Darwin – the founder of the theory of evolution
Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English biologist and founder of the theory of evolution. He once sailed around the world for 5 years on the ship Berger, and made a lot of observations and collections of animals, plants and geological structures.
The publication of The Origin of Species put forward the theory of biological evolution, thus destroying various idealistic creationisms and species invariance. In addition to biology, his theories have had a non-negligible influence on the development of anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. Engels listed "evolution" as one of the three major discoveries of natural science in the 19th century (the other two are cell theory and the law of conservation transformation of energy), which has made outstanding contributions to mankind.
Darwin once said, "The main pleasure and the only cause of my life is my scientific writings." There are also some of the most important scientific results obtained by direct investigation during travel. For example, the famous "Expedition Diary" and "Geology of the Begle" and "Zoology of the Begle" written by Darwin and so on. Of particular historical importance in his writings is The Origin of Species, which shows the gradual development of Darwin's evolutionary ideas and the theory of natural selection.
The publication of On the Origin of Species is a major event of world significance, as it marked a profound change in the perception of the biological world and the place of human beings in the biological world by the vast majority of learned people in the nineteenth century. The publication of On the Origin of Species gave rise to a fierce attack on Darwinism by creationists and scientists with teleological sentiments (and these were the overwhelming majority), as well as a corresponding struggle to defend Darwinism, in which progressive naturalists, in addition to the Darwinians, became enthusiastic supporters of Darwinism everywhere.
The Origin of Species is an epoch-making work that marked a profound change in the perception of the biological world and the place of human beings in the biological world by the vast majority of learned people in the 19th century. "The Origin of Species" is a classic work that affects the course of history, one of the 10 books that shocked the world, and it is also a huge work that has had a wide impact on the process of human development, and a classic translation that has influenced modern Chinese society. In 1985, Life magazine selected the best book ever by mankind. The ideal collection recommended by the French magazine "Reading" in 1986.
It is worth mentioning that November 24, 1859, was an extraordinary day in London, England. On this day, a large number of London citizens flocked to a bookstore to buy a new book that had just been published. The first edition of the book, 1250 copies, was sold out on the date of publication. This blockbuster new book is On the Origin of Species, the first tome of Darwin, the founder of evolution. The publication of this work was the first to base biology on a completely scientific basis, and to overthrow the theories of "creationism" and "immutability of species" with a new idea of biological evolution.
The publication of On the Origin of Species caused a sensation in Europe and the world at large. It dealt a heavy blow to the foundations of theocratic rule, and everyone from the reactionary church to the feudal royal literati became mad and angry, and they attacked Darwin in droves, and slandered Darwin's doctrine as "blaspheming the Holy Spirit", violating the "divine right of kings" and losing human dignity.
On the contrary, progressive scholars, represented by Huxley, actively propagated and defended Darwinism. In fact, the theory of evolution has broken the ideological shackles of people, inspired and educated people to liberate themselves from the shackles of religious superstition.
Marx-Darwin's On the Origin of Species is very meaningful and can be used as a natural science basis for the class struggle in history.
Liebknecht – 1859 became the dividing line between the two "worlds" before and after the history of science. The publication of On the Origin of Species revolutionized biology.
The dominant idea of the British botanist Watson Darwin in The Origin of Species, namely "natural selection", must be accepted as a scientifically determined truth. It has the characteristics of all the great truths of the natural sciences, turning blur into clarity, complexity into simplicity, and adding much new to old knowledge. Darwin was the greatest revolutionary in naturalism of this century, and indeed of all centuries.
The British naturalist Huxley – I think the style of The Origin of Species is no better, it can move people who know nothing about the subject. As for Darwin's theory, I am prepared to support it even if I go to the soup.
Historian of psychology D. Schultz – In Darwin's theory, the importance of the psychological factors of species evolution is obvious, and he often cites the conscious response of humans and animals. Since psychology is consistent with consciousness in evolutionary theory, psychology has to accept this evolutionary view.
Darwin's work also influenced psychology in four ways:
1. It emphasizes the continuity of mental functioning between animals and humans;
2) It changes the topic of psychology to the function of consciousness rather than the content of consciousness, and changes the goal of psychology to study the adaptation of organisms to their environment;
3. It provides reasonable evidence for a variety of alternative investigation and research methods, rather than being limited to the introspection of experiments;
4) It focuses on individual differences between members of the same species.
