Science

Studying embryos started with Aristotle, where the science involved careful observing of what happens during reproduction. That led to theoretical interpretations of what was going on. Early researchers could not actually see very much directly. That changed by the end of the 19th century, whenmicroscopes revealed a great deal of detail about cells and organs within the developing organism. Experimental embryology brought new ways to “see” structures and understand functions that are not directly visible and have to be interpreted. By the end of the 20th century, new molecular another tools helped even more. The Encyclopedia includes articles about all aspects of the discovery process. You can use the search functions to browse or to search for items related to the Science, including:

  • Publications are formally published results, and the articles here outline the major contributions of those works.
  • Technologies include microscopes, of course, and other technical tools that help the scientific process.
  • Processes tell about the way the science was done, such as what procedures a scientist used.
  • Theories lay out the ideas that often guide scientific investigation.
  • Experiments allow researchers to control the conditions and manipulate variables to see more than would be possible under normal conditions.
  • Organisms make a difference to what kind of research can be done, with different kinds of organisms appropriate for different kinds of research.