Modern Science 13.2

Microscopy

1243

Early work with magnification. There has perhaps been nothing more energizing to the study of biology than the development of the microscope. Trying to view nature with the unaided eye limited man's knowledge of the structure of living things and therefore limited his understanding of the function God has assigned to each part of each living thing. When naturalists began using magnification, a whole new world opened to them.

Advances in Botany and Zoology (Konrad Gesner)

1518

Gesner served as a professor of natural history and medicine at the Protestant university in Zurich, Switzerland, where the Swiss Reformation had begun in 1518.
Gesner was a staunch
Protestant, as were many of his scientific contem-poraries. His primary contributions to science.
Gesner was a staunch
Protestant, as were many of his scientific contem-poraries.

Advances in Botany and Zoology (Otto Brunfels

1529

Some of the earliest signs of the renewal of interest in nature came in the field of botany, which at that time was closely connected to medicine. Otto Brunfels a Protestant pastor and schoolmaster who lived in Strasbourg (now in eastern France), wrote Herbarum Vivae Eicones (Living Pictures of Herbs) for physicians and apothecaries, who used plants for medicinal purposes.

Fabrica(Vesalius book)

1542

Vesalius wrote a book about his observations called De Humani Corporis Fabrica (The Structure of the Human Body), usually called the Fabrica. This book, published when Vesalius was
only 28, became a classic for biological study and la the foundation for generations of study. Because contributions, Vesalius is considered the Father of Anc Harvey. Anatomy, the structure of living things, V first effort in understanding natural history.

Advances in Anatomy and Physiology(Andreas Vesalius)

1543

Vesalius saw many contradictions between Galen's books and the bodies that he was dissecting. Vesalius wrote a book about his observations called De Humani Corporis Fabrica (The Structure of the Human Body), usually called the Fabrica.
Andreas Vesalius
lished when Vesalius was
only 28, became a classic for biological study and laid the foundation for generations of study. Because of his contributions, Vesalius is considered the Father of Anatomy.

Advances in Botany and Zoology (Leonhard Fuchs)

1557

At the same time that Bruntels worked, Leonard Fuchs [fyooks: 1501-1566], who taught at the Protestant university in Tübingen [too 'bing•an] in southwestern Germany, wrote The Natural History of Plants, in which he accurately illustrated and described about 500 medicinal plants. He encouraged medical students at the university to spend their free time in the summers roaming the fields and mountains collecting and studying plants.

The Reformation Era

1601

The Reformation Era
The Reformation in Europe loosened the grip of superstition and made possible a new era of progress in science.
The return to the authority of the Scriptures, which was the hallmark of the Protestant movement, made people very interested in the natural world that the God of the Scriptures had created.
The great German Reformer Martin Luther (1483-
1546) set a good example to his followers for using the Scriptures to arrive at an understanding of reality.

Advances in Anatomy and Phisiology( William Harvey)

1610

English physician and a great physiologist, was known for his classic work on the circulation of blood through the body. Living just one generation after Vesalius, Harvey used the more advanced knowledge of anatomy to study how the heart worked.
His prolonged and searching work was broadly compara-tive. He mentioned some forty kinds of animals upon which he worked, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

William's quote

1622

I have also observed, that almost all animals have truly a heart, not the larger creatures only, and those that have red blood, but the smaller, and pale-blooded ones also, such as slugs, snails, scallops, shrimps, crabs, crayfish, and many others; nay, even in wasps, hornets, and flies, I have, with the aid of a magnifying glass, and at the upper part of what is called the tail, both seen the heart pulsating myself, and shown it to many others.

The Spread of Science(materialism)

1656

By the time of Vesalius and Harvey, the work of naturalists was becoming more accepted and popular.
But the advancement of science was being threatened by false philosophies such as materialism, the idea that the universe consists of nothing but matter and energy and has no spiritual or supernatural aspects.

The Cell Theory

1839

One of the most fundamental principles of biology resulted from the work of the early microscopists. The cell theory maintains that all living things are composed of living units called cells and of cell products and that all cells come from preexisting cells. This principle was not widely accepted until the mid-19th century, at which time the study of microbiology became a recognized field of science. The theory of the cell was a direct result of man's searching for order in living things.