Vertebrate Myogenesis (Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation)

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The development of vertebrate muscle has long been a major area of research in developmental biology. During the last decade, novel technical approaches have allowed us to unravel to a large extent the mechanisms underlying muscle formation, and myogenesis has become one of the best-understood paradigms for cellular differentiation.
This book concisely summarizes our current knowledge about muscle development in vertebrates, from the determination of muscle precursors to terminal differentiation. Each chapter has been written by an expert in the field, and particular emphasis has been placed on the different developmental and molecular pathways followed by the three types of vertebrate musculature - skeletal, heart and smooth muscle.

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The story of the gentleman farmer from Edinburgh who discovered that the earth was millions of years old, not six thousand, and paved the way for Darwin's theory of evolution.

There are three men whose contributions helped free science from the straitjacket of theology. Two of the three-Nicolaus Copernicus and Charles Darwin-are widely known and heralded for their breakthroughs. The third, James Hutton, never received the same recognition, yet he profoundly changed our understanding of the earth and its dynamic forces. Hutton proved that the earth was likely millions of years old rather than the biblically determined six thousand, and that it was continuously being shaped and re-shaped by myriad everyday forces rather than one cataclysmic event.

In this expertly crafted narrative, Jack Repcheck tells the remarkable story of this Scottish gentleman farmer and how his simple observations on his small tract of land led him to a theory that was in direct confrontation with the Bible and that also provided the scientific proof that would spark Darwin's theory of evolution. It is also the story of Scotland and the Scottish Enlightenment, which brought together some of the greatest thinkers of the age, from David Hume and Adam Smith to James Watt and Erasmus Darwin. Finally, it is a story about the power of the written word. Repcheck argues that Hutton's work was lost to history because he could not describe his findings in graceful and readable prose. (Unlike Darwin's Origin of the Species, Hutton's one and only book was impenetrable.) A marvelous narrative about a little-known man and the science he founded, The Man Who Found Time is also a parable about the power of books to shape the history of ideas.

Customer Reviews:

A Solid, Breezy Overview of an Important Subject in the Earth's Geology.......2007-02-21

It is hard to find a more significant figure in the history of geology. James Hutton (1726-1797) was an exceptional amateur geologist who was the first to put together a compelling explanation of the age of the Earth. This interesting and accessible book presents in a compelling manner the life and work of this remarkable Scotsman. Written in a breezy style, it will not satisfy scholars but it nonetheless presents a compelling introduction for non-specialists in the history of geology. A Scottish physician, Hutton dabbled in all types of scientific inquiry, especially the practical aspects of farming, crops yields, and the like. While engaged in this effort he began to study the surface of the Earth, gradually forming questions and methods of resolving them.

This book is a breathless survey of the life and career of James Hutton as a gentlemen scholar, his work on the age of the Earth, and his place in the larger story of the Scottish Enlightenment. Trained as a physician, Hutton lived a life of ease where he undertook scientific investigations and scientific farming. In terms of his work on the geology of the Earth, he really published three items. The first is an abstract of a talk that he gave in Edinburgh in 1785 outlining in general terms his conclusion that the Earth must be far older than the 6,000 years usually thought because of the analysis base on the Bible. He then published a longer paper, "Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws Observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of the Land upon the Globe," in 1788 in the "Transaction of the Royal Society of Edinburgh" that created a huge stir among scientists and led to denunciations from several zealous academics. In 1795 he published a two volume "Theory of the Earth, with Proofs and Illustrations" that sought to answer his critics, but written as he was rapidly declining this work proved insufficient to counter their arguments.

Hutton was correct that the Earth is much older than the biblical account would lead one to believe. He was also right to posit a dynamic structure at the Earth's core and the shaping of land masses based on cataclysm and upheaval, though probably not a universal flood. Because of some committed believers who came later, this understanding became dominant in the nineteenth century.

