Observing temporal order in living processes: on the role of time in embryology on the cell level in the 1870s and post-2000.

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  • Author(s): Bock von Wülfingen B;Bock von Wülfingen B
  • Source:
    History and philosophy of the life sciences [Hist Philos Life Sci] 2015 Mar; Vol. 37 (1), pp. 87-104. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Dec 30.
  • Publication Type:
    Historical Article; Journal Article
  • Language:
    English
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Springer International Publishing Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 8003052 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0391-9714 (Print) Linking ISSN: 03919714 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Hist Philos Life Sci Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: 2014- : Cham : Springer International Publishing
      Original Publication: Firenze : Olschki, 1979-
    • Subject Terms:
      Reproduction*; Embryology/*history ; Genetics/*history; Europe ; Fertilization ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; Time Factors ; United States
    • Abstract:
      The article analyses the role of time in the visual culture of two phases in embryological research: at the end of the nineteenth century, and in the years around 2000. The first case study involves microscopical cytology, the second reproductive genetics. In the 1870s we observe the first of a series of abstractions in research methodology on conception and development, moving from a method propagated as the observation of the "real" living object to the production of stained and fixated objects that are then aligned in temporal order. This process of abstraction ultimately fosters a dissociation between space and time in the research phenomenon, which after 2000 is problematized and explicitly tackled in embryology. Mass data computing made it possible partially to re-include temporal complexity in reproductive genetics in certain, though not all, fields of reproductive genetics. Here research question, instrument and modelling interact in ways that produce very different temporal relationships. Specifically, this article suggests that the different techniques in the late nineteenth century and around 2000 were employed in order to align the time of the researcher with that of the phenomenon and to economize the researcher's work in interaction with the research material's own temporal challenges.
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20150528 Date Completed: 20150929 Latest Revision: 20150527
    • Publication Date:
      20231215
    • Accession Number:
      10.1007/s40656-014-0054-6
    • Accession Number:
      26013437