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
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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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Edward Dolnick. (2017). 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. Basic Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Edward Dolnick. 2017. 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. Basic Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)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. Basic Books, 2017.
MLA Citation (style guide)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. Basic Books, 2017.
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- bioText: Edward Dolnick is the author of The Forger's Spell, Down the Great Unknown and the Edgar Award-winning The Rescue Artist. A former chief science writer at the Boston Globe, he has written for the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. There are over 130,000 copies of his books in print. He lives with his wife near Washington, D.C.
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- 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. - reviews
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April 3, 2017
Dolnick (The Clockwork Universe) traces the winding tale of European understanding of conception biology from the 16th through the 19th century, when the merging of sperm and egg was first physically seen. He examines the theories popularized by scientific luminaries in each period, following advances in anatomy, microscopy, and scientific method as well as changes in philosophy about the relationships between men and women, humans and animals, and the living world and God. Dolnick honors the history of ideas that seem ludicrous today, including that of preformation of tiny versions of all human bodies at the beginning of creation, and makes the point that even the most brilliant investigators can miss salient information they don’t expect, as when Vesalius observed ovarian follicles a century before de Graaf but dismissed them as irrelevant. Substantive background on the work of such figures as William Harvey and Luigi Galvani may feel like a diversion to readers only interested in reproductive biology, but Dolnick composes a cohesive narrative around his central question while noting its appeal as a side topic to key thinkers in science. Illus. Agent: Philippa Brophy, Sterling Lord Literistic.
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Starred review from April 1, 2017
A history of the "search for the solution to the sex and conception mystery," focused on the period between 1650 and 1900.As former Boston Globe chief science writer Dolnick (The Rush: America's Fevered Quest for Fortune, 1848-1853, 2014, etc.) notes at the beginning of his latest book, "not everyone has wondered why the stars shine or why the earth spins," but "every person who has ever lived has asked where babies come from." Thoughtful scientists have confidently delivered the wrong answer, and the author provides a delightful history of what happened until they got it right. Everyone knew that an egg was involved, although brilliant anatomists (Vesalius, William Harvey) searched humans in vain. Semen was essential and--as men were considered the superior sex--the most important factor, but its role remained mysterious. When Antonie van Leeuwenhoek turned his microscope on his semen in the 1670s, he believed that each of the innumerable wiggling creatures contained a tiny human. Most scientists disagreed, insisting that the tiny human resided inside the still-unobserved human egg. This was "preformism." To early scientists, making an embryo from nothing was absurd. More refined experiments and the discovery that cells make up all living things produced impressive advances, but it was not until 1875 that a German biologist who remains mostly unknown (Oscar Hertwig) first saw a single sperm penetrate an egg (of a sea urchin) and fuse with the nucleus, after which the cell began to divide. Researchers then turned their attention to what happens afterward, but, having effectively answered the big question, Dolnick stops there. The best sort of science history, explaining not only how great men made great discoveries, but why equally great men, trapped by prejudices and what seemed to be plain common sense, missed what was in front of their noses.COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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May 1, 2017
While it was common knowledge in the 17th century that babies resulted from men and women having sex, it took some time before people became aware of the nuances of conception and reproduction. Focusing on the years 1650-1875, Dolnick (The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World), former chief science writer for the Boston Globe, narrates a story with many wrong turns and near misses, skillfully tantalizing modern readers with hints of a greater truth obscured by lack of information. He also does an excellent job of explaining the critical role that religion played for early modern biologists. Today, we sometimes think of faith and science as being in opposition to each other, but that was not the case during this period; rather, religion inspired and directed the work of these early scientists. The narrative ends somewhat abruptly in 1875, when egg fertilization was witnessed for the first time. VERDICT An enlightening and quick read that delves into the details of a topic that readers might think they know all about. Those interested in the early modern period and the history of science in Europe will particularly appreciate this title.--Cate Hirschbiel, Iwasaki Lib., Emerson Coll., Boston
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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May 15, 2017
In this unexpectedly amusing history, the author investigates a question few readers will have ever considered: When did people figure out where babies come from? Dolnick (The Clockwork Universe, 2011), formerly the chief science writer for the Boston Globe, is well aware that the sexual act itself has been sorted out for centuries, but figuring out just what happened during sex to, sometimes, create a baby is where things got dicey. Dolnick explores all manner of experiments conducted from the seventeenth century forward by a long list of scientists (all male), many aimed at trying to understand just what role women had in the process, other than providing a necessary field for an able man's seed. From the bizarre, including a woman who claimed to have given birth to rabbits, to the divinesome scientists insisted that God's hand was a critical component to conceptionDolnick follows an array of trails. Combining first-class research and a truly delightful writing style, Dolnick shares his fascination with the history of science and our perception of reproduction in this enlightening and enjoyable read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
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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.
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