This is a very fine, easy read about an important topic. It ranges far across the eighteenth century, especially commenting on the Scottish Enlightenment, which gave us several great thinkers including Adam Smith and David Hume as well as Hutton. It even explores the Scottish rebellion of the 1740s led by Bonnie Prince Charlie in a chapter that seems misplaced in this volume. Overall, "The Man Who Found Time" is a useful introduction to an important subject. For those seeking a more detailed, scholar account, I recommend Dennis R. Dean's "James Hutton and the History of Geology" (Cornell University Press, 1992). For those interested in the larger questions of the Earth's geology, especially the age of the planet, I recommend G. Brent Dalrymple "The Age of the Earth" (Stanford University Press, 1991).

Rebuttal of "Rocky Road".......2006-11-01

No one who looks closely at this book, or at the reviews of this book, could reasonably expect it to be an exposition of James Hutton's important but long-superceded geological notions. This is a social history, a story of science as a cultural phenomenon, and as such it is neither meandering nor disorganized. As Mr Rocky Road himself acknowledges, it's engagingly written, economical of words, almost never repetitive, witty, and not at all a difficult piece of reading. In fact, it's a short book and a quick read, and if you don't know much about the 18th C explosion of knowledge, it's a great introduction.

Geology and the Scottish Enlightment.......2006-10-14

I found this book to be an interesting new perspective for me on the Scottish Enlightenment--the role of science. The central focus is James Hutton (1726-1797), a Scottish geologist whose pioneering work would disprove the then (and perhaps still) current assertion that the world was not more than 6,000 years old. No less a figure than Newton himself had made this influential calculation. Hutton's theory was based upon his study of the effects of erosion in conjunction with the dynamic movements of the earth's surface generated by intense subsurface heat. He spent much time simply studying various cliffs in Scotland, which convinced him of the ancient nature of the Earth. The author well sets the stage, with introductory chapters on the religious perspective, Hutton's early life, the political context in 18th century Scotland, the role of Edinburgh ("the Athens of the North") as a catalyst for Enlightenment intellectual and scientific development, and the evolution of a scientific study of geology. A chapter is included on Charles Lyell, an influential geologist and author who did much to spread knowledge of Hutton's findings and theories, including being influential on Darwin who read his "Principles of Geology" while on the Beagle voyage. And of course, Hutton's theory was of critical assistance to Darwin, because it indicated that the earth had been in existence for millions of years, during which the slow processes of evolution would have had an opportunity to develop. This is another of the new breed of fairly short books (228 pages) that are just excellent in rich in content, putting some of their longer counterparts to shame. An excellent appendix deals with key geologic terms and some current views of Hutton; a valuable extensive bibliography is also included. Just a most pleasant read about a novel topic.

The Birth of Modern Geology.......2006-08-11

Part geology, part biography, part history of Scotland, this excellent book is a tribute to James Hutton, the originator of modern geology. Starting with the status of geology in the eighteenth century and the use of the Bible as the basis for estimating the age of the earth, the author weaves the intriguing story of James Hutton and how he came about discovering signs of the earth's true antiquity. The political situation in eighteenth century Scotland is well described and illustrates the times in which Hutton lived. But the book goes further in that the evolution of geology after Hutton's death is also discussed, ending with modern estimates of the age of the earth and a brief description of the methods used to produce them. This is a very well-written and exciting book that should appeal to a wide audience.

Another One of Britian's Gifts.......2006-06-18

James Hutton was a tall thin Scotsman, a non-practicing medical doctor, who was independently wealthy and devoted to farming. Unlike many lately, but like some other residents of the United Kingdom, such as Smith, Darwin, Talbot and indeed the fabled figures Sherlock Holmes and Henry Higgins, he used his wealth not to acquire numerous homes but to engage in intellectual endeavors. There are those who may have found him "difficult," but it is hard to fault his priorities.

Hutton became convinced that the world was much older than generally believed in the last half of the eighteenth century. Although the author is not sure of the genesis of Hutton's belief, he does describe the books that had been written in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that posed scenarios markedly different from that in the bible. Hutton appears, or had the opportunity, to have read them. In 1788 he scouted the rocky, inhospitable, Scotch coast and discovered sedimentary rocks, (Silurian greywacke) tilted like the pages of a book below an unconformity which in turn was overlaid by Upper Old Red Sandstone, all exposed to the sea. This finding confirmed his thought that the world was very, very old, much older than then thought.

