The search for order : The life of a scientist ; Setting the stage for a new concept ; Contributions of predecessor to the concept- belief-webs ; The synthesis ; The infiniteness of the scientific process ; Science and other ways of thought ; What about biology? Order: in diversity : Early systems of classification ; John ray and natural classification schemes ; Carolus Linnaeus and his artificial system of classification ; Plant classification since Linnaeus ; Animal classification ; Modern systematic methods-numerical analysis ; The species problem ; thoughts. Order: in fitness : Growth of a species ; Specific species-species interactions: host-parasite predator-prey relationships ; Predator-predator competition: stability and the niche ; The whole natural area ; The community concept ; The ecosystem concept ; Growth and stability of a "community"- succession and climaxes ; Thoughts. Order: in space and time : A meeting at the pub ; The young naturalist's credentials ; Neptunism versus volcanism ; Interpretations of fossils-progressionism ; The voyage begins ; Sir Charles Lyell and the "principles of geology" ; A hypothesis on the formation of coral islands ; Fossil evidence from South America ; Extinction ; Endemic species- the Galapagos island anomaly ; An explanation ; The history of the idea- species mutability ; the search for a mechanism ; Contributors to the mechanism of natural selection ; Some final questions ; Publishing the "origin" ; Thoughts. Order: in form : Early concepts of the organism- Aristotle's model ; Galen's model of the organism ; The renaissance and Galen's model ; Harvey's model of the circulation system ; Vital spirits and air ; The plant as an organism ; The geometry of the whole organism- Da Vinci and Durer ; Physical laws of the whole organism- Galileo ; More on phyllotaxy- Goethe ; D'arcy Thompson- student of form ; More on spirals ; Physical laws affecting size ; Allometry ; The determination of shape ; Crystallization and the shape of living organisms ; Transformations of coordinates- diagram of forces ; Comparative anatomy and physiology- contributions to evolutions theory ; Early concepts of the development of form- preformation versus epigenesist
Dynamic morphology emerges- Wolff and Goethe ; Mosaic versus regulative development- Roux, Dreisch, and Spemann ; Development and evolution ; Thoughts. Order: in continuity : Early explanations of heredity ; Discovering the cell ; The cell theory ; Panmerism ; Weismann's germ plasm ; statistical approach to heredity- Galton ; Segregated characteristics- Mendel ; The synthesis of heredity factors and cytological observations- Sutton ; The chromosomal basis of heredity ; The gene theory of heredity- crossover ; Characteristics of the gene ; Reproduction and evolution ; The life cycle concept ; Speciation ; Man- some questions on natural selection and speciation ; Thoughts. Order: in matter and energy : Early ideas on the "soul" of life substance ; Candles and clocks ; Transformations and organic matter ; The conservation of matter ; Inorganic catalysis ; Cellular catalysts ; Autogeneration ; Autogeneration and evolution ; Organic molecules- early concepts ; The conservation of energy ; Energy and vital processes ; Subcellular elements of life ; The molecular fitness of the environment ; The improbability of life to arise from inanimate matter ; A model for the origin of life ; Support for the model ; The inevitability of life ; Evolution and the origin of life ; The levels of organization of matter ; Thoughts. Order: in composition : Pathways of matter ; The flow of energy ; Protein structure ; Enzyme mechanisms ; Protein complexes ; Proteins and genes ; Proteins and interdependency ; Proteins and regulation ; Cell models and controversy ; Cell origin ; Thoughts. Order: in enlargement : Spatial control in unicells ; Temporal control in unicells ; Spatial control in multicells ; Temporal control in multicells ; The final differentiated state- the adult ; Stability of the differentiated state ; Thoughts. Order: in awareness : Input information ; Input wiring ; Wired response ; Information storage ; Computers and the brain ; Ideas and the inner universe ; Thoughts on thoughts ; A personal thought