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Main Title The role of theory in advancing 21st-century biology : catalyzing transformative research /
Publisher National Academies Press,
Year Published 2008
OCLC Number 213074298
ISBN 0309112494; 9780309112499
Subjects Biology--Research ; Biowissenschaften ; Leben ; Biologisches System
Internet Access
Description Access URL
National Academies Press http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12026#toc
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
ELBM  QH324.R63 2008 AWBERC Library/Cincinnati,OH 08/29/2017
Collation xii, 196 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 168-186).
Contents Notes
Introduction -- The integral role of theory in biology -- Are there still new life forms to be discovered? The diversity of life--why it exists and why it's important -- What role does life play in the metabolism of planet Earth? -- How do cells really work? -- What are the engineering principles of life? -- What is the information that defines and sustains life? -- What determines how organisms behave in their worlds? -- How much can we tell about the past-and predict about the future-by studying life on Earth today? -- Education: learning to think about the elephant -- Findings and recommendations. Theory is an integral part of all biological research. Biologists' theoretical and conceptual frameworks inform every step of their research, affecting what experiments they do, what techniques and technologies they develop and use, and how they interpret their data. At the request of the National Science Foundation, this National Research Council report examines whether a greater emphasis on theory would be useful in advancing biology. The report concludes that theory is already an inextricable thread running throughout the practice of biology; but that explicitly giving theory equal status with other components of biological research could help catalyze transformative research that will lead to creative, dynamic, and innovative advances in our understanding of life.--Publisher.