roots of biology Flashcards
hunter-gatherer peoples
- needed a knowledge of animals habits (migrations/attacked) internal anatomy, and how to kill them
- needed to know plant diversity and uses (foods/medicines/weapons/tools)
artificial selection
deliberate, selective breeding for altered characteristics
- domestication of plants and animals meant reproduction fell to control of people
what traits were selected for in plant domestication
increased seed size - larger yeild
non-shattering inflourescences - seeds stay close ex. corn
high yeilds
self-pollinating
agriculture
domestication of wild plants and producing new varieities required biological knowledge
domestication
keeping animals alive required knowledge of nutrition, breeding, behavior and diseases
- finding a social animal suitable for domestication
subdivision of medicine in early civilizations
pharmacology, surgery, magic and religion
physicians in egypt
among the elite
- organized into hierarchhy from cheif physician to bandager
imhotep (2700-2600 BC)
architect, physician, polymath might have written surgical texts
first commer without royal birth to be mentioned in record
polymath
fundementally important work in multiple fields
Edwin smith papyrus (1600 BC)
one of the worlds oldest medical treatises
- contents may go back to 2700 BC imhotep
- 48 case histories
- little magic, knowledge of anatomy, physiology
Ebers papyrus (1550 BC)
contains both practical advice and magic
- over 700 drugs and formulas given
Yellow Emperors inner canyon
- illnesses is the result of natural causes (not demons)
- illness can result from the disruption of the flow (chi)
chi
vital energy that travels throught he body along defined pathways - meridians
In greece: pneuma
In india: prana
yin/yang
imbalances of yin/yang can lead to illness
yin- negative/cold/dark/earthly/feminine
yang-
positive/warm/bright/full/heavenly/masculine
microcosm
human body is a microcosm that reflects the world as a whole (the marcocosm)