Produced by Chris Curnow, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS _With Portraits and Other Illustrations_ BY WILLIAM A. LOCY, Ph.D., Sc.D. _Professor in Northwestern University_ [Illustration] NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1908 COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY Published June, 1908 To MY GRADUATE STUDENTS Who have worked by my side in the Laboratory Inspired by the belief that those who seek shall find This account of the findings of some of The great men of biological science Is dedicated by THE AUTHOR PREFACE The writer is annually in receipt of letters from students, teachers, ministers, medical men, and others, asking for information on topics in general biology, and for references to the best reading on that subject. The increasing frequency of such inquiries, and the wide range of topics covered, have created the impression that an untechnical account of the rise and progress of biology would be of interest to a considerable audience. As might be surmised, the references most commonly asked for are those relating to different phases of the Evolution Theory; but the fact is usually overlooked by the inquirers that some knowledge of other features of biological research is essential even to an intelligent comprehension of that theory. In this sketch I have attempted to bring under one view the broad features of biological progress, and to increase the human interest by writing the story around the lives of the great Leaders. The practical execution of the task resolved itself largely into the question of what to omit. The number of detailed researches upon which progress in biology rests made rigid selection necessary, and the difficulties of separating the essential from the less important, and of distinguishing between men of temporary notoriety and those of enduring fame, have given rise to no small perplexities. The aim has been kept in mind to give a picture sufficiently diagrammatic not to confuse the general reader, and it is hoped that the omissions which have seemed necessary will, in a measure, be compensated for by the clearness of the picture. References to selected books and articles have been given at the close of the volume, that will enable readers who wish fuller information to go to the best sources. The book is divided into two sections. In the first are considered the sources of the ideas--except those of organic evolution--that dominate biology, and the steps by which they have been molded into a unified science. The Doctrine of Organic Evolution, on account of its importance, is reserved for special consideration in the second section. This is, of course, merely a division of convenience, since after its acceptance the doctrine of evolution has entered into all phases of biological progress.