Gunther S Stent

In the 19th century, the medicinal applications of leeches prompted basic research into their neurobiology, reproduction, development, and anatomy; subsequently, leeches became an important model for understanding the nervous system. In this monograph, each chapter provides a narrative account of experimental work on a particular area of leech neurobiology, and explains its significance for the broader field of neuroscience. The appendices describe methods for maintaining and manipulating leeches in the laboratory and include an atlas of neurons in the leech Hirudo medicinalis. Extensively illustrated, this book is a classic in the field and is considered a "must read" for neuroscientists and those interested in leech biology. It has been out of print for many years; however, some recent inquiries have prompted us to reprint it and make it available at an affordable price.

Driving human reason too far in the analysis of deep problems often leads to irresolvable inconsistencies and contradictions. In this 2002 J. F. Lewis Award-winning monograph, Gunther Stent traces the origins and development of the paradoxes of free will in this well-crafted introduction to philosophical debates regarding freedom of will. Free will poses one of the oldest and most vexatious philosophical problems, dating back to the beginnings of moral philosophy in ancient Greece. Pure theoretical reason implies that our actions are determined, while practical theoretical reason tells us that our will is free. Stent examines the arguments of moral responsibility versus determinism, from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to Immanuel Kant, Niels Bohr, and Max Planck.

"The classic personal account of one of the great scientific discoveries of the century." By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only twenty-four, a brilliant young zoologist hungry to make his mark. His uncompromisingly honest account of the heady days of their thrilling sprint against other world-class researchers to solve one of science's greatest unsolved mysteries gives a dazzlingly clear picture of a world of brilliant scientists with great gifts, very human ambitions, and bitter rivalries. With humility unspoiled by false modesty, Watson relates his and Crick's desperate efforts to beat Linus Pauling to the Holy Grail of the life sciences, the identification of the basic building block of life. He is impressed by the achievements of the young man he was, but clear-eyed about his limitations. Never has such a brilliant scientist also been so gifted, and so truthful, in capturing in words the flavor of his work.