Trembley's Polyp: The "animal-plant" that changed 18th century biology

Authors

  • Pasqual Bernat Centre for Studies on the History of Science, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.78.2539

Keywords:

biology, Great Chain of Being, performationism, regeneration, soul, zoology

Abstract

Abraham Trembley’s experiments with freshwater hydra not only surprised his contemporaries, but his results also caused a huge stir among the scientific community of his time. Ideas such as «The Great Chain of Being», the mechanism whereby living things were created, or the nature of the soul were strongly shaken.

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Author Biography

Pasqual Bernat, Centre for Studies on the History of Science, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain).

Centre for Studies on the History of Science, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain).

References

BAKER, J. R., 1952. Abraham Trembley of Geneva. Scientist and Philosopher (1710-1784). Edward Arnold. London.

BYNUM, W. F., 1975. «The Great Chain of Being after Forty Years. An Appraisal». History of Science, 113: 1-28.

CARLIN, L., 2000. «Leibniz’s Great Chain of Being». Studia leibnitiana, 32: 131-150.

DAWSON, V. P., 1987. Nature’s Enigma. The Problem of the Polyp in the Letters of Bonnet, Trembley and Réaumur. American Philosophical Society. Philadelphia.

LOVEJOY, A., 1936. The Great Chain of Being. A Study of the History of an Idea. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA.

Moscoso, J., 1995. «Experimentos de regeneración animal: 1686-1765. ¿Cómo defender la pre-existencia?». Dynamis, 15: 341-373.

MOSCOSO, J., 2000. Materialismo y religión. Ciencias de la vida en la Europa ilustrada. Ediciones del Serbal. Barcelona.

RATCLIFF, M. J., 2004. «Abraham Trembley’s Strategy of Generosity and the Scope of Celebrity in the Mid-eighteenth Century». Isis, 4: 555-575.

VARTANIAN, A., 1950. «Trembley’s Polyp, La Mettrie and Eighteenth-century French Materialism». Journal of the History of Ideas, 11(3): 259-286.

Portada de Mètode Science Studies 3

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Published

2013-07-30

How to Cite

Bernat, P. (2013). Trembley’s Polyp: The "animal-plant" that changed 18th century biology. Metode Science Studies Journal, (3). https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.78.2539
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Issue

Allegory of science (2013)

Section

Documentary texts

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