Table of Contents

Preface 1. Biochemistry and Skepticism 2. Perspectives on the "Scientific Method" The Views of Peter Medawar Claude Bernard and his Medecine Experimentale Justus von Liebig on Francis Bacon On Craftsmanship On Hypotheses in the Biochemical Sciences Sanger and Insulin: A Case History The Perils of the Search for Simplicity 3. The Interplay of Biology and Chemistry The Nineteenth-Century Debates The Emergence of Biochemistry Nineteenth-Century Cytology, Embryology, and Microbiology Twentieth-Century Embryology versus Genetics The Emergence of Biochemical Genetics A "Sack Full of Enzymes"? On Biomolecular Structure Jacques Monod and "Allostery" On "Energy-Rich Phosphate Bonds" The Dynamics of Biochemical Processes On Biochemical Function and Purpose On Specificity and Individuality Evolutionary Theory and the "Unity of Biology" 4.Approaches to the History of the Biochemical Sciences On Historians of Chemistry On Historians of the Biochemical Sciences On Scientific Disciplines On the "Origins of Molecular Biology" On Scientific Biography and Autobiography 5. Reflections on the Biochemical Literature "The Words of the Tribe" Is the Scientific Paper a Fraud? Bibliography Index of Personal Names Index of Subjects

About the Author

Joseph S. Fruton is Eugene Higgins Professor of Biochemistry, Emeritus, at Yale University and a distinguished scholar whose writings on the field have been widely praised.

Reviews

Enlightening and provocative—and may provoke rather sharp disagreement in certain quarters! A valuable contribution to the continuing dialogue among scientists, historians, philosophers, and other inquirers.
*John T. Edsall, Harvard University*