientists before. However, his meaning was completely different. For example, Carl Linnaeus called biologists of people who composed biographies of botanists. But later this word was called science, which studies all living organisms. Such a topic as the development of biology in the pre-Darwinian period, we have already touched. At the beginning of the XIX century, the formation of such a science as paleontology. Discoveries in this area are associated with the name of the greatest scientist, Charles Darwin, who in the second half of the century published a book entitled The Origin of Species. More details of his work we will touch on in the next chapter. The emergence of cellular theory, the formation of phylogenetics, the development of microscopic anatomy and cytology, the formation of the doctrine of the emergence of infectious diseases by infection with a specific pathogen and much more - all this is associated with the development of science in the XIX century.

Proceedings of Charles Darwin

The first book of the greatest scientist is "The Journey of a Naturalist around the World on a Ship". Then the object of studying Darwin was the barnacles. The result was the writing and publication of a four-volume work on the physiology of these animals. Zoologists still use this work. But still the main work of Charles Darwin is the book "The Origin of Species", which he began to write in 1837. The book was supplemented several times and reprinted. It described in detail breeds of domestic animals and plant varieties, outlined his considerations of natural selection. Evolutionary biology of development in the concept of Darwin is the variability of species and varieties under the influence of heredity and external environmental factors, as well as their natural origin from earlier species. The scientist came to the conclusion that any plant or animal in nature tends to propagate in a geometric progression. However, the number of individuals of this species remains constant. This means that in nature there is a law of survival. Strong organisms survive, acquiring signs useful to the whole species, and then multiply, and the weak ones die under adverse environmental conditions. This is called natural (natural) selection. For example, a codfish produces up to seven million eggs. Survives only 2% of their total number. But environmental conditions can change. Then very different signs in species will prove useful. As a result, the direction of natural selection changes. External signs of individuals may change. A new species appears, which, while preserving favorable factors, settles. Later, in 1868, Charles Darwin published his second evolutionary work entitled "Changing Animals and Plants in the Home State". However, his work was not widely recognized. It is worth mentioning one more important work of the great scientist - the book "The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection." In it, he cited many arguments in favor of the fact that man descended from ape-like ancestors.

What is XX century preparing for us?

A lot of global discoveries in science were made in the last century. At this time the biology of human development gives a new twist. This is the era of development of genetics. By 1920, the chromosome theory of heredity was formed. And after the Second World War, molecular biology began to develop rapidly. The direction in the development of biology changed.

Genetics

In 1900, Mendel's laws were rediscovered by scientists such as De Vries and others. Soon after this came the discovery of cytologists that the genetic material of cellular structures is contained in chromosomes. In 1910-1915 the working group of the scientist Thomas Hunt Morgan on the basis of experiments with a fruit fly (Drosophila) developed the so-called "Mendelian chromosome theory of heredity". Biologists found out that genes in chromosomes are arranged linearly, like "beads on a string". De Vries is the first scientist who made an assumption about the mutation of genes. Next, the notion of gene drift was given . And in 1980, American physicist-experimenter Luis Alvarez put forward a meteorite hypothesis of extinction of dinosaurs.

The emergence and development of biochemistry

Even more outstanding discoveries were waiting for scientists in the near future. At the beginning of the XX century, active research of vitamins began. A little earlier, the ways of metabolism of poisons and medicinal substances, proteins and fatty acids were discovered. In 1920-1930, scientists Carl and Gerti Corey, as well as Hans Krebs gave a description of the transformation of carbohydrates. This initiated the study of the synthesis of porphyrins and steroids. At the end of the century Fritz Lipman made the following discovery: adenosine triphosphate was recognized as a universal carrier of biochemical energy in a cell, and the main energy "station" was called mitochondria. Instruments for conducting laboratory experiments became more complicated, new methods of obtaining knowledge appeared, such as electrophoresis and chromatography. Biochemistry, which was one of the sections of medicine, was separated into a separate science.

Molecular biology

All new related disciplines appeared in the study of biology. Many scientists have tried to establish the nature of the gene. In carrying out research for this purpose, a new term "molecular biology" has appeared. The object of study were viruses and bacteria. A bacteriophage was isolated - a virus that selectively hit the cells of a particular bacterium. Experiments were also conducted on the flies of Drosophila, with bread mold, corn and so on. The history of the development of biology is such that new discoveries were made with the advent of completely new equipment for research. So, an electron microscope and a high-speed centrifuge were soon invented. These devices allowed scientists to discover the following: genetic material in chromosomes is represented by DNA, rather than protein, as previously thought; The structure of DNA was restored in the form of the double helix known to us today.

Genetic Engineering

The development of modern biology does not stand still. Genetic engineering is another "by-product" of studying this discipline. It is to this science that we are indebted to the appearance of certain medicines, such as insulin and threonine. Despite the fact that it is currently at the stage of development and study, in the not too distant future, we may already be able to "taste" its fruits. These are new vaccines against the most dangerous diseases, and cultivars that are not exposed to drought, cold, disease, pest action. Many scientists believe that with the help of the achievements of this science we will be able to forget about the use of harmful pesticides and herbicides. However, the development of this discipline causes an ambiguous assessment in modern society. Many people are not without reason that they fear that the result of research may be the emergence of antibiotic-resistant and other drugs causative agents of dangerous human and animal diseases.

The latest discoveries in biology and medicine

Science continues to develop. Many more mysteries await our scientists in the future. A brief history of the development of biology is being studied at school today . The first lesson on this topic we receive in the 6th grade. Let's see what our children will study in the near future. Here is a list of discoveries that were made in the new century.

1. Project "Human Genome". Work on it was conducted since 1990. At that time, the US Congress allocated a significant amount of money for research. In 1999, more than 2 dozen genes were decoded. In 2001, the first "outline" of the human genome was made. In 2006 the work was completed.
2. Nanomedicine - treatment with special micro devices.
3. Methods are being developed for the "cultivation" of human organs (liver tissue, hair, heart valves, muscle cells, and so on).
4. Creation of artificial human organs, which by their characteristics will not yield to natural (synthetic muscles and so on).

The period when the history of the development of biology is studied in more detail is the 10th grade. At this stage, students gain knowledge of biochemistry, cytology, and the reproduction of organisms. This information can be useful to students in the future.

We examined the periods of development of biology as a separate science, and also revealed its main directions.