Darwin had a special influence on the development of functionalism, and his theory of evolution led to the rise of psychological thought in the American school of functionalism, thus ushering in a new era of American-centered psychology.
On the family side, the Darwins had a combined 10 children. Three of them died prematurely: the second daughter Mary lived only 3 weeks, the younger son Charles died of scarlet fever at the age of two, and the eldest daughter Anne died of tuberculosis at the age of 10.
Darwin famously said: Only by obeying nature can we overcome nature. Grumpiness is one of the more despicable natures of human beings, and if a person loses his temper, he is tantamount to taking a step backwards on the ladder of human progress.
2. Linnaeus – the king of botany
Linnaeus was a Swedish biologist whose full name was Carl von Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778) was a Swedish botanist and adventurer who first conceived of the principles for defining biological species and created a unified system of biological nomenclature. Linnaeus loved flowers since childhood, and traveled to various European countries, visiting famous botanists and collecting a large number of plant specimens.
Linnaeus systematized all knowledge of flora and fauna, abandoning the artificial chronological classification and choosing the natural classification method. Creatively proposed the "two-name system nomenclature" (referred to as the "double-name method"), giving each plant two names, one is a genus name, one is a species name, which is connected to the scientific name of this plant, including more than 8800 species, even to the extent of "all-encompassing", known as the universal classification, this great achievement made Linnaeus one of the most outstanding scientists of the 18th century.
Before the 18th century, thousands of plants in the world did not have a unified name, often the same plant has several names, or several plants use the same name, undoubtedly bringing great difficulties to the study of plants, Linnaeus eventually changed this chaotic situation. Linnaeus' most important achievements in biology were the establishment of an anthropogenic classification systems and two-name nomenclatures.
Linnaeus was also very successful in the classification of animals, and he divided animals into six classes: tetrapods, birds, amphibians, fishes, insects, and worms. In the first class, Linnaeus included whales, humans, gorillas, monkeys, etc., becoming what people later often called mammals. Linnaeus found that many organisms have subordinate relationships between them, so he first divided nature into the plant, animal, and mineral kingdoms, and below the boundaries, there are 5 hierarchical levels: orders, genera, species, and varieties. Linnaeus unified all the creatures of the world, even minerals, into its own system.
The book "Natural Systems" is a masterpiece of Linnaean's anthropogenic classification system. Linnaeus used Latin botanical names to unify the terminology. He adopted a two-name system of nomenclature, that is, the common name of plants consisted of two parts, the former being a genus name and requiring the use of nouns; the latter being a duplicate name, requiring the use of adjectives. Combined with the naming, Linnaeus stipulated that the scientific name must be simplified to a limit of 12 characters, so that the information was very clear and conducive to communication. Linnaeus's plant classification method and dual name system were accepted by biologists from all over the world, who systematized all the animal and plant knowledge of his predecessors, discarded the artificial chronological classification method, and chose the natural classification method, so that Linnaeus became one of the most outstanding scientists of the 18th century.
In his book Plant Species, Linnaeus uses the double nomenclature to name about 7300 species of plants. Linnaeus collected 14,000 plant specimens in his lifetime, and according to the stamens characteristics of plant flowers, he divided plants into 24 orders, 116 orders, more than 1,000 genera and more than 10,000 species.
The advances of biology in the 18th century are closely linked to Linnaeus. In order to commemorate Linnaeus as an outstanding scientist, the Swedish government has established the Linnaean Museum, the Linnaean Botanical Garden, etc., and established the Swedish Linnaean Society in 1917. In 1761, the King of Sweden awarded him the title of nobility in recognition of his contributions to biology. In 1778, Linnaeus died. Since 1888, the Linnaeus Institute of London has awarded the Linnaeus Prize to outstanding achievers in botany and zoology. In 1986, the National Bank of Sweden introduced a new 100 CZK note with Linnai's portrait printed on it.
3. Lamarck – the great advocate and pioneer of evolution.
Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829) was a French naturalist and one of the great founders of biology. He was the first to propose the theory of biological evolution and was an advocate and pioneer of the theory of evolution. He was also a taxonomist, the heir of Linnaeus. His major works include Flora of France, The System of Invertebrates, and Philosophy of Zoology.