But what did nearly everyone else think at that time and why? It is one of the better parts of the book. Repcheck describes Eusebius chronology of world history, written in Greek for Constantine in 325. It was translated into Latin by St. Jerome in 382 and that document "inspired chronologists for the next 1400 years." Eusebius had borrowed from the Hebrew Bible; now known as the Septuagint Bible. It contains the Book of Genesis which gives definite years for the life spans of a few of the celebrities mentioned, e.g. Adam 930 years, Noah 950, Abraham 175, Moses 120, etc. From these and a chronology constructed by Julius Africanus between 212 and 221 he calculated that the birth of Jesus Christ took place 5500 years after God had reportedly worked for six days and rested for one. This was the belief that Hutton faced, and it was then, as now, very widely held in the West. (In China, as there is no belief in a creator, Hutton would have had a somewhat easier time.)

At the time Hutton was farming, most mineralogists believed that all visible rocks were precipitates from the universal ocean. Hutton did not, because he could not dissolve in water every substance found in rocks. He concluded that heat from within the earth coupled with pressure caused lithification. He was wrong on the need for heat. However, he was the first to recognize the need for pressure. (Heat and pressure being necessary for the formation of metamorphic rocks, they were then thought to be also required for sedimentary solidification.) Hutton's importance was stated by Lyell, who was inspired by him, "[Hutton] was the first... to explain the former changes of the earth's crust, by reference exclusively to natural agents." Hutton stated his ultimate conclusion succinctly: "In the economy of the world, I can find no traces of a beginning, no prospect of an end." The effect of his insight was summed by Lyell: "The imagination was first fatigued and overpowered by endeavoring to conceive the immensity of time required for the annihilation of whole continents by so insensible a process." Hutton originated uniformitarianism, which Lyell took to another level. Unfortunately it does not account for catastrophes, which Repcheck notes later caused some resistance to the impact thesis. The strength of the book is its description of the evolution of thought and the intellectual impediments that were overcome.

Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time (The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures)

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Does history repeat itself or does it generate a sequence of unique events?
Time's Arrow Time's Cycle
curve ball that looks like a slider
Meet the mythmakers

Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time (The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures)
Stephen Jay Gould
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0674891988

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Rarely has a scholar attained such popular acclaim merely by doing what he does best and enjoys most. But such is Stephen Jay Gould's command of paleontology and evolutionary theory, and his gift for brilliant explication, that he has brought dust and dead bones to life, and developed an immense following for the seeming arcana of this field.

In Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle his subject is nothing less than geology's signal contribution to human thought--the discovery of "deep time," the vastness of earth's history, a history so ancient that we can comprehend it only as metaphor. He follows a single thread through three documents that mark the transition in our thinking from thousands to billions of years: Thomas Burnet's four-volume Sacred Theory of the Earth (1680-1690), James Hutton's Theory of the Earth (1795), and Charles Lyell's three-volume Principles of Geology (1830-1833).

Gould's major theme is the role of metaphor in the formulation and testing of scientific theories--in this case the insight provided by the oldest traditional dichotomy of Judeo-Christian thought: the directionality of time's arrow or the immanence of time's cycle. Gould follows these metaphors through these three great documents and shows how their influence, more than the empirical observation of rocks in the field, provoked the supposed discovery of deep time by Hutton and Lyell. Gould breaks through the traditional "cardboard" history of geological textbooks (the progressive march to truth inspired by more and better observations) by showing that Burnet, the villain of conventional accounts, was a rationalist (not a theologically driven miracle-monger) whose rich reconstruction of earth history emphasized the need for both time's arrow (narrative history) and time's cycle (immanent laws), while Hutton and Lyell, our traditional heroes, denied the richness of history by their exclusive focus upon time's Arrow.

Customer Reviews:

Does history repeat itself or does it generate a sequence of unique events?.......2006-07-10

Does history repeat itself or does it generate a sequence of unique events? This is the fundamental question "Time's Arrow and Time's Cycle" asks. It is my third favourite Gould book, after "Wonderful Life" and "Bully for Brontosaurus". From a literary and philosophical point of view, it's possibly his best book, being more tightly focused than WL and more developed than the essays in BfB.

