Roots of Biology

Question 1

Hunter-Gatherers - Animals

Answer 1

Needed a knowledge of animal biology and what they can take from them. Needed to know when to kill them, internal anatomy and seasonal migrations.

Question 2

Hunter-Gatherers - Plants

Answer 2

Needed to understand plant diversity and uses: plant as food, medicines, weapons and tools for construction. What can and can’t they eat?

Question 3

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Answer 3

Cave in southern France with lots of high quality drawings of interactions between humans, animals and plants.

Question 4

Domestication of Animals and Plants

Answer 4

• Reproduction fell under the control of the people, which lead to artificial selection.
• Domesticated plants probably arose from both unintentional and intentional selection

Question 5

What is a good marker of plant domestication?

Answer 5

Seed size

Question 6

What plants have we heavily domesticated?

Answer 6

• Corn= kernels would never stay on the cob in nature because they need to disperse
• Horse chestnuts=prolonged cold treatment
• Lots of crops can no longer self pollinate
• Glutens

Question 7

What did the domestication of animals require?

Answer 7

Keeping animals alive. This needed a knowledge of nutrition, breeding, behaviour and disease.

Question 8

What were the subdivisions of medicine in early civilizations?

Answer 8

Pharmacology, surgery, magic and religion.

Question 9

What was the medical hierarchy in Egypt in ~2500 BC?

Answer 9

Physicians were among the elite, organized from chief physician to bandager.

Question 10

Imhotep (2700 B.C.)

Answer 10

Architect, physician, polymath. Might have written surgical texts. He was defied by the Egyptians after his death

Question 11

Edwin Smith papyrus (1600 B.C.)

Answer 11

Discusses diagnosis and treatment of injuries, presented as 48 case histories. Contains basic knowledge of anatomy.

Question 12

The Ebers Papyrus (1550 B.C.)

Answer 12

Contains both practical advice and magic. 700 drugs and formulas given.

Question 13

Honey

Answer 13

-Has always been known for antibiotic properties

Question 14

Early Accounts of Surgery

Answer 14

-Cases of neolithic brain surgery that had left wounds on the skill- treatment for insanity?

Question 15

Ancient China- “The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” (2nd Century B.C.?)

Answer 15

• Natural approach to illness
• Illness is the result of natural causes-from disruption of flow of chi, a vital energy that travels through the body along defined pathways called meridians.

Question 16

The Breath of Life

Answer 16

Informed and help medicine and biology for a long time. Life is a result of a unifying force that brings inanimate things to life.
Life has a unitary explanation
Biology no longer accepts this: life is not a unitary thing, its relation and interactions are complicated and we can break it down at the cellular level

Question 17

Ancient China- Yin and Yang

Answer 17

Imbalances of yin and yang can also lead to illness. The yin is negative, cold, dark and feminine. Yang is positive warm bright and masculine.
-Goldilocks principle=balance

Question 18

The relationship between the inner and outer world

Answer 18

Microcosm(bodies) and macrocosm(universe) leads the worlds five elements-
1.wood
2.fire
3.earth
4.metal
5.water
Relationships between these elements and the human body can be manipulated for the physician’s/patient’s benefit

Question 19

Over 4000 years ago, what did Egypt and Mespotamia have?

Answer 19

Zoos and botanical gardens

Question 20

What did the zoos contain?

Answer 20

From Africa- giraffes, cheetahs and monkeys
From Mediterranean- seals
From Asia-bears, elephants
also rare trees, fish and birds

Question 21

Gardens and Paradise

Answer 21

The Persian formal gardens plan (6th-4th centuries B.C.) consisted of four equal sections separated by canals, all surrounded by walls.