He published The Philosophy of Animals in 1809, systematically expounding his theory of evolution, commonly referred to as Lamarck's theory. The book proposes the two laws of use of waste and acquired inheritance, and believes that this is both the cause of biological mutation and the process of adapting to the environment.
The great biologist Darwin quoted Lamarck's work several times in His book On the Origin of Species. Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, proposing a theory of evolution based on natural selection, which became a turning point in the history of biology.
But Lamarck proposed the theory of biological evolution in the Philosophy of Zoology before Darwin was born (1809), which had a major impact on the history of evolutionary theory and provided a certain theoretical basis for the emergence of Darwin's theory of evolution, but little is known.
Lamarck's System of Invertebrates and Philosophy of Zoology have an important place in the history of science. It was called the "Lamarck Doctrine" by later generations. Two important laws were proposed: one is to use and waste, and the other is acquired inheritance. He believes that these two are both the causes of mutation and the process of adaptation formation.
He proposed that species can be changed, and that the stability of species has only relative significance. The reason for biological evolution is the direct impact of environmental conditions on the biological organism. He believes that under the direct influence of the new environment, the habits of organisms change, some frequently used organs develop and increase, and the infrequently used organs gradually degenerate. He believes that after such continuous strengthening and improvement of adaptive traits, species can gradually become new species, and these acquired traits can be passed on to future generations, so that organisms gradually evolve, and believes that adaptation is the main process of biological evolution.
For the first time, he explored the dynamics of biological evolution from the perspective of the interrelationship between organisms and the environment, providing a certain theoretical basis for the emergence of Darwin's theory of evolution. However, due to the limitations of the level of production and the level of science at that time, Lamarck, when explaining the evolutionary reasons, oversimplified the direct effect of the environment on the organism and the process of acquiring traits to the offspring, becoming a deduction without scientific basis, and mistakenly believing that organisms were born with a tendency to upward development, and that the will and desire of animals also played a role in evolution.
Lamarck was a lifelong worker and a faithful man of truth, fighting fiercely against the dominant species invariants of the time, who opposed Cuvier's radical theories and were attacked and persecuted by them.
Lamarck's life was spent in poverty and indifference. In his later years, he was blind in both eyes and suffered from illness, but he still worked tenaciously. With the help of the transcripts of his young daughter Cornelia, he insisted on writing, devoted his life to the study of biological sciences, and eventually became a giant of biological sciences and the founder of the great theory of scientific evolution.
In 1909, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication of his famous book Philosophy of Zoology, the Botanical Garden of Paris erected a monument for him, which will forever remember this great advocate and pioneer of evolution.
Lamarck believes that the organs that are often used by organisms will gradually develop, and the organs that are not used will gradually degenerate, which is the so-called "use of waste and retreat". Lamarck believed that acquired traits such as advances and wastes could be inherited, so that organisms could pass on the fruits of acquired exercise to the next generation. For example, the ancestors of giraffes were originally short-necked, but in order to eat the leaves of tall trees, they often extended their necks and front legs, and evolved into the current giraffes through genetics. For example, if the previous generation is a weightlifter, then the offspring should inherit the strong muscles of their parents.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a roller coaster of ups and downs before and after death. His life began smoothly at first: he received honors on the battlefield in his early years, and later academic achievements. In fact, ramen was a proponent of evolution a few decades before Darwin, helping to invent the concept of evolutionary trees and helping coin the term "biology."
But by the time of his death, Lamarck was penniless, alone, and even ridiculed by a large number of people. As an evolutionist, Lamarck died 30 years before Darwin published On the Origin of Species, dying of illness and blindness, and even after his death, his corpse was thrown into a lime pit, and his academic opponents even had to make up for it in his eulogy.
4. Harvey - the pioneer of the world's blood circulation law
William Harvey, a famous physiologist and physician in Britain in the 17th century, discovered the law of blood circulation and laid the foundation for the development of modern physiological sciences.
William Harvey was born on 1 April 1578 in the town of Foxton, Kent, England, and was the eldest in the rankings. His discovery of the function of blood circulation and the heart, whose achievements and contributions were epoch-making, marked the beginning of a new life science and was an important part of the scientific revolution that began in the 16th century.