You'll find here many standard Gould devices such as fascinating segues and the rehabilitation of discredited thinkers. For instance we read the story of how James Hampton built his masterpiece, his throne to the glory of God, out of discarded junk (it's now at the Smithsonian). Gould also rehabilitates the 17th century thinker Thomas Burnet and his unsubstantiated cosmological theories. He also presents two more orthodox thinkers, James Hutton and Charles Lyell, and contrasts their gradual uniformitarianism with the sudden catastrophism of Burnet.

Gould explicitly dismisses Burnet's scientific credentials but still uses Burnet's vision as a starting point. It is by opposing Burnet to Hutton and Lyell that Gould asks the question as to what history is: repetive and uniform, or cyclical? The answer of course is a little of both. Again, Burnet's vision provides the clue to the answer. There are cycles, and within the cycle there are shocks and catastrophes. Or is it the other way around? Clearly Time is a difficult concept to grasp!

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

Time's Arrow Time's Cycle.......2002-10-08

Time's Arrow Time's Cycle written by Stephtn Jay Gould is a book that takes human thought to a new level in comprehending geology's vastness of history... the discovery of deep time. Gould works this book's major theme in the role of metaphor in the formulation and testing of scientific theories as the directionality (narrative history) of time's arrow or the immanence of time's cycle (immanent laws).

This book is both an account of geology's greatest discovery and philosophical commentary on the nature of scientific thought. As this thought takes us from thought of time in thousand of years to billions of years, inspired by empirical observation of rocks in the field.

Gould follows a single thread through three documents that mark the transition in our thinking: Thomas Burnet's four-volume "Sacred Theory of the Earth" (1680-1690), James Hutton's "Theory of the Earth (1795), and Charle Lyell's three-volume "Principle of Geology (1830-1833). Gould shifts through these writings giving the reader a history and background needed for a progressive march to the truth of the geological history through an enlightened observation.

Reading this book will captivate the curious reader and helps the human mind understand the vastness of time and the struggle to understand it.

curve ball that looks like a slider.......2000-12-05

The title of the review is an homage to Gould's oft mentioned love of baseball. This book is a cogent explanation of how European scientists (natural philosophers) recounciled the narrative tradition of history inherited from the Judeo-Christian template with the eternal return perspective of the Classical civilizations. Both view points-as-metaphors shed light on interpretation of the geological record. There are both serial and cyclic elements in the history of the earth, so the scientific community found truth in spite of the fact that individual scientists tended to emphasize one perspective over the other.

Gould exposes the 'cardboard cut-out' Whig version of history that most working scientists have received uncritically as hurried historical preambles to their study of geology per se. James Hutton, for example, is held up as a paragon of the field geologist who supposedly preceded his assertion of the existence of 'deep time' with countless hours in the field. Not so, says Gould. In fact, Hutton did his field work after he conceived the idea of a lengthy earth history and merely used his field observations to bolster his claim. Thomas Burnet, author of the much made-fun-of Sacred Theory of the Earth, is revealed to have been a champion of uniformitarianism before Hutton even conceived of it. Burnet refused to advance causes for events described in the Bible that could not be explained by the laws of physics as advanced by Isaac Newton. Finally, Charles Lyell is exposed as a master of rhetoric who conflated methodological and substantive aspects of uniformitarianism in order to sway his audience. No member of the scientific community contemporary to Lyell clung to the Mosaic timescale. He merely used it as a strawman. It was Lyell who managed to mate the narrative and eternal return perspectives into a coherent view of Earth history. First he did so by insisting the apparent progress observed in the fossil record was caused by the immense scale of the cycles of Earth history. Eventually he conceded the reality of evolution and allowed for the existence of an arrow of time whose path did not curve.

Gould's book is modified from a series of lectures, which is probably why there is so much uncharacteristic repetition of themes and ideas in this book. It was the only aspect of this book that I found irritating. Gould is also candid about his pride at uncovering various inaccuracies in the received wisdom and unearthing original themes to explain patterns in the history of geology. I have heard other people complain about this personality trait. I have no problem with it and believe that his satisfaction with his own cleverness is quite justifiable.

Meet the mythmakers.......2000-05-14

Stephen Jay Gould's love of science history really shows through in this work, which focuses on changing ideas about time and geology. It's well-researched and makes some very intriguing points about science in general, but if you have no patience for geology you probably won't get that far - it's nowhere near as accessible as his essay collections, but that's only to be expected. Every science major should read this book, and so should anyone who likes to think of themselves as well-informed about history and science.

