Biology and Its Makers / With Portraits and Other Illustrations

The author provides a concise historical survey of biological thought, tracing major shifts from classical natural history through nineteenth-century advances. Organized around the lives of influential investigators, the first section examines sources of biological ideas—renewed observation, the overthrow of authority, anatomical and experimental methods, and the rise of classification, microscopy, and physiology—while the second treats the doctrine of organic evolution and its integration into biology. The narrative highlights milestones such as the reform of anatomy, experimental physiology, cell theory, and the discovery of protoplasm, and includes portraits and selected references intended to orient general readers and laboratory students to the main currents and men who shaped the science.