| Phys Descr |
ix, 309 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Summary |
"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 |
| Note |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-296) and index |
| Contents |
Prologue: England in the early 1630s -- Part one: Peering into the body -- Part two: The search for the egg -- Part three: Russian dolls -- Part four: The clockwork topples and a new theory rises |
| Subject |
Human reproduction -- History
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Human reproduction -- Mythology
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Human reproduction -- Social aspects
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| OCLC # |
960294702 |
| ISBN # |
9780465082957 |
|
0465082955 |
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