Harvey absorbed the quintessence of the research results of his predecessors and the expositions of classical writers, and completely and brilliantly put forward the great theory of blood circulation. His important point is: the contraction of the heart muscle is the power to transport blood; Pulses are produced, which are dilated due to blood vessel congestion; There is no invisible passage between the two ventricles. The blood discharged from the right ventricle, through the pulmonary arteries, lungs and pulmonary veins, enters the left ventricle, then enters the aorta from the left ventricle, and then reaches all parts of the limb, and then returns to the right ventricle from the body vein, and a cycle is finally completed.
Harvey argues that the blood flowing in the arterial vessels and the veins is exactly the same; The role of the left and right ventricles is to receive and push blood, but the left ventricle receives blood with fresh air. Harvey explained through experiments that the blood discharged by the heart every 20 minutes is equal to the total amount of blood in the body; Therefore, the blood cannot be completely exhausted in the flow, but is constantly circulating. Harvey also explained the direction of blood flow through experiments, pointing out that venous blood flows to the heart, and the role of the venous valve is to prevent blood from flowing backwards.
Ultimately, Harvey rejects the erroneous argument that blood circulation starts at the liver. However, due to conditions, Harvey was unable to prove how arterial blood entered the veins. He had asserted that between arterial vessels and venous vessels, there must be some kind of blood vessel with a connecting effect that was invisible to the naked eye, and he did not find this "intermediary" capillary because he did not use a microscope. This work was later done by the Italian medical scientist Marcello Marbiki.
Harvey completely denied that blood could pass between the ventricles of the heart, pointing out that blood from the right ventricle flowed through the pulmonary circulation to the left ventricle. He confirmed that the role of the heart valve is to prevent blood from flowing backwards, and the role of the venous valve is to prevent blood in the veins from flowing in the direction of the heart. Through quantitative calculations and logical analysis, he proved that the amount of blood in the human body and some animals is limited, and the blood can only flow in the body in a circulatory manner.
He proved that the artery is the blood vessel that exports blood from the heart, and the vein is the blood vessel that transfuses blood back into the heart, and the two vascular systems are not completely separated, because when the vein is opened, not only the blood in the vein, but also the blood in the artery will flow empty, and vice versa. He explains the pathways of connection between the left and right atriums and the left and right ventricles, and their different roles. Using comparative anatomy, he explained the differences in the cardiovascular systems of higher animals and humans and lower animals, and the differences between the fetal and adult cardiovascular systems. Most importantly, Harvey uses a wealth of evidence from various angles to prove that blood circulates through the body.
Harvey's contributions are epoch-making, and his work marks the beginning of a new life science that is an important part of the scientific revolution that began in the 16th century. Harvey became a master of the scientific revolution alongside Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and others because of his brilliant study of the cardiovascular system, including his study of animal reproduction. His book "TheOry of The Movement of the Heart" has become a very important document in the period of the scientific revolution and the entire history of science, like "The Theory of the Movement of the Celestial Body", "Dialogue on the Two Major Systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus", and "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy".
Harvey not only deeply realized the important role of the heart in the theory of blood circulation, but also deeply realized that the heart is the "small universe" - the sun in the human blood circulation system. He wrote in The Movement of the Heart: "The heart is the beginning of life, it is the sun of the miniature universe."
In Harvey's theory of cardiomyomotor, only one problem is not solved thoroughly, he has not observed the capillaries connecting the arteries and veins, he found in experiments that blood is constantly flowing, so there must be some kind of fine tubule connection between the arteries and veins, so that the flow of blood can become a loop. But unfortunately, when Harvey was studying the circulation of the blood system, he had no decent microscope at all, and Harvey only had a handheld "magnifying glass" and could not see the capillaries at all. Thus, the prophecies of his genius were not proven by microscopes until decades later.
Harvey's Theory of Heart And Blood Movement is compact and clearly argued, surpassing all the medical treatises of previous generations. But Harvey's Theory of Heart Movement did not go well, and as early as 1626 he had talked to the British Minister of State, Francis Bacon, about his Theory of Heart Movement, but Bacon thought it was nonsense. Harvey's book was published in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1628, not on his own initiative, because a German publisher, knowing that he had a very novel treatise, wrote him an enthusiastic letter in which he said: "We do not want to lose an opportunity for all of Europe to know your ideas, and have decided to pay for all the costs of publishing The Theory of The Movement of hearts." Harvey was deeply moved and finally made up his mind to publish this epoch-making book.
