Descript |
ix, 309 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
Note |
"Why cracking the code of human conception took centuries of wild theories, misogynist blunders, and ludicrous mistakes. Throughout most of human history, babies were surprises. People knew the basics: men and women had sex, and sometimes babies followed. But beyond that the origins of life were a colossal mystery. The Seeds of Life is the remarkable and rollicking story of how a series of blundering geniuses and brilliant amateurs struggled for two centuries to discover where, exactly, babies come from. Taking a page from investigative thrillers, acclaimed science writer Edward Dolnick looks to these early scientists as if they were detectives hot on the trail of a bedeviling and urgent mystery. These strange searchers included an Italian surgeon using shark teeth to prove that female reproductive organs were not 'failed' male genitalia, and a Catholic priest who designed ingenious miniature pants to prove that frogs required semen to fertilize their eggs. A witty and rousing history of science, The Seeds of Life presents our greatest scientists struggling-against their perceptions, their religious beliefs, and their deep-seated prejudices-to uncover how and where we come from"-- Provided by publisher |
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-296) and index |
Subject |
Human reproduction -- History
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Human reproduction -- Mythology
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Human reproduction -- Social aspects
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Människan -- fortplantning
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Människan -- befruktning
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Bebisar
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Classmark |
612.6
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ISBN/ISSN |
9780465082957 |
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9780465094967 (ebook) |
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