Parnes O
Max Planck Institute of the History of Science, Berlin, Germany.
Sci Context. 2000 Spring;13(1):71-92. doi: 10.1017/s0269889700003720.
Microscopical consideration played a crucial role in German physiology in the period of, grosso modo, 1780-1830. Specifically, a conception of material change was established, according to which all life is grounded in the process of the generation of microscopical forms out of an amorphous, primitive generative substance. Embryological development, tissue growth, and the generation of microorganisms were all considered to be the manifestation of this fundamental developmental process. In contrast to the common historiography, I try to understand Theodor Schwann's 1838 discovery of the cell theory in terms of the epistemological categories he applied to the prevailing conceptions of life and living matter. I argue that Schwann was able to discern cells not because of any superior microscopical methods, but rather as part of his wider investigative endeavor to explicate life processes according to specific causal agents. I argue that Schwann was able to demonstrate the existence of cells only when he considered animal tissues in terms of a causal relation between specific material agents and their effect, that is, the developmental history of tissue.
在大致1780年至1830年期间，微观研究在德国生理学中发挥了关键作用。具体而言，一种物质变化的概念得以确立，根据这一概念，所有生命都基于从一种无定形的原始生成物质中产生微观形式的过程。胚胎发育、组织生长以及微生物的产生都被视为这一基本发育过程的表现。与常见的史学观点不同，我试图从西奥多·施旺在1838年发现细胞理论时所应用的认识论范畴来理解他对当时生命和生物物质概念的认识。我认为，施旺能够识别细胞并非因为任何优越的微观方法，而是作为他更广泛的研究努力的一部分，即根据特定的因果因素来阐释生命过程。我认为，只有当施旺从特定物质因素与其效应之间的因果关系，即组织的发育史的角度来考虑动物组织时，他才能证明细胞的存在。
