Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems
New York, Anchor, Doubleday, 1996. Index,
bibliography, notes, 347 pages. ISBN: 0385476760. VSCL.
Read in 5/2010.
Biology
Genetics, Botany, Zoology, Physiology, Anatomy, Science,
Taxonomy, Natural History
Bibliography
Links
Quotes Notes
Complexity Interdependence Science Intellectual History Naturalism
Psychology Medicine Cloud Hands Blog
Research by Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Bibliography, Links, Resources
Biology: Genetics, Botany, Zoology, Physiology, Anatomy, Science
These are books I am reading, studying, using or have read that are in my home library (VSCL) in Red Bluff, California; or from books borrowed from local public or university libraries.
Botanica. Chief Editors are R. J. Turner, Jr. and Ernie Wasson. Over 10,000 plants described, with complete details on cultivation, propagation and growing zones. Barnes and Noble and Random House, 1997. Hardbound oversized book, over 6,500 lavish color illustrations, many detailed indexes (scientific names and common names) and lists, glossary, 1020 pages. ISBN: 0760716420. VSCL.
California, Northern: Natural History, Travel
Capon, Brian.
Botany for Gardeners. Portland, Timber Press, 1990, Third Edition
2010. Index, bibliography, glossary. 268 pages. VSCL.
Read in 1998 and 2014.
Capra, Fritjof.
The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems
Cloud Hands
Blog By Mike Garofalo.
Complexity
Quotes, Sayings, Notes. Quotes compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Darwin, Charles
(1809-1882).
The
Annotated Origin: A Facsimile of the First Edition of On the Origin of the
Species. By Charles Darwin. Annotated by James T. Costa. Belknap Press of
the Harvard University Press, 2009. Indices, references, biographies,
appendices, 537 pages. ISBN: 9780674032811. VSCL. Read in
1/2017 and in college in 1965.
Dawkins, Richard (1941-)
The
Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. New York, Free
Press, 2009. Index, bibliography, notes, 470 pages. ISBN: 9781416594789. Read in 11/2016. VSCL.
Dawkins, Richard.
The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, 1976, 2006. Index,
endnotes, 464 pages. ISBN: 9780198788607. VSCL. Read in
8/2013.
Desmond, Adrian and James Moore.
Darwin:
The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist. New York, W. W. Norton, 1991.
Index, bibliography, notes, 808 pages. ISBN: 9780393311501. This Darwin biography was detailed, comprehensive,
historically fascinating, and very interesting to me. Life in London, and Down
House, from 1840-1880, is covered in detail. VSCL. Read in 12/2016.
Encyclopedia of Gardening. The American Horticultural Society.
Edited by Christopher Brickell, Elvin McDonald, Trevor Cole. London, DK,
Dorling Kindersley, 1993. Detailed indexes of common and scientific names,
glossary, 647 pages. ISBN: 1564582914. VSCL.
Gardening Research and compilation by Mike Garofalo.
The Gene: An Intimate History. By Siddhartha Mukherjee.
Scribner, 2016. 608 pages. ISBN: 9781476733500.
Headstrom, Richard.
Adventures with a Microscope. New York, Dover Pub., 1941, 1977.
ISBN: 9780486234717. VSCL. Read in 10/2016, and 2002.
The
History of Gardening Timeline Research by Mike Garofalo.
Hölldobler, Bert and Edward O. Wilson.
Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration. Belknap Press,
Revised Edition, 1994. 228 pages. ISBN: 9780674485266. VSCL.
Hölldobler, Bert and Edward O. Wilson.
The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies.
W. W. Norton & Co., 2008. 544 pages. ISBN: 9780393067040. VSCL.
Mauseth, James D.
Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology. Sudbury, MA, Jones and
Bartlett Pub., Fourth Edition, 2009. Index, glossary, 625 pages.
ISBN: 9780763753450. VSCL.
Mayr,
Ernst (1904-2005)
Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988. Index, bibliography,
endnotes, 564 pages. ISBN: 0674896661. Read in 1/2017. TCPL.
Microscope. I use a
AmScope SE305R-PZ stereo microscope, 10X, 20X, 30X and 60X power. VSCL.
Mitchell, Melanie.
Complexity: A Guided Tour. 
Natural History and
Travel: Northern California, Oregon, and Washington
Naturalism, Scientific Attitude, Non-religious, Free
Thought
Oregon:
Natural History, Travel
Perception, The Five
Senses Research by Mike Garofalo.
Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth. London, DK, Dorling Kindersley, 2009, 2012. Index, lists, 512 pages. ISBN:
9780756699109. Lavishly illustrated with colored artwork, photos, charts,
and side bars. Many expert authorities were used to write different
sections. A delightful book for any coffee table. VSCL.