Ages in Chaos: James Hutton and the Discovery of Deep Time

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Ages in Chaos: James Hutton and the Discovery of Deep Time
Stephen Baxter
Manufacturer: Forge Books
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ASIN: 0765312387
Release Date: 2004-10-14

Book Description

"This book, then, is the story of how a farmer's son from Scotland learned to peer into the deepest abysses of time. It is a drama of personality, landscape and ideas, of an intellectual revolution that shaped our world--and of a man whose vision, rooted in antiquity yet tinged with modern philosophies, was not only ahead of his own time but speaks to our new century."--From the ForewordIn the eighteenth century, the received wisdom, following Bishop Ussher's careful biblical calculations, was that the Earth was just six thousand years old. James Hutton, a gentleman farmer with a passion for rocks, knew that could not be the case. Looking at the formation of irregular strata in the layers of the Earth he boldly deduced that a much longer span of time would be required for the landscape he saw to have evolved. In the lusty and turbulent world of Enlightenment Scotland, he set out to prove it.He could not have achieved this without the help of his friends. Hutton's entourage in Edinburgh would turn out to be the leading thinkers of the age, including Erasmus Darwin, Adam Smith, James Watt, David Hume, and Joseph Black. But Hutton had his enemies, too. His geological theories would ignite profound religious debate and was condemned as "a wild and unnatural notion" that would lead to "skepticism, and at last to downright infidelity and atheism."Ultimately, however, his revelation was one of the most extraordinary and essential moments in scientific history. Hutton's discovery of deep time changed our view of humanity's place in the universe forever.Like Dava Sobel's bestselling Longitude, Ages In Chaos vividly captures a transcendent moment in the history of human accomplishment.

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James Hutton and the History of Geology
Dennis R. Dean
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0801426669

Earth's Autobiography: How James Hutton Read It

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Earth's Autobiography: How James Hutton Read It
Donald B. McLntyre , and Alan McKirdy
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The History of Geomorphology (The Binghamton Symposia in Geomorphology, No 19)

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The History of Geomorphology (The Binghamton Symposia in Geomorphology, No 19)

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Is the Present the Key to the Past or the Past the Key to the Present?: James Hutton and Adam Smith Versus Abraham Gottlob Werner and Karl Marx in Interpreting ... Paper (Geological Society of America))

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Is the Present the Key to the Past or the Past the Key to the Present?: James Hutton and Adam Smith Versus Abraham Gottlob Werner and Karl Marx in Interpreting ... Paper (Geological Society of America))
A. M. Celal Sengor
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James Hutton - Present and Future: Present and Future (Geological Society Special Publication)

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James Hutton - Present and Future: Present and Future (Geological Society Special Publication)

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James Hutton: Founder of Modern Geology TheThe Father of Modern Geology (Scotªs Lives)

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James Hutton: Founder of Modern Geology TheThe Father of Modern Geology (Scotªs Lives)
Donald McIntrye
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ASIN: 1901663698

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A leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hutton is the acknolwedged founder of modern geology.

Revolutions in the Earth: James Hutton and the True Age of the World

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Revolutions in the Earth: James Hutton and the True Age of the World
Stephen Baxter
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The Seashell on the Mountaintop

ASIN: 0753817616

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In 1650, the theologian and scholar Bishop James Ussher announced that the world was created on 23rd October 4004 BC. This date had been carefully calculated by adding together all the ages and reigns of the monarchs recorded in the Bible. In the late eighteenth century, James Hutton set out to prove him wrong. A gentleman farmer with legal and medical training, Hutton was fascinated by the natural landscape and in particular by rock formations. He was also surrounded by some of the most brilliant men of his day - Erasmus Darwin, Adam Smith, James Watt and David Hume. Looking at the irregular strata in the layers of the earth, Hutton deduced that the world must be much, much older than Ussher's prediction. His revelation was blasphemy - but it was also one of the most extraordinary defining moments in history, forming the framework for Darwin's theory of evolution, and shaping our modern view of the world and our place in it.

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