NEW BEER IN AN OLD BOTTLE. EDUARD BUCHNER AND THE GROWTH OF BIOCHEMICAL KNOWLEDGE

We should commemorate the centenary of Buchner’s discovery not only because of its inherent importance and interest, but also because vitalist ways of thinking have by no means disappeared, and modern biologists need to be constantly on their guard agaisnt them. Far worse than vitalism, which in Pasteur’s hands was, after all, based on rational interpretