Sacred bovines : the ironies of misplaced assumptions in biology

Some assumptions about biology are so deeply rooted in our thinking that they seem beyond question. These concepts - expressed in playful jargon - are our sacred bovines . With a light-hearted spirit, Douglas Allchin sets out to challenge many of these common beliefs about science and life. Allchin draws on fascinating insights from science to illustrate the ironies in many widespread beliefs. Be prepared to challenge the notion that male and female are fixed natural categories. Or that evolution implies cutthroat competition in human society. Or that we struggle against a fundamental immoral nature. Or that genes establish our identity. Or that science progresses through rare leaps of genius. Or that politics and emotions inevitably taint good science. Sacred Bovines revels in revelations about the nature of science. Reflecting on the many errors in commonly accepted, everyday ideas also fosters creative thinking. How do we challenge assumptions? How do we "think outside the box"? The many examples here provide inspiration and guidance, further elaborated in a retrospective epilogue. An additional "Afterword for Teachers" highlights how the essays can foster learning about the nature of science and describes some practical classroom strategies. Cover 1 Sacred Bovines 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Figures 8 Prologue: The Ironies of Misplaced Assumptions 10 Part I The Way of Science 14 1 Monsters and Marvels 16 2 Ahead of the Curve 23 3 Marxism and Cell Biology 28 4 The Messy Story behind the Most Beautiful Experiment in Biology 35 5 The Dogma of “the” Scientific Method 40 Part II Darwin, Evolution, and Society 44 6 Was Darwin a Social Darwinist? 46 7 Social Un-​Darwinism 52 8 A More Fitting Analogy 59 9 The Domesticated Gene 66 Part III Making Mistakes 74 10 A Comedy of Scientific Errors 76 11 Nobel Ideals and Noble Errors 81 12 Celebrating Darwin’s Errors 88 Part IV What Counts as Science 96 13 Science beyond Scientists 98 14 Skepticism and the Architecture of Trust 104 15 Science Con Artists 113 Part V Naturalizing Cultural Values 124 16 Male, Female, and/​or —​? 126 17 Monsters and the Tyranny of Normality 134 18 To Be Human 141 19 Genes R Us 150 20 The Peppered Moths, A Study in Black and White 155 Part VI Myth-​Conceptions 162 21 Alexander Fleming’s “Eureka” Moment 164 22 Round versus Wrinkled: Gregor Mendel as Icon 172 23 William Harvey and Capillaries 178 24 The Tragic Hero of Childbed Fever 184 Part VII Values and Biology Education 190 25 Respect for Life 192 26 Hands-​Off Dissection? 195 27 Organisms, Modified, Genetically 201 28 Close to Nature 207 Epilogue: Challenging Sacred Bovines, Fostering Creativity 212 Afterword for Educators: Sacred Bovines in the Classroom 218 Acknowledgments 224 Notes 226 References 238 Image Credits 254 Index 256 This book is a collection of short essays, each challenging a commonplace assumption about biology - playfully dubbed ""Sacred Bovines.""