Monsters, Hybrids, and Living Engineering

This lecture explores the public culture of monsters in the 17th century, including cases like Lazarus Coloredo and Tannakin Skinker. It delves into the relationship between supernatural and natural causes for monstrous births, as seen in historical texts and scientific observations. The lecture also discusses the fabrication of monsters in the 18th and 19th centuries, showcasing examples like the chat-chien and lapin-pigeon hybrids. It further examines the practical knowledge and scientific advancements in plant breeding, exemplified by the work of Jean-Pierre Vibert and Gregor Mendel. The session concludes by highlighting the intersection of science, commerce, and industry in shaping scientific practices and concepts.

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Related concepts (20)

HUM-385: History of science and technology

Qu'est-ce que la science fait au monde ? Ce cours propose de réfléchir à cette question à partir des exemples offerts par l'histoire des sciences et des techniques, du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours.

Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature. The Scientific Revolution took place in Europe in the second half of the Renaissance period, with the 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus publication De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) often cited as its beginning.

Plant breeding

Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It has been used to improve the quality of nutrition in products for humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce crop varieties that boast unique and superior traits for a variety of applications. The most frequently addressed agricultural traits are those related to biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, grain or biomass yield, end-use quality characteristics such as taste or the concentrations of specific biological molecules (proteins, sugars, lipids, vitamins, fibers) and ease of processing (harvesting, milling, baking, malting, blending, etc.

Scientific method

The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific method for additional detail.) It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation.

Selective breeding

Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together. Domesticated animals are known as breeds, normally bred by a professional breeder, while domesticated plants are known as varieties, cultigens, cultivars, or breeds.

Hybrid (biology)

In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Generally, it means that each cell has genetic material from two different organisms, whereas an individual where some cells are derived from a different organism is called a chimera. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in blending inheritance), but can show hybrid vigor, sometimes growing larger or taller than either parent.