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Hans Spemann: Cultural factors in the rejection of an engineering stance in embryology

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Abstract

Hans Spemann's use of the concept “double assurance”, drawn from engineering models in cytology, is discussed in his work on lens development and the action of the organizer. His transformation of this concept within his neo-Lamarckian program is demonstrated and connected with the cultural factors which shaped engineering and embryology in Weimar Germany.

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Rinard, R.G. Hans Spemann: Cultural factors in the rejection of an engineering stance in embryology. Synthese 91, 73–91 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484970

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