Pavlov's Dogs and Schrödinger's Cat: Scenes from the Living Laboratory

by Rom Harré

From the sheep, dog, and cockerel that were sent aloft in Montgolfier's balloon to test the air over Paris, to the famous clone Dolly the Sheep and the Darwinian finches of the Galapagos, Pavlov's Dogs and Schrödinger's Cat offers a fascinating and enlightening look at the use of plants and animals--including humans--in scientific experiments. Rom Harré here provides a fresh and fascinating perspective on research, setting aside moral reflection to simply examine the history of how and why living creatures have been used for the purposes of discovery. Ranging over five centuries, the book uncovers many extraordinary stories, including tales of the people involved, to many curious incidents and episodes, and the occasional scientific fraud. From Gregor Mendel's use of pea plants to explore heredity, to Barry Marshall's use of himself as the experimental animal in his helicobacter experiments (he survived) and even the use of an imaginary cat in Schrödinger's famous thought experiment, the reader discovers here a perspective on scientific work he or she has never encountered before--the concept of the "living laboratory."

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2009

About the author

Rom Harré was Distinguished Professor in the Psychology Department of Georgetown University in Washington DC, and the Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science in London. He was for many years the University Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Fellow of Linacre College. He began his career in mathematics and physics, turning later to the foundations of psychology. His research was directed to the use of models and other kinds of non-formal reasoning in the sciences, as well as a long series of studies on the role of causal powers and agency concepts in both natural and human sciences. He held Visiting Professorships in many places, including Australia, Spain and Japan. He was Honorary President of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry.

Reviews

[Mag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using lichens to produce litmus paper, through Pavlov’s dogs with fistulas, and monkeys with heart transplants, to a man who infected himself with Heliobacter pylori to prove that it caused duodenal ulcers and stomach cancer, it’s a rather interesting account on using living material in a laboratory.
Not outstandingly well written, but worth reading.
3.5/5

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m torn about this book: on the one hand, it does what it sets out to do pretty well. It describes experiments that happened to use living subjects, treating those living subjects as though they’re simply part of the equipment. On the other hand, it very deliberately doesn’t engage with the moral aspect of these experiments, instead choosing to present the experiments dispassionately, claiming to be unable to deal with the moral dimension.

I can appreciate this way of looking at the experiments as a way to gain an understanding of them, but I think avoiding the moral dimension in the end just seems cowardly. If it’s your point of view that the suffering of an animal is worth it for the sake of the experiments, then at least own it. Admit the distress is there.

Without addressing that aspect, this book actually comes across as very flat. I ended up losing interest in a lot of these experiments, because animals aren’t just another piece of equipment. We have to use living tissue in experiments because only living tissue responds in the weird and wonderful ways that it needs to in order to give true results. Pretending a dog is a just a petri dish that happens to be pumping blood and breathing air seems disingenuous and pointless.

If you’re interested in the purely scientific treatment of animals as just objects in an experiment, this will work fine for you — that’s what the author delivers. If you find it hard to separate the two, or like me believe that it’s our duty to at least own what we do to animals, then it may fall rather flat.

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Merilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not a brilliantly written book, but I learned some interesting things about animals and plants used as living laboratories through the ages. Who knew that litmus paper was made from lichens?

[Sergio Gómez Senovilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book fulfills its primary aim: to provide a broad and accessible historical account of the use of living organisms in scientific experimentation, spanning from traditional laboratories to outer space.

The prose is clear, occasionally academic, and the book is notable for its light narrative style. It includes well-known examples as well as more singular cases, such as experiments with lichens, or genetically modified fluorescent fish used to detect toxins. Harré also explores thought experiments, such as Schrödinger’s cat, from both historical and philosophical perspectives.

One of the book’s strengths is its depiction of scientific experimentation as often exploratory rather than strictly hypothesis-driven. The notion of "intensive design" (drawing broad generalizations from very few cases) is presented as a common scientific practice.

However, the book’s major shortcoming is its deliberate avoidance of ethical reflection on the use of living beings. Readers sensitive to animal suffering may find Harré's avoidance of the moral aspect of such issues to be unacceptable. Critical readers may become offended if animals are portrayed as nothing more than laboratory instruments without taking into account the moral implications of this position.

Although the author briefly acknowledges the need for a more morally conscious scientific attitude, he seldom engages these questions in depth. As a result, the book hovers between science writing and philosophy without fully committing to either.

Pavlov’s Dogs and Schrödinger’s Cat offers a rich historical and conceptual panorama of experimentation with living organisms and is well-suited to readers interested in the philosophy of science. Nevertheless, its emotional detachment and lack of ethical engagement may leave critical readers unsatisfied.

[Michael A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not actually finish this, found it hard work !!

[Ira Therebel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book on a pretty interesting topic discussing the use of "living apparatus" in the laboratory. It goes through wide variety of examples including animals, plants and imaginative particles and animals.

I knew that this book was not about ethics of animals being used in laboratories. But I still imagined the book to be different. On a positive note I was surprised to read more than just about abused animals, but also other aspects of living laboratory I haven't thought of such as lichen. But I just didn't like the organization of the book. I wish there would be more on experiments and less biographical information on the scientists. I like to read biographies yet for me to enjoy it as a biography it was to short and at the same time took too much space away from the experiments. And in most cases the lives of the scientists didn't contribute in any way to understand the experiment.

I also didn't like the chapter division. It didn't have a clear pattern, first it seemed to be in a historical line, then go for specific topics such as deception.

But I must say this was the best explanation of Schrodinger's cat I ever read. This was actually the experiment where all the knowledge about the time and scientist was very beneficial.

I rate this book as "ok" because it didn't meet my expectations and was not structured the way I preferred but there is definitely a lot of information that can be of interest to anyone.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an informational book about how plants/animals were used in fairly popular science experiments. The book merely describes a bunch of science experiments and provides a unique view on experimental organisms, more as tools rather than subjects. I was not very interested in the subject, so my rating is not very high. I probably will not recommend this to anyone, but for those that love experimenting on animals, I guess this would be a good book for you.

[Steve Chilton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not always a good idea to buy a book that's title intrigues you! Picked it up in Holdsworths in Ambleside as I was interested in the Schrodinger's Cat story. The book discusses the use of living apparatus in the laboratory, and goes through wide variety of examples including animals, plants and imaginary particles and animals. Although the short backgrounds to each experiment were interesting, I did think he swerved the ethical issues a little too easily.

[Alexandra Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting myriad of stories from the "living laboratory", including anything from Helicobacter microbes (Barry Marshall) to pressure/volume relation for the blood of a horse (Stephen E. Hales).