SCIENCE AND THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
By
A prolific writer and biologist presents here the vitalist versus the mechanistic point of view in natural science as he goes from pure physio-chemical biology to metaphysics in this description of evolution from simple cells to present day man. The author attempts to explain human characteristics by biological fact and unexplained determinant factors in biology he tends to describe as supernatural force. The human belief in immortality, for instance, is associated with the potential immortality, or regenerative power, of cells. Individualization, another force in our culture, he describes as parallel to biological individualization, with cancer as an example of cells working against restraint. His analysis of embryonic development is presented as an example of teleology. The final action on the evolution of the human brain provides more plausible material in favor of the writer's theories. Not for the pure scientist despite the large dose of biology, this is provocative and written for the layman.