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Seeds of life: from Aristotle to Da Vinci, from shark's teeth to frog's pants, the long and strange quest to discover where babies come from

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Average Rating
Publisher:
Basic Books
Pub. Date:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language:
English
Description
"Why cracking the code of human conception took centuries of wild theories, misogynist blunders, and ludicrous mistakes. Throughout most of human history, babies were surprises. People knew the basics: men and women had sex, and sometimes babies followed. But beyond that the origins of life were a colossal mystery. The Seeds of Life is the remarkable and rollicking story of how a series of blundering geniuses and brilliant amateurs struggled for two centuries to discover where, exactly, babies come from. Taking a page from investigative thrillers, acclaimed science writer Edward Dolnick looks to these early scientists as if they were detectives hot on the trail of a bedeviling and urgent mystery. These strange searchers included an Italian surgeon using shark teeth to prove that female reproductive organs were not 'failed' male genitalia, and a Catholic priest who designed ingenious miniature pants to prove that frogs required semen to fertilize their eggs. A witty and rousing history of science, The Seeds of Life presents our greatest scientists struggling-against their perceptions, their religious beliefs, and their deep-seated prejudices-to uncover how and where we come from"--
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ISBN:
9780465082957
9780465094967
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID752a7116-b9d0-fc19-0c49-29d1eb17a68d
Grouping Titleseeds of life from aristotle to da vinci from sharks teeth to frogs pants the long and strange quest to discover where babies come from
Grouping Authoredward dolnick
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-28 02:11:39AM
Last Indexed2024-03-28 02:24:37AM

Solr Fields

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author
Dolnick, Edward, 1952-
author_display
Dolnick, Edward
available_at_catalog
Central
Franklin
Martin Luther King Jr.
North Sacramento-Hagginwood
detailed_location_catalog
Central
Franklin
Martin Luther King, Jr.
North Sacramento-Hagginwood
display_description
"Why cracking the code of human conception took centuries of wild theories, misogynist blunders, and ludicrous mistakes. Throughout most of human history, babies were surprises. People knew the basics: men and women had sex, and sometimes babies followed. But beyond that the origins of life were a colossal mystery. The Seeds of Life is the remarkable and rollicking story of how a series of blundering geniuses and brilliant amateurs struggled for two centuries to discover where, exactly, babies come from. Taking a page from investigative thrillers, acclaimed science writer Edward Dolnick looks to these early scientists as if they were detectives hot on the trail of a bedeviling and urgent mystery. These strange searchers included an Italian surgeon using shark teeth to prove that female reproductive organs were not 'failed' male genitalia, and a Catholic priest who designed ingenious miniature pants to prove that frogs required semen to fertilize their eggs. A witty and rousing history of science, The Seeds of Life presents our greatest scientists struggling-against their perceptions, their religious beliefs, and their deep-seated prejudices-to uncover how and where we come from"--
format_catalog
Book
eBook
format_category_catalog
Books
eBook
id
752a7116-b9d0-fc19-0c49-29d1eb17a68d
isbn
9780465082957
9780465094967
itype_catalog
Adult Book Non-Fiction
last_indexed
2024-03-28T09:24:37.294Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
612.6 D665 2017
owning_library_catalog
Sacramento Public Library
owning_location_catalog
Central
Franklin
Martin Luther King Jr.
North Sacramento-Hagginwood
primary_isbn
9780465082957
publishDate
2017
publisher
Basic Books
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Human reproduction -- History
Human reproduction -- Mythology
Human reproduction -- Social aspects
title_display
Seeds of life : from Aristotle to Da Vinci, from shark's teeth to frog's pants, the long and strange quest to discover where babies come from
title_full
Seeds of life : from Aristotle to Da Vinci, from shark's teeth to frog's pants, the long and strange quest to discover where babies come from / Edward Dolnick
The Seeds of Life From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks' Teeth to Frogs' Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From
title_short
Seeds of life
title_sub
from Aristotle to Da Vinci, from shark's teeth to frog's pants, the long and strange quest to discover where babies come from
topic_facet
History
Human reproduction
Mythology
Nonfiction
Science
Social aspects

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