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13Origin of life. The role of experiments, basic beliefs, and social authorities in the controversies about the spontaneous generation of life and the subsequent debates about synthesizing life in the laboratoryHistory and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 34 (3): 341-360. 2012.For centuries the question of the origin of life had focused on the question of the spontaneous generation of life, at least primitive forms of life, from inanimate matter, an idea that had been promoted most prominently by Aristotle. The widespread belief in spontaneous generation, which had been adopted by the Church, too, was finally abandoned at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the question of the origin of life became related to that of the artificial generation of life in the l…Read more
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12Challenging the Protein Dogma of the Gene: Oswald T. Avery – a Revolutionary ConservativeIn Oren Harman & Michael Dietrich (eds.), Rebels, Mavericks, and Heretics in Biology, Yale University Press. 2008.
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12Early 20th-century research at the interfaces of genetics, development, and evolution: Reflections on progress and dead endsDevelopmental Biology 357 (1): 3-12. 2011.Three early 20th-century attempts at unifying separate areas of biology, in particular development, genetics, physiology, and evolution, are compared in regard to their success and fruitfulness for further research: Jacques Loeb’s reductionist project of unifying approaches by physico-chemical explanations; Richard Goldschmidt’s anti-reductionist attempts to unify by integration; and Sewall Wright’s combination of reductionist research and vision of hierarchical genetic systems. Loeb’s program, …Read more
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11DedicationPerspectives in Biology and Medicine 58 (2): 141-142. 2015.We dedicate this special section to the memory of Eric H. Davidson, who died on the first of September 2015. Though he had been seriously ill for many years, his death was unexpected and a great shock for us.We dedicate the section, first, to a great scientist who passionately pursued the idea of a mechanistic explanation of development and evolution. Eric was a pioneer in the molecular biology of development and its relationship to evolution. One of the first to suggest a model for gene regulat…Read more
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9Jews and sciences in German contexts: case studies from the 19th and 20th centuries (edited book)Mohr Siebeck. 2007.Problems, Phenomena, Explanatory Approaches Who is a German-Jewish Scientist? 1. The Einstein case and its paradoxes On 14 March 1929, Albert Einstein's ...
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9Philosophies in biology: IntroductionHistory and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 30 (1): 3-6. 2008.
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9An unholy alliance. The Nazis showed that 'politically responsible' science risks losing its soulNature 405 (6788): 739. 2000.
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8Chemists and biochemists during the National Socialist EraAngewandte Chemie - International Edition 41 (8): 1310-1328. 2002.Chemistry and biochemistry in Germany was notably affected by the dismissal and emigration of Jewish scientists. The expulsion of Jewish scientists aided to significantly reduce the international regard for German science, particularly in biochemistry, physical chemistry, and quantum chemistry, after 1945. In most cases remaining scientists adjusted quickly after 1933 to the new political circumstances, with a few exceptions. A number of them even actively supported the politics of National Soci…Read more
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8Germany's forgotten war (review)Nature 401 (6752): 425. 1999.Reviews the book 'The Nazi War on Cancer,' by Robert N. Proctor.
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8Vertrauensvorschuß und wissenschaftliches Fehlhandeln— Eine reliabilistische Modellierung der Fälle Abderhalden, Goldschmidt, Moewus und Waldschmidt-LeitzBerichte Zur Wissenschafts-Geschichte 27 (3): 187-204. 2004.
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7The Kaiser's chemist (review)Times Literary Supplement 5385 6-7. 2006.Reviews the book "Between Genius and Genocide: The Tragedy of Fritz Haber, Father of Chemical Warfare," by Daniel Charles
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6A social activist in genetics (review)Nature 420 (6914): 363. 2002.Reviews the book 'Making Genes, Making Waves: A Social Activist in Science,' by Jon Beckwith.
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5Biology under National Socialism: Archives in Germany and PolandThe Mendel Newsletter; Archival Resources for the History of Genetics and Allied Sciences (4): 5-10. 1994.
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4Introductory comment on six papers from a Symposium on experimental and historical aspects of evolutionary bioscienceDevelopmental Biology 357 (1): 2. 2011.
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4Special section: Darwinism and scientific practice in historical perspective: Guest editors' introductionJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 41 (1): 55-60. 2010.
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4Guest Editors' IntroductionJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 41 (1). 2010.
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Transfer von Traditionen: „Deutsche“ Chemie in Palästina, 1924–1939Münchner Beiträge Zur Jüdischen Geschichte Und Kultur 8 (1): 28-47. 2014.
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Women and Genetics in Germany – Research and Careers until 1950In Rn, Eh & Mv (eds.), Elisabeth Schiemann 1881–1972 Vom AufBruch der Genetik und der Frauen in den UmBrüchen des 20, Basilisken-presse. pp. 26-53. 2014.
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Francis Bacon, Karl Popper, Michael Polanyi, and Modern Experimental BiologyIn Stefano Gattei & Nimrod Bar-Am (eds.), Encouraging Openness: Essays for Joseph Agassi on the Occasion of His 90th Birthday, Springer Verlag. 2017.