Abstract:
This paper analyzes the influence of Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold\'s discovery of the embryonic organizer on society outside the narrower confines of embryology. It begins by overviewing how in the 1920s-1930s, the organizer discovery fit well into the agenda of both right-wing and left-wing political camps, as it supported holistic theories of biological development that aligned with their ideological views. The paper then explores the organizer\'s influence on the formation and interdisciplinary discussions of the 1930s Cambridge Theoretical Biology Club. Club member C.H. Waddington\'s concept of the epigenetic landscape, inspired in part by Spemann and Mangold\'s work, went on to impact diverse fields including mathematics, psychology, anthropology, architecture, and art. Examples include mathematician René Thom\'s catastrophe landscapes and the field of ekistics (the science of human settlements). Spemann and Mangold\'s creation of an embryo chimera by combining tissues from different newt species also helped shape philosophers\' and artists\' understanding of the relationship between nature and technology as an integrated whole rather than separate entities. Additionally, Spemann\'s embryonic field concept helped influence field theories in other areas of science, and thinkers have pointed out metaphorical similarities between the organizer experiment and philosophical dialectics, film editing, or historical events. However, several factors likely limited the long-term societal impact of Spemann\'s holistic perspective, notably the rise of molecular biology and DNA-centric reductionist views of biology in the mid-late 20th century. While such reductionism still dominates public perceptions of biology, there seems to be a renewed openness to holistic perspectives reminiscent of Spemann\'s views.
摘要:
本文分析了HansSpemann和HildeMangold发现胚胎组织者对胚胎学狭窄范围之外的社会的影响。它首先概述了在1920-1930年代,组织者的发现非常适合右翼和左翼政治阵营的议程,因为它支持与他们的意识形态观点相一致的生物发展的整体理论。然后,本文探讨了组织者对1930年代剑桥理论生物学俱乐部的形成和跨学科讨论的影响。俱乐部成员C.H.Waddington的表观遗传景观概念,部分灵感来自Spemann和Mangold\的作品,影响了包括数学在内的各个领域,心理学,人类学,architecture,和艺术。例子包括数学家RenéThom的灾难景观和ekistics(人类住区科学)领域。Spemann和Mangold通过组合来自不同new物种的组织来创建胚胎嵌合体,这也帮助哲学家和艺术家将自然与技术之间的关系理解为一个整体,而不是单独的实体。此外,Spemann的胚胎场概念有助于影响其他科学领域的场论,思想家指出了组织者实验和哲学辩证法之间的隐喻相似性,电影剪辑,或历史事件。然而,几个因素可能限制了斯派曼整体视角的长期社会影响,值得注意的是20世纪中后期分子生物学和以DNA为中心的还原论生物学观点的兴起。虽然这种还原论仍然主导着公众对生物学的看法,似乎对整体观点有了新的开放,这让人想起了斯派曼的观点。