The Gestation of German Biology: Philosophy and Physiology from Stahl to Schelling

Scholars have long debated how biology emerged as a distinct science in the eighteenth century. Michel Foucault argued that biology appeared only after 1800, representing a break from earlier natural history and marking the start of modernity. Ernst Mayr countered that the term "biology" remained unclear in meaning as late as 1800, and the field remained largely prospective throughout the 1800s. In this work, historian of ideas John Zammito presents an alternative account of biology's emergence. He engages both Foucault and Mayr while emphasizing scientific progress throughout the eighteenth century that created the need for a specialized science. Zammito demonstrates that the adoption of the term biology around 1800 culminated a convergence between natural history and human physiology, leading to the development of comparative physiology and morphology—the foundations of biology. The book offers a revisionist history of the field's origins that scholars studying biology's development will need to address.