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Full Idea
Biology is not a science like physics, in which one should strive to find 'laws of nature', but a species of engineering.
Gist of Idea
Biology is a type of engineering, not a search for laws of nature
Source
Daniel C. Dennett (Daniel Dennett on himself [1994], p.239)
Book Ref
'A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind', ed/tr. Guttenplan,Samuel [Blackwell 1995], p.239
A Reaction
Yes. This is also true of chemistry, which has always struck me as minitiarised car mechanics.
| 21381 | Germs contain microscopic organs, which become visible as they grow [Anaxagoras] |
| 651 | Eurytus showed that numbers underlie things by making pictures of creatures out of pebbles [Eurytus, by Aristotle] |
| 3985 | Biology is a type of engineering, not a search for laws of nature [Dennett] |