Harvey was very fortunate because England was in turmoil at the time, people were too busy fighting wars and power struggles, and almost no one wanted to read Harvey's esoteric medical writings. In addition, Harvey was gentle and quiet, and rarely resented people, so he was not seriously persecuted in Britain.
In his later years, Harvey devoted himself to the study of embryology, arguing that birds and reptiles were "developed from eggs" and realized that all viviparous animals also occur from eggs. In 1651, he completed another great medical work, Embryology.
Harvey was a revolutionary in medicine but a royalist in politics. Harvey was not only charles I's physician, but also a good friend of the king, so he remained loyal to the king. He also followed the king during Charles I's war with Parliament, and in the fierce battle in which Cromwell completely repelled the royalist army, Harvey read his medical books under a penny not far from the battlefield. After the royalists were defeated and Charles I was sent to the guillotine, Harvey returned to the countryside not far from London to continue his medical research. After Cromwell came to power, the Royal Medical College elected Harvey as the dean of the medical school, but because he was very dissatisfied with the revolution, he resigned on the grounds of old age.
From Copernicus-Bruno to Kepler, Galileo established the Great Cosmic System.
And from Vesalius-Servette to lucky Harvey, a small cosmic system was established. The former is the study of the natural world, and the latter is the study of the human body itself.
5. Fabre – Homer of the insect kingdom
Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre (22 December 1823 – 11 October 1915) was a French entomologist and writer. It is known as "Homer of the insect world" and "Virgil of the insect world". His more than 700 fungal drawings in watercolor were highly appreciated and loved by the Provencal poet Mistral. He also contributed to the bleaching and dyeing industry and has been granted three patents on alizarin, the main works of which are: Insects.
"Insects" is also translated as "Insect World". Insects is not only a scientific masterpiece of insects but also a magnificent poem praising life, and Fabre has also won the titles of "Scientific Poet", "Insect Homer", "Virgil of the Insect World" and so on. Also known as the Virgil of the Insect World". Lu Xun once mentioned Fabr's "Insect Record" in his article before the "May Fourth" and regarded the "Insect Record" as a model for "talking about insect life".
Fabre continued to teach himself throughout his life, earning a bachelor's degree, a bachelor's degree in mathematics, a bachelor's degree in natural sciences, and a doctorate in natural sciences. He was fluent in Latin and Greek and loved the works of the ancient Roman writer Horace and the poet Virgil. In painting and watercolor, he also left many exquisite fungal drawings by almost self-taught materials. It was once praised by the Nobel Prize winner and French poet Frederick Mistral.
Fabre's achievements were widely recognized by society. Although Fabre received many scientific titles, he remained as simple as ever, shy and humble, living a life of poverty.
His talent was admired by the literati and scholars of the time, including the British biologist Darwin, the 1911 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Belgian playwright Metlinger, the German writer Jungle, the French philosopher Bergson, the poet Maramé, and the Provencal literary scholar Rumanière. Because of the accurate record of Fabre's experiments in Insects, revealing many secrets in insect life and habits, Darwin called Fabre "an observer who cannot be emulated."
The then Minister of Public Education, Victor Duluy, had recommended Fabre to Napoleon III, who awarded him the Medal of Honor. France proved that the politician Raymond Poincaré greeted him on a special detour through the Deserted Stone Garden on his way to Selinion. Fabre's works, which have multiple identities, are varied. As a naturalist, he left behind many scholarly treatises on flora and fauna. These include "Madder Patents and Papers", "Animals of Avignon", "Block Cockroach", "Umbrella Fungus on Olive Trees", "Staphyllida aphid", etc.
Insects shows the talent and literary brilliance of scientific observation and research of Fabre, who was 92 years old.
6, Haeckel - the originator of the protozoa theory
Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) German naturalist, defender and disseminator of Darwin's theory of evolution. Born in Potsdam, Germany. He studied medicine in Berlin, Würzburg and Vienna in his early years, and the famous scholars J. Müller, R.A. von Klliker and Weierhe were his teachers.
Haeckel's theory is very important to the history of evolution. Haeckel was the one who came up with the concept of ecology. In particular, his knowledge of anatomy gave evolution many new perspectives. He also described hundreds of new species. In addition, he introduced the use of genealogical maps to describe representations of evolutionary relationships in biology. He proposed the idea that all living things developed from a common ancestor.