Serafini, Anthony.
The Epic History of Biology. Perseus Pub., 1993. Index,
endnotes, 395 pages. ISBN: 073820577X. VSCL. Read in 11/2016.
Touching, Touch, Hands,
Fingers Research by Mike Garofalo.
Vision, Seeing, Eyes
Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Washington State: Natural History, Travel
Well Being, Fitness,
Exercise: Bibliography,
Links, Resources Research by Mike Garofalo.
Wilson, Edward O.
(1929-)
The Diversity of Life. New York, W.W. Norton and Co., 1962.
Index, glossary, notes, 424 pages. ISBN: 0393310477. VSCL.
Read in 4/2013.
VSCL = Valley Spirit Center Library, Red Bluff, California
TCPL = Tehama County Public Library, Red Bluff, California
How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons
Index to A Philosopher's Notebooks
Quotations, Sayings, Notes
Biology: Genetics, Botany, Zoology, Physiology, Anatomy, Science
I often post quotations of related to the biological sciences to my Cloud Hands Blog
"I believe that a unification of science is indeed
possible if we are willing to expand the concept of science to include the basic
principles and concepts of not only the physical but also the biological
sciences. Such a new philosophy of science will need to adopt a greatly
enlarged vocabulary─one that includes such words as biopopulation, telenomy, and
program. It will have to abandon its loyalty to a rigid essentialism and
determinism in favor of a broader recognition of stochastic processes, a
pluralism of causes and effects, the hierarchical organization of much of
nature, the emergence of unanticipated properties at higher hierarchical levels,
the internal cohesion of complex systems, and many other concepts absent from─or
at lest neglected by─the classical philosophy of science."
- Ernst Mayr, Toward a New Philosophy of Biology, 1988, p. 21
"We are but
whirlpools in a river of ever-flowing water. We are not stuff that abides, put
patterns that perpetuate themselves."
- Norbet Weiner, 1950
"The
structure of the human brain is enormously complex. It contains about 10
billion nerve cells (neurons), which are interlinked in a vast network through
1,000 billion junctions (synapses). The whole brain can be divided into
subsections, or sub-networks, which communicate with each other in a network
fashion. All this results in intricate patterns of intertwined webs, networks
of nesting within larger networks."
- Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living
Systems, 1996, p. 82
"The ultimate test of a scientific hypothesis is
experiment. Experiment specifically means that you don't just wait for
nature to do something, and passively observe it and see what it correlates
with. You go in there and do something. You manipulate.
You change something, in a systematic way, and compare the result with a
'control' that lacks the change, or you compare it with a different change."
- Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, p. 66
"Much of what we know about plant physiology is based on
results from carefully designed experiments. Whether biologists, chemists,
or physicists, experimental researchers employ a common systematic approach in
their work when they follow the so-called scientific method. Research is
begun when observations of a particular biological or physical phenomena are
made, both directly by the investigator and indirectly through the accounts of
other scientists (and in some cases, amateurs) in scientific and other
publications. Extensive research in a library is an important prerequisite
to experimentation. For example, a plant physiologist interested in the
Venus' flytrap and its rapid leaf closure many spend months searching the
literature to become thoroughly acquainted with previously reported information
and opinions on both the specific and related topics, in this case, plant
movements in general.
The second stage of the scientific method is the formulation
of a hypothesis, a provisional conjecture based solely on preliminary
observations of how the phenomenon takes place. The hypothesis is then
tested by a series of carefully planned experiments. To be of value, such
experiments must focus on the specific objective of study by limiting the number
of external factors that may influence the outcome; and then it must be repeated
several time to determine whether comparable results are obtainable.
Well-planned experimental design, the accuracy of the techniques employed, and
the ability of other scientists to duplicate the work are crucial to the quality
of scientific endeavor.
Experiments may include laboratory tests of the plant's
responses to various treatments, studies of the organism in its native habitat,
microscopic examination of cells and tissues, or a combination of these and
other methods. The results of each experiment are recorded and, from time
to time, evaluated for their contribution to an understanding of the topic under
study. From analysis of the accumulated data other experiments may be
undertaken, techniques refined, and different approaches to the problem devised.
Finally, when sufficient and convincing evidence has been
collected for presentation to the scientific community, conclusions are drawn
that may, or may not, support the original hypothesis. Regardless of the
outcome, the gathered information is of use to other scientists only if it
reported factually and without bias on the part of the investigator.
Nowhere, in all human knowledge, must truth be accounted for more rigorously
than in the world of science."
- Brian Capon, Botany for Gardeners, 2010, p. 146
Green Way Research, Red Bluff, California
This webpage was last updated on January 4,
2017.
This webpage was first distributed online on March 12, 2014.
Brief Biography of Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Index to A Philosopher's Notebooks