An analysis of two heuristic strategies for the development of mechanistic models, illustrated with historical examples from the life sciences.
In Discovering Complexity, William Bechtel and Robert Richardson examine two heuristics that guided the development of mechanistic models in the life sciences: decomposition and localization. Drawing on historical cases from disciplines including cell biology, cognitive neuroscience, and genetics, they identify a number of "choice points" that life scientists confront in developing mechanistic explanations and show how different choices result in divergent explanatory models. Describing decomposition as the attempt to differentiate functional and structural components of a system and localization as the assignment of responsibility for specific functions to specific structures, Bechtel and Richardson examine the usefulness of these heuristics as well as their fallibility -- the sometimes false assumption underlying them that nature is significantly decomposable and hierarchically organized.
When Discovering Complexity was originally published in 1993, few philosophers of science perceived the centrality of seeking mechanisms to explain phenomena in biology, relying instead on the model of nomological explanation advanced by the logical positivists (a model Bechtel and Richardson found to be utterly inapplicable to the examples from the life sciences in their study). Since then, mechanism and mechanistic explanation have become widely discussed. In a substantive new introduction to this MIT Press edition of their book, Bechtel and Richardson examine both philosophical and scientific developments in research on mechanistic models since 1993.
Автор: R. Besser; Louis R. Caplan; G. Kr?mer; Hanns C. Ho Название: Brain-Stem Localization and Function ISBN: 3642781748 ISBN-13(EAN): 9783642781742 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 15372.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: The brain stem and cerebellum are structures that have fascinated and puzzled physicians, anatomists, and physio- logists for centuries. Relatively small in volume compared to the much larger and more majestic human cerebrum, and hidden away in relative obscurity in the back of the head under the protection of the bony posterior fossa and the firm dural envelope, the tentorium cerebelli, these critical neural structures defied precise study during life until very recently. Recent advances in brain and vascular imaging and improved understanding of brain-stem reflex and tract functions and their measurement by electrophysiological techniques have presented an opportunity for clinicians and researchers to better study, during life, patients with stroke and other conditions that involve the brain stem and cere- bellum. A congress was held at the Neurology Clinic of the University in Mainz, April 4-5, 1992, during which clinicians and researchers reported and discussed modern topical diagnosis of diseases of the brain stem and cere- bellum. This volume represents the edited proceedings of that congress. Early information about brain stem anatomy and func- tions came from anatomical studies by Ludwig Turk, Paul Flechsig, Rudolph von K6lliker, Karl Burdach, Vladimir Bekterew, and Benedikt Stilling, among others, all working in Germany during the middle years of the nineteenth century. Johann Reil, a German anatomist, in the begin- ning of the nineteenth century had described the structure and some functions of the cerebellum which he called the little brain ("Kleinhirn").
Автор: van Opstal, John Название: The Auditory System and Human Sound-Localization Behavior ISBN: 0128015292 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780128015292 Издательство: Elsevier Science Рейтинг: Цена: 15662.00 р. Наличие на складе: Поставка под заказ.
Описание:
The Auditory System and Human Sound-Localization Behavior provides a comprehensive account of the full action-perception cycle underlying spatial hearing. It highlights the interesting properties of the auditory system, such as its organization in azimuth and elevation coordinates. Readers will appreciate that sound localization is inherently a neuro-computational process (it needs to process on implicit and independent acoustic cues). The localization problem of which sound location gave rise to a particular sensory acoustic input cannot be uniquely solved, and therefore requires some clever strategies to cope with everyday situations. The reader is guided through the full interdisciplinary repertoire of the natural sciences: not only neurobiology, but also physics and mathematics, and current theories on sensorimotor integration (e.g. Bayesian approaches to deal with uncertain information) and neural encoding.
Автор: D. Varju; H.-U. Schnitzler Название: Localization and Orientation in Biology and Engineering ISBN: 3642693105 ISBN-13(EAN): 9783642693106 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 18167.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: 8th Cybernetic Congress
ООО "Логосфера " Тел:+7(495) 980-12-10 www.logobook.ru