Haeckel was the inspiration of German eugenics. In his Miracle of Life, he wrote: "Our civilized country artificially nurtures thousands of people with incurable diseases, such as neuropaths, leprosy patients, cancer patients, and so on, which is of no benefit to these people themselves or to society as a whole." From 1905 onwards, Haeckel was a member of the Eugenic Society.
Haeckel's writings often reflect his Ideas of German National Chauvinism. For example, in his Eternal he wrote: "Every well-educated German soldier ... In terms of wisdom and moral value, it is higher than the primitive natural man that hundreds of Britain, France, Russia, and Italy can provide. In the Outline of Morphology, he said, "The difference between a superior and an inferior person is greater than the difference between an inferior person and a higher animal." Haeckel's remarks gave him a highly disgraceful role in the history of German thought.
Haeckel believes that biology is similar to art in many ways. For example, radiolaria in single-celled organisms greatly inspired his artistic talent. His paintings of plankton and jellyfish vividly embody the beauty of the biological world. He has drawn beautiful illustrations both in his scholarly works and in his popular science works. His drawings also had an impact on the art of the early 20th century. Art Nouveau was inspired by some of his illustrations.
Haeckel was very industrious. Using data from britain's Challenge alone, he described more than 3,500 species of radiolarian worms. His report is three volumes, 2750 pages, and includes 140 very delicate images of radiolarians. He tends to work 18 hours a day.
In zoology, Haeckel mainly studies the systematic classification of lower marine animals such as radiolarians and sponges, describing nearly 4,000 new species. The monograph "Radiolarian" published in 1862 established a natural classification system according to kinship and worked hard to find the primitive type.
The dissemination of Darwin's theory of evolution was an important part of his life's academic activities. He firmly believed in the theory of evolution, and used evolution as the main weapon against the social and religious conservative ideas of the time, and he published works such as "The History of Creation" and "The Evolution of Mankind", which popularized Darwin's theory of evolution.
After that, he further proposed that the inverted process of early embryos of cavernous body- prosthesis formation, which also occurs in multicellular animals, believes that all multicellular animals evolve from a common primitive type - protozoa, which is the famous "prointestinal progenitor" in the history of science. Although these views of his have played a positive role in the propagation and popularization of the theory of evolution in history, they are mechanical in nature and not in line with reality, such as the individual development of organisms, which is generally similar to phylogenetic development, but by no means a repetition of phylogenetic development.
In his old age, he moved from the discussion of science to philosophy. He believes that the correct method of study is "philosophical empiricism", the interaction of induction and deduction.
7. Watson – the father of DNA
James. Dewey. Watson, a famous American biologist and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for proposing the double helix structure of DNA, and is known as the father of DNA.
Born in Chicago on April 6, 1928. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1947 with a bachelor's degree, went to Indiana University Graduate School for further study, received his doctorate in 1950 and went to the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to engage in phage research, from 1951 to 1953 in the University of Cambridge, Cambridge University, The Cavendish Laboratory, returned to China in 1953, worked at California Institute of Technology from 1953 to 1955, went to Harvard University to teach in 1955, and during his time at Harvard, mainly engaged in protein biosynthesis research. Since 1968, he has been the director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, New York, where he has been mainly engaged in oncology research.
From 1951 to 1953 in England, he collaborated with British biologist F.H.C Crick to propose the double helix structure theory of DNA. This theory not only elucidates the basic structure of DNA, but also provides a reasonable explanation of how a DNA molecule replicates into two DNA molecules with the same structure and how DNA transmits genetic information about an organism. It is considered a revolutionary discovery in the biological sciences and is one of the most important scientific achievements of the 20th century.
For proposing the double helix model of DNA, Watson, along with Crick and M.H.F. Wilkins, won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is the author of "Molecular Biology of Genes" and "Double Helix" and other books.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, after DNA was recognized as genetic material, biologists faced a dilemma: What kind of structure should DNA have to carry out the burden of inheritance? It must be able to carry genetic information, be able to replicate itself to transmit genetic information, be able to allow genetic information to be expressed to control cellular activity, and be able to mutate and retain mutations. These 4 points are indispensable, how to construct a DNA molecular model to explain all this?
