Pavlov's Dogs and Schrödinger's Cat : Scenes From the Living Laboratory

From the sheep, dog, and cockerel that were sent aloft in Montgolfier's balloon to test the air over Paris, to the famous clone Dolly the Sheep and the Darwinian finches of the Galapagos, Pavlov's Dogs and Schrödinger's Cat offers a fascinating and enlightening look at the use of plants and animals—including humans—in scientific experiments. Rom Harré here provides a fresh and fascinating perspective on research, setting aside moral reflection to simply examine the history of how and why living creatures have been used for the purposes of discovery. Ranging over five centuries, the book uncovers many extraordinary stories, including tales of the people involved, to many curious incidents and episodes, and the occasional scientific fraud. From Gregor Mendel's use of pea plants to explore heredity, to Barry Marshall's use of himself as the experimental animal in his helicobacter experiments (he survived) and even the use of an imaginary cat in Schrödinger's famous thought experiment, the reader discovers here a perspective on scientific work he or she has never encountered before—the concept of the "living laboratory." Oxford University Press, USA Table of Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Preface 12 1. Instruments and Apparatus: Tools for Experimenting 16 2. Detecting: Hyenas, Frogs, Zebra Fish, and Assorted Farm Animals 35 3. Measuring: The Bodies of Kings, Fossils, Lichen, and Pollen Grains 72 4. Extending an Established Domain: Dogs, Horses, Frogs, and Trees 104 5. Exploring a New Domain: A Bald Mouse, Two Chimpanzees, and Some People 138 6. Testing Hypotheses: More Dogs, Monkeys, and Ticks 162 7. Modelling Individuals: Yet More Dogs, A Few Mice, and One Human Stomach 191 8. Modelling Worlds: Voles, Peas, Fruit Flies, Finches, and Deep Oceanic Worms 217 9. Practising Deception: Spring Wheat and Midwife Toads 257 10. Inventing Novel Beings: An Imaginary Cat and Virtual Life Forms 284 Reflections: Sites for Moral Debates 312 End Notes 317 Index 328 A 328 B 328 C 329 D 329 E 329 F 329 G 330 H 330 I 330 K 331 L 331 M 331 N 332 O 332 P 332 Q 332 R 332 S 332 T 332 U 333 V 333 W 333 Index of Names 334 A 334 B 334 C 334 D 334 E 335 F 335 G 335 H 335 I 335 J 335 K 335 L 335 M 335 N 336 O 336 P 336 R 336 S 336 T 336 V 337 W 337 Z 337 ISBN-13:,9780199238569 From the sheep, dog, and cockerel that were sent aloft in Montgolfier's balloon to test the air over Paris, to the famous clone Dolly the Sheep and the Darwinian finches of the Galapagos, Pavlov's Dogs and Schrdinger's Cat offers a fascinating and enlightening look at the use of plants and animals--including humans--in scientific experiments. Rom Harr provides a fresh and fascinating perspective on research, setting aside moral reflection to simply examine the history of how and why living creatures have been used for the purposes of discovery. Ranging over five centuries, the book uncovers many extraordinary stories, including tales of the people involved, to many curious incidents and episodes, and the occasional scientific fraud. From Gregor Mendel's use of pea plants to explore heredity, to Barry Marshall's used of himself as the experimental animal in his helicobacter experiments (he survived) and even the use of an imaginary cat in Schrdinger's famous thought experiment, the reader discovers a perspective on scientific work he or she has never encountered before. From the sheep, dog, and cockerel that were sent aloft in Montgolfier's balloon, to Galvani's frog's legs, Dolly the Sheep, the finches of the Galapagos, and even imaginary cats and simulated life forms, Pavlov's Dogs and Schrödinger's Cat explores the fascinating history of the role of living things in science. The ways in which animals and plants have been used in science has always been a matter for considerable public debate, and this book provides an important and fascinating new perspective, setting aside moral reflection to simply examine the history of how and why living creatures have been used for the purposes of scientific discovery. Many extraordinary stories are uncovered throughout five centuries of science - tales of the people involved, curious incidents and episodes, and the occasional scientific fraud too, as clear reflections on the history and philosophy of science are combined with remarkable accounts from the living laboratory. From the sheep, dog, and cockerel that were sent aloft in Montgolfier's balloon to test the air over Paris, to the famous clone Dolly the Sheep and the Darwinian finches of the Galapagos, Pavlov's Dogs and Schrodinger's Cat offers a look at the use of plants and animals--including humans--in scientific experiments. Rom Harre provides a fresh perspective on research, setting aside moral reflection to simply examine the history of how and why living creatures have been used for the purposes of discovery. From Gregor Mendel's use of pea plants to explore heredity, to Barry Marshall's used of himself as the experimental animal in his helicobacter experiments (he survived) and even the use of an imaginary cat in Schrodinger's famous thought experiment, the reader encounters a new perspective on scientific work "This book is not about the ethics of animal experiments. Rather it is a detached and fascinating account of the many ways in which animals and plants have been used in science throughout history, whether alive or dead - or both, purely conceptually, in the case of Schrodinger's Cat. We think of scientific laboratories as a jumble of glass, metal, and fuming liquids. But animals and plants have played a key role in our efforts to understand the natural world. It is this 'living laboratory', in which animals and plants become the means by which experiments are performed rather than the subject of experiments, that forms the topic of Rom Harre's exploration."--BOOK JACKET