Description

Contents

Introduction 11

circa 4 billion years ago The origins of life 14

circa 3.9 billion years ago The last universal common ancestor 16

circa 3.9 billion years ago Prokaryotic organisms 18

circa 2.5 billion years ago Algae 20

circa 2 billion years ago Eukaryotic organisms 22

circa 1.4 billion years ago Fungi 24

circa 570 million years ago Arthropods 26

circa 530 million years ago Primitive brain: the vital organ 28

circa 530 million years ago Fish 30

circa 450 million years ago Terrestrial plants 32

circa 417 million years ago The Devonian Period 34

circa 400 million years ago Insects 36

circa 400 million years ago Plant defenses against herbivores 38

circa 360 million years ago Amphibians 40

circa 350 million years ago The seeds of success 42

circa 320 million years ago Reptiles 44

circa 300 million years ago Gymnosperms 46

circa 230 million years ago Dinosaurs 48

circa 200 million years ago Mammals 50

circa 150 million years ago Birds 52

circa 125 million years ago Angiosperms 54

circa 65 million years ago Primates 56

circa 55 million years ago The Amazon rainforest 58

circa 350,000 years ago Neanderthal Man 60

circa 200,000 years ago Anatomically Modern Humans 62

circa 60,000 years ago Plant-derived medicines 64

circa 11,000 years ago Wheat: the food of life 66

circa 10,000 years ago Agriculture 68

circa 10,000 years ago The domestication of animals 70

circa 8000 years ago Coral reefs 72

circa 7000 years ago The cultivation of rice 74

circa 2600 years ago Mummification 76

circa 2350 years ago Animal navigation 78

circa 400 BC The four humors 80

circa 330 BC Aristotle's Histories of Animals 82

circa 330 BC Animal migrations 84

circa 320 BC Botany 86

77 The Natural History of Pliny 88

circa 180 The skeletal system 90

1242 The pulmonary circulation 92

1489 Human anatomy according to Leonardo 94

1521 The sense of hearing 96

1543 On the construction of the human body by Vesalius 98

1611 Tobacco 100

1614 Metabolism 102

1620 The scientific method 104

1628 On the movement of the heart by Harvey 106

1637 The mechanistic philosophy of Descartes 108

1651 The placenta 110

1652 The lymphatic system 112

1658 Blood cells 114

1668 Disproving the theory of spontaneous generation 116

1669 The phosphorus cycle 118

1670 Vitalism and magic 120

1674 Leeuwenhoek's microcosm 122

1677 Spermatozoa 124

1717 The miasma theory 126

1729 Circadian rhythms 128

1733 Blood pressure 130

1735 Linnaeus's taxonomic system 132

circa 1741 Cerebrospinal fluid 134

1744 Tissue regeneration 136

1759 Theories of embryonic development 138

1760 Artificial selection (selective breeding) 140

1786 Animal electricity 142

1789 Gas exchange 144

1791 Nervous system and neuronal communication 146

1796 Paleontology 148

1798 Population growth and food availability 150

1809 Lamarckism 152

1828 The theory of germ layers 154

1831 The nucleus of the cell 156

1831 Darwin and the Beagle's voyages 158

1832 The Anatomy Act of 1832 160

1833 The process of digestion in humans 162

1836 The fossil record and evolution 164

1837 The nitrogen cycle and plant chemistry 166

1838 The cell theory 168

1840 Plant nutrition 170

1842 The production of urine 172

1842 Apoptosis (programmed cell death) 174

1843 Toxins 176

1843 Homologous and analogous anatomical structures 178

1845 Photosynthesis 180

1848 Optical isomers 182

1849 Testosterone 184

1850 Trichromatic vision 186

1854 Homeostasis 188

1856 The liver and glucose metabolism 190

1857 Microbial fermentation 192

1859 The Darwinian theory of natural selection 194

1859 Ecological interactions 196

1859 Invasive species 198

1861 The localization of brain functions 200

1862 Biological mimicry 202

1866 Mendelian inheritance 204

1866 Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny 206

1866 Hemoglobin and hemocyanin 208

1869 Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) 210

1871 Sex determination 212

1873 Coevolution 214

1874 Nature vs. nurture 216

1875 The biosphere 218

1876 Reduction 220

1876 Biogeography 222

1877 Marine biology 224

1878 Enzymes 226

1880 Phototropism 228

1882 Mitosis 230

circa 1882 Thermoreceptors 232

1882 Innate immunity 234

1883 The theory of plasmid germ 236

1883 Eugenics 238

1884 Gram staining 240

1885 Mechanisms of negative feedback 242

1890 The microbial theory of disease 244

1890 Animal coloration 246

1891 The neuron doctrine 248

1892 Endotoxins 250

1896 Global warming 252

1897 Acquired immunity 254

1897 Associative learning 256

1897 Ehrlich's side-chain theory 258

1898 The protozoan causing malaria 260

1898 Viruses 262

1899 Ecological succession 264

1899 Animal migration 266

1900 The rediscovery of genetics 268

1900 Ovaries and female reproduction 270

1901 Blood types 272

1902 Tissue culture 274

1902 Secretin: the first hormone 276

1904 Dendrochronology 278

1905 Blood coagulation 280

1907 Radiometric dating 282

1907 Probiotics 284

1907 Why the heart beats 286

1908 The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium 288

1910 Genes and chromosomes 290

1911 Oncogenic viruses 292

1912 The shifting of continents 294

1912 Vitamins and beriberi disease 296

1912 The thyroid gland and the process of metamorphosis 298

1912 X-ray crystallography 300

1917 Bacteriophages 302

1919 Biotechnology 304

1920 Neurotransmitters 306

1921 Insulin 308

1923 Inherited metabolic disorders 310

1924 Embryonic induction 312

1924 Calculating the timing of ovulation 314

1925 Mitochondria and cellular respiration 316

1925 "The Scopes Monkey Trial" 318

1925 Population ecology 320

1927 Trophic webs 322

1927 The dance language of insects 324

1928 Antibiotics 326

1929 Progesterone 328

1930 Osmoregulation in freshwater and saltwater fish 330

1931 The electron microscope 332

1935 The imprinting 334

1935 Factors affecting population growth 336

1936 Stress 338

1936 Allometric growth 340

1937 Evolutionary genetics 342

1938 The coelacanth: "the living fossil" 344

1939 Energy potential 346

1941 The "one gene-one enzyme" hypothesis 348

1942 The concept of biological species and reproductive isolation 350

1943 Arabidopsis thaliana: a model organism in biological research 352

1944 DNA as a carrier of genetic information 354

1945 The Green Revolution 356

1946 Bacterial genetics 358

1949 Activated sludge system 360

1950 Phylogenetic systematics 362

1951 HeLa immortal cells 364

1952 Cloning (nuclear transfer) 366

1952 The amino acid sequence of insulin 368

1952 Creating schematic patterns in nature 370

1952 Plasmids 372

1952 The nerve growth factor 374

1953 The Miller-Urey experiment 376

1953 The double helix 378

1953 REM sleep 380

1953 Acquired immune tolerance and organ transplantation 382

1954 The sliding filament theory of muscle contraction 384

1955 Ribosomes 386

1955 Lysosomes 388

1956 Prenatal testing 390