At that time, there were three main laboratories in the world studying DNA molecular models almost simultaneously. The first laboratory was Wilkins and Franklin laboratories at King's College London, which used X-ray diffraction to study the crystal structure of DNA. When X-rays hit the crystals of biological macromolecules, the atoms or molecules in the lattice will deflect the rays, and based on the resulting diffraction images, the approximate structure and shape of the molecules can be inferred. The second lab is the lab of Linus Pauling, a great chemist at caltech. Previously, Pauling had discovered the a-helix structure of proteins. The third is an informal research group. When Watson, a 23-year-old young geneticist, went from the United States to Cambridge University as a postdoc in 1951, although his real intention was to study the molecular structure of DNA, the project was to study tobacco mosaic viruses.
Crick, who was 12 years older than him, was working on his phD thesis titled "Peptides and Proteins: X-ray Studies." Watson persuaded Crick from the same office to work on molecular models of DNA because he needed Crick's knowledge of X-ray crystal diffraction. They began piecing together the model in October 1951, tried several times, and finally got the correct model in March 1953.
Watson is widely known for his autobiography Double Helix, which swept the world. Watson has been described by many as talented, outspoken, and eccentric. But he was knowledgeable and not pedantic, and he was very energetic, and he enjoyed playing tennis since he was a student.
8. Mendel – the father of modern genetics
Gregor Mendel (20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist in the Austrian Empire. Born in the austrian empire of Silesia (now part of the Czech Republic), he served as a priest in the monastery of Brunn (present-day Brno, Czech Republic), the founder of genetics, and is known as the father of modern genetics. Through the pea experiment, he discovered two of the three basic laws of genetics, namely the law of separation and the law of free combination.
Mendel was born on 20 July 1822 to a poor peasant family in the village of Heinzedorf in Silesia (now Czech) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In 1840 he was admitted to the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Olmitz, where he specialized in classical philosophy. In 1843, he dropped out of school because of his family's poverty, and in October of the same year, at the age of 21, Mendel entered the Augustinian Monastery in Bron and taught at a secondary school run by the local church, teaching natural sciences. Because of his ability to concentrate on preparing lessons, he is very popular with students.
In 1850 Mendel was sent by the Church to the University of Vienna for further study, where he received a fairly systematic and rigorous scientific education and training, but also by outstanding scientists, such as Doppler, for whom Mendel worked as a physics demonstration assistant. Another example is Etien Hausen, who was a mathematician and physicist, and Engel, an important figure in the development of cell theory, which laid a solid foundation for his later scientific practice.
In 1856, shortly after returning to Bruen from the University of Vienna, Mendel began an eight-year experiment with peas. Mendel first obtained 34 varieties of peas from many seed dealers and selected 22 varieties from them for experimentation. They all have some sort of stable trait that can be distinguished from each other, such as tall or short stems, round or wrinkled grains, gray seed coats or white seed coats, and so on.
Mendel cultivated these peas in detail, counting and analyzing the traits and numbers of peas of different generations. He was passionate about his research and often pointed to the peas at his visiting guests and proudly said, "These are my sons and daughters!"
After eight hard work, Mendel discovered the basic laws of biological inheritance and obtained the corresponding mathematical relations. His findings are called "Mendel's First Law" (i.e., Mendel's Law of Genetic Separation) and "Mendel's Second Law" (i.e., the Law of Free Combination of Genes), which reveal the basic laws of biological genetic mysteries.
Born into a poor peasant family, Mendel was very fond of the natural sciences and had no interest in religion or theology. But in order to get rid of the hunger and cold, he had to enter the monastery against his will and become a monk.
Gregor John Mendel, as the earliest discoverer of the law of inheritance, was a regular in middle school textbooks. But his lifelong dedication to the natural sciences was filled with loneliness and contempt, especially the results of his life's hard work that were left unattended or even buried. It was not until 16 years after his death, and 35 years after the publication of the theory, that it began to be recognized and recognized.
9. Vavilov – master of plant population research
Vavilov is recognized as one of the scholars who have made the greatest contributions to the study of plant populations. His research results were included in the multi-volume Collected Works of Applied Plant Genetics and Breeding, which became the Soviet school of study of cultivated plants.
