Andrew S. Reynolds BA (New Brunswick), MA, PhD (Western Ontario),  SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow (Harvard, 1998-99) Associate Professor Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies Cape Breton University  Office Hours: M,T 3-4:30; W,TH 2:30-3:30 CC-219 email: andrew_reynolds (at) cbu.ca

My current research deals with the history and philosophy of cell biology, protistology (the study of single-cell organisms) and evolution. The broader philosophical context of this research is the use of metaphor in science, and to that end I have been looking at the cell concept as a particular instance of scientific metaphor.

Recent publications:

• "The Redoubtable Cell", Studies in History and Philosophy of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Sept. 2010, 41 (3 = Special issue "Historical and philosophical perspectives on cell biology).
• with Norbert Huelsmann, "Ernst Haeckel's Discovery of Magosphaera planula: a vestige of metazoan origins?". History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 30 3-3 (2008): 339-386.
• "Haeckel and the Theory of the Cell-State: Remarks on the History of a Bio-Political Metaphor". History of Science, Summer 2008 xlvi: 123-52.
• "Amoebae as exemplary cells: the protean nature of an elementary organism". Journal of the History of Biology, Summer 2008, 41, 2: 307-337.
• "The cell's journey: from metaphorical to literal factory." Endeavour: A quarterly magazine reviewing the history and philosophy of science in the service of mankind, Summer 2007, 31(2): 65-70. 
• "The Theory of the Cell State and the Question of Cell Autonomy in Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Biology." Science in Context, March 2007, 20(1): 71-95, .
• "Messy Morphogeny and the Allure of Elegant Mathematics", review essay of John T. Bonner, First Signals: The Origin of Multicellular Development, (Princeton: 2000), Biology and Philosophy, special issue on Evolutionary-Developmental Biology, 18: 371-379, 2003.

Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

  Peirce's Scientific Metaphysics: The Philosophy of Chance, Law and Evolution,
                                                          (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2002).

• CBU Dept. of Philosophy and Religious Studies
• CBU
• Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science (CSHPS/SCHPS)
• Darwin Day Talk 2009
• Origin of Species Sesquicentennial Talk

   last updated: Aug. 25, 2010