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Detecting Themes and Variations: The Use of Cases in Developmental Biology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Rachel A. Ankeny
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Abstract

This article unpacks a particular use of ‘cases’ within developmental biology, namely as a means of describing the typical or canonical patterns of phenomena. The article explores how certain cases have come to be established within the field and argues that although they were initially selected for reasons of convenience or ease of experimental manipulation, these cases come to serve as key reference points within the field because of the epistemological structures imposed on them by the scientists using them and, hence, become usable in a wider variety of circumstances including future theory development.

Type
Case Studies
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 79 , Issue 5 , December 2012 , pp. 644 - 654
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

Many thanks to the other participants and the attendees at the PSA symposium at which a very early version of this article was first presented, particularly Hasok Chang, Chris DiTeresi, Mary Morgan, and Sandy Mitchell. Useful comments were provided on the final draft by Chris DiTeresi, Elihu Gerson, Jane Maienschein, and especially Alan Love.

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