Making Sense of Life

Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines

Evelyn Fox Keller

    Preface

    Introduction

    PART ONE Models: Explaining Development without the Help of Genes

    1. Synthetic Biology and the Origin of Living Form

    2. Morphology as a Science of Mechanical Forces

    3. Untimely Births of a Mathematical Biology

    PART TWO Metaphors: Genes and Developmental Narratives

    4. Genes, Gene Action, and Genetic Programs

    5. Taming the Cybernetic Metaphor

    6. Positioning Positional Information

    PART THREE Machines: Understanding Development with Computers, Recombinant DNA, and Molecular Imaging

    7. The Visual Culture of Molecular Embryology

    8. New Roles for Mathematical and Computational Modeling

    9. Synthetic Biology Redux-Computer Simulation and Artificial Life

    Conclusion: Understanding Development

    Notes

    References

    Index

  • Cover: Making Sense of Life
  • A photo of the author

Evelyn Fox Keller is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at MIT. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and numerous honorary degrees.