A History of Regeneration Research Milestones in the Evolution of a Science

The book presents the leading researchers and their seminal discoveries in the field.

In the eighteenth century the phenomenon of animal regeneration captured the attention and imagination of the era's leading naturalists and intellectuals. Importantly, their research of the phenomenon spurred on the transition from descriptive natural history to modern experimental zoology. A History of Regeneration Research chronicles this crucial evolutionary stretch in the history of developmental biology, offering a penetrating analysis of the milestones in regeneration research. The book not only presents the leading researchers and their seminal discoveries in the field, but also brings together critical commentaries on the social context and philosophical commitments that shaded their interpretations. This strategic weaving of content with context raises the discussion above the field of regeneration research; exploring the societal influences on the perception of nature, the book sheds light on the nature of the scientific enterprise itself, and the way scientific discoveries are interpreted.

List of contributors; Preface; 1. Introduction Charles E. Dinsmore; 2. The natural history (and mystery) of regeneration Richard J. Goss; 3. New limbs for old: some highlights in the history of regeneration in Crustacea Dorothy M. Skinner and John S. Cook; 4. Abraham Trembley and the origins of research on regeneration in animals Howard M. Lenhoff and Sylvia G. Lenhoff; 5. Lazzaro Spallanzani: concepts of generation and regeneration Charles E. Dinsmore; 6. Observation versus philosophical commitment in eighteenth-century ideas of regeneration and generation Keith R. Benson; 7. The neurotrophic phenomenon: its history during limb regeneration in the newt Marcus Singer and Jacqueline Géraudie; 8. Regeneration: 1885–1901 Frederick B. Churchill; 9. T. H. Morgan's regeneration, epigenesis and (w)holism Jane Maienschein; 10. A history of bioelectricity in development and regeneration Joseph W. Vanable Jr; 11. Origin of the blastema cells in epimorphic regeneration of urodele appendages: a history of ideas Richard A. Liversage; 12. Morgan's ambivalence: a history of gradients and regeneration Lewis Wolpert; Index.

The book not only presents the leading researchers and their seminal discoveries in the field, but also brings together critical commentaries on the social context and philosophical commitments that shaded their interpretations.