What Constitutes an Explanation in Biology?

One of biology's fundamental aims is to generate understanding of the living world around—and within—us. In this chapter, I aim to provide a relatively nonpartisan discussion of the nature of explanation in biology, grounded in widely shared philosophical views about scientific explanation. But this discussion also reflects what I think is important for philosophers and biologists alike to appreciate about successful scientific explanations, so some points will be controversial, at least among philosophers. I make three main points: (1) causal relationships and broad patterns have often been granted importance to scientific explanations, and they are in fact both important; (2) some explanations in biology cite the components of or processes in systems that account for the systems’ features, whereas other explanations feature large-scale or structural causes that influence a system; and (3) there can be multiple different explanations of a given biological phenomenon, explanations that respond to different research aims and can thus be compatible with one another even when they may seem to disagree

The Claude A. Barnett papers [microform].

"Microfilmed from the holdings of the Chicago Historical Society." "A microfilmed project of University Publications of America, Inc." Edited by August Meier and Elliott Rudwick. Contents: pt. 1. Associated Negro Press news release, 1928-1964 : Series A, 1928-1944 (29 reels). Series B, 1945-1955 (29 reels). Series C, 1956-1964 (25 reels) -- pt. 2. Associated News Press organizational files, 1920-1966 (24 reels) -- pt. 3. Subject files on Black Americans, 1918-1967: Series A, Agriculture, 1923-1966 (11 reels). Series B, Colleges and Universities, 1918-1966 (16 reels). Series C, Economic conditions, 1918-1966 (13 reels). Series D, Entertainers, artists and authors, 1928-1965 (7 reels). Series I, Race relations, 1923-1965 (8 reels). Bib 30616