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Since Pavlov, physiologists have explained homeostasis—the regulation of bodily functions—as the action of fixed negative feedback networks within individual organ systems. However, these standard explanations largely ignore the mechanisms of conditioning and learning. Drawing on the work of Western, East European, and Russian physiologists, Barry R. Dworkin challenges traditional concepts and argues that learning mechanisms of the nervous system are essential to regulation. Dworkin shows how, through experience, learning mechanisms determine dynamic stability and the long-term regulation of heart rate, blood pressure, glucose, electrolytes, and temperature. He argues that "hard wired" m...
What is bioengineering all about? How will it impact the future? Can it find the cure for diabetes and other chronic diseases? A long-awaited continuation of the 2004 book, Understanding the Human Machine: A Primer for Bioengineering, this volume intends to address these questions and more.Written together with 18 scientists active in the field, Max E. Valentinuzzi brings his decades of teaching bioengineering and physiology at the undergraduate and graduate levels to readers, giving a profound, and sometimes philosophical, insight into the realm of bioengineering.
First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.
Quantum theory has shaken our understanding of the universe to its deepest foundations. Quantum theory raises deep and profound scientific, philosophical and theological issues. Consider several scientific issues: Is quantum indeterminism ontological (a reflection of reality) or epistemological (a reflection of human ignorance)? Does the universe have a place for chance? What is the famous Bohr-Einstein debate? Who won? What is Schrödinger’s famous cat and what does it teach us? Some philosophical issues: How do our metaphysical commitments affect the interpretation of quantum theory? How, given quantum theory, should we understand the laws of nature? What are the implications of quantum ...
This pioneering work explores why our culture is plagued by addictions—by giving serious attention to our genetic legacy from our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
Traces historical developments in scientific conceptions of physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolutionary biology during the mid-twentieth century Life Out of Balance focuses on a period in history when new ideas of self-regulation, adaptation, and fitness became central to a variety of biological disciplines. During the decades surrounding World War II, these ideas developed in several quite different contexts and led to greater debates about the merits of such models as applied to larger systems, including society at large. Particularly in its later cybernetic form, homeostasis seemed to provide new ways of discussing balance and regulation that avoided discredited approaches of earlier ...