Born on November 25, 1887 to a merchant family near Moscow, Vavilov graduated from the Moscow Agricultural Institute (now the Timyatev Agricultural College) in 1910, went to cambridge university in the United Kingdom from 1913 to 1914, studied under the guidance of W. Bateson, returned to China, and was a professor at Saratovsky University and Moscow University from 1917 to 1921, director of the Leningrad Institute of Applied Botany in 1924, and then the first president of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences until 1935. During his tenure, more than 400 scientific research institutions were established throughout the Soviet Union. Died January 26, 1943.
Under Vavilov's leadership, the Institute of Applied Botany was gradually developed into a research center for crop variety resources throughout the Soviet Union. The variety resources collected by the institute reach more than 200,000 copies, and have become an important base for the storage and breeding of standard varieties of crops in the world.
From 1916 to 1933, Vavilov led a collection team to investigate the world many times, and successively went to dozens of countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, China, Central America and South America, collected hundreds of thousands of specimens and seeds of crops and their closely related plants, and identified, sorted and classified them by means of morphology, cytology, genetics and immunology. Then, organizing a vast number of experimental observations around the world, he proposed a hypothesis based on the results: the center of origin of cultivated plants should be the areas where their wild relatives show the greatest adaptability. This conclusion was written in the book Origin Variation, Immunity and Breeding of Cultivated Plants. Since then, he has proposed 12 centers of origin for cultivated plants in the world.
Since Т. Criticized for peddling "Mendel-Morgan genetics," Д. Lysenko was arrested in 1940 and died in prison in 1943.
On January 27, 1944, the 872-day Siege of Leningrad finally ended. In what is hailed as the second bloodiest battle in human history, the Soviet Union alone paid 3.43 million casualties, facing a fortified city, Hitler hoped that through a long siege, the people in the city would starve to death and die of disease.
In such a desperate atmosphere, there is such a group of scientists guarding 250,000 seeds, and in order to protect them, they are surrounded by a pile of food and starved to death. Peanut expert Alexander Stchukin, for example, fainted from hunger on his writing desk and never woke up. Botanist Dmitri Ivanov looked at the thousands of packs of seeds he was guarding, similarly starving to death. By the end of 1944, more than nine botany and genetic scientists had fallen around the warehouse.
Their leader, Nikolai Vavilov, was the founder of the botanical institute, but he was later wrongfully imprisoned and starved to death in prison on January 26, 1943. Therefore, this group of scientists has spent their lives fighting to solve human hunger, but they themselves have died of hunger.
10. Crick – Discovered DNA
Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was a British biologist, physicist, and neuroscientist. His most important achievement was the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA with James Watson in 1953 at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. For this reason, they and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, a medal now preserved at the Bermudae Center for Regenerative Medicine. He died of colorectal cancer in 2004. One of his colleagues, Koch, once lamented: "He was revising a paper before he died; He remained a scientist to the death."
On April 25, 1953, Crick and Watson collaborated to publish a paper in the top journal Nature titled "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids—A Possible Structure of DNA." Their paper was hailed as "a hallmark of biology that ushered in a new era." On this basis, Crick further analyzed the function and localization of DNA in life activities, and proposed the famous central law, thus laying the foundation for the entire molecular genetics.
Crick also joined Vernon-Ingram in discovering the role of genetic material in determining protein properties, earning him the "father of molecular biology."
For their outstanding contributions to the study of DNA molecules, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for "discovering the molecular structure of nucleic acids and their importance for information transmission in organisms."
In the mid-1990s, Crick pointed out in his popular science book "The Amazing Hypothesis: The Scientific Exploration of the Soul" that our thoughts and consciousness can be explained by the interaction of some neurons in the brain, which is the "amazing hypothesis" he proposed about consciousness.
The discoverer of the DNA structure, british scientist Francis Crick, once wrote a letter to his son was auctioned in New York on April 10, 2013, and bought by anonymous people for a record-breaking $5.3 million (about 32.86 million yuan at the time). Crick's seven-page letter to his 12-year-old son, Michael, who was in boarding school.
Crick said in the letter that the double helix structure of DNA is very "beautiful." It also reads: "Read carefully to understand." When you get home, we'll show you the model. "The date of signature on the letter is March 19, 1953. Together with the auction commission, Crick's letter cost more than $6 million, far more than the $3.4 million (commission) bid from U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 2008.