Although modern cell biology is often considered to have arisen following World War II in tandem with certain technological and methodological advances—in particular, the electron microscope and cell fractionation—its origins actually date to the 1830s and the development of cytology, the scientific study of cells. By 1924, with the publication of Edmund Vincent Cowdry’s General Cytology, the discipline had stretched beyond the bounds of purely microscopic observation to include the chemical, physical, and genetic analysis of cells. Inspired by Cowdry’s classic, watershed work, this book collects contributions from cell biologists, historians, and philosophers of science to explore the history and current status of cell biology. Despite extraordinary advances in describing both the structure and function of cells, cell biology tends to be overshadowed by molecular biology, a field that developed contemporaneously. This book remedies that unjust disparity through an investigation of cell biology’s evolution and its role in pushing forward the boundaries of biological understanding. Contributors show that modern concepts of cell organization, mechanistic explanations, epigenetics, molecular thinking, and even computational approaches all can be placed on the continuum of cell studies from cytology to cell biology and beyond. The first book in the series Convening Science: Discovery at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Visions of Cell Biology sheds new light on a century of cellular discovery.

Elegant, suggestive, and clarifying, Lewis Thomas's profoundly humane vision explores the world around us and examines the complex interdependence of all things. Extending beyond the usual limitations of biological science and into a vast and wondrous world of hidden relationships, this provocative book explores in personal, poetic essays to topics such as computers, germs, language, music, death, insects, and medicine. Lewis Thomas writes, "Once you have become permanently startled, as I am, by the realization that we are a social species, you tend to keep an eye out for the pieces of evidence that this is, by and large, good for us."

Cell Biology of the Eye discusses the eye tissues and its role in the investigations on active transport, growth factors, receptors, and differentiation. The book is comprised of articles which discuss corneal proteoglycans; transport of ions and metabolites across the corneal endothelium; the ontogeny and localization of the crystallins in eye lens development and regeneration; the biological-physical basis of lens transparency; the chromatic organization of the retina; and the dopamine neurons in the retina. This treatise will serve as a valuable reference text for graduate and professional students, teachers, researchers, clinicians, and to all in the vision field.

This textbook is intended for use in a course for undergraduate students in biology, neuroscience or psychology who have had an introductory course on the structure and function of the nervous system. Its primary purpose is to provide a working vocabulary and knowledge of the biology of vision and to acquaint students with the major themes in biological vision research. Part I treats the eye as an image-forming organ and provides an overview of the projections from the retina to key visual structures of the brain. Part II examines the functions of the retina and its central projections in greater detail, building on the introductory material of Part I. Part III treats certain special topics in vision that require this detailed knowledge of the structure and properties of the retina and visual projections.

This text is a comprehensive look at the current knowledge on stem cell application for vision loss, showcasing different types of stem cells (adult, embryonic, iPSCs) for diseases of the front and the back of the eye. It also highlights data obtained in various models from fish to human, as well as from the bionic eye project for vision regeneration. This volume in the Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine series is essential reading for stem cell biologists, ophthalmologists, advanced and graduate students, in addition to academics and medical staff who work in these disciplines.

GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD FINALIST Christopher Dewdney takes us on an enchanting hour-by-hour journey through the night. With eloquence and insight, Dewdney explores this dark frontier in its many guises: as it seeps into the habitats of nocturnal creatures, takes its place in our bedtime stories and ancient myths, makes its way into our sleeping bodies. Whether investigating the cosmology of the night or visiting a modern sleep clinic, Dewdney brings a philosopher’s mind, a scientist’s thirst and a poet’s eye to his subject. Highly acclaimed in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., Acquainted with the Night is bedside reading at its most intimate and illuminating.

Does science aim at providing an account of the world that is literally true or objectively true? Understanding the difference requires paying close attention to metaphor and its role in science. In The Third Lens, Andrew S. Reynolds argues that metaphors, like microscopes and other instruments, are a vital tool in the construction of scientific knowledge and explanations of how the world works. More than just rhetorical devices for conveying difficult ideas, metaphors provide the conceptual means with which scientists interpret and intervene in the world. Reynolds here investigates the role of metaphors in the creation of scientific concepts, theories, and explanations, using cell theory as his primary case study. He explores the history of key metaphors that have informed the field and the experimental, philosophical, and social circumstances under which they have emerged, risen in popularity, and in some cases faded from view. How we think of cells—as chambers, organisms, or even machines—makes a difference to scientific practice. Consequently, an accurate picture of how scientific knowledge is made requires us to understand how the metaphors scientists use—and the social values that often surreptitiously accompany them—influence our understanding of the world, and, ultimately, of ourselves. The influence of metaphor isn’t limited to how we think about cells or proteins: in some cases they can even lead to real material change in the very nature of the thing in question, as scientists use technology to alter the reality to fit the metaphor. Drawing out the implications of science’s reliance upon metaphor, The Third Lens will be of interest to anyone working in the areas of history and philosophy of science, science studies, cell and molecular biology, science education and communication, and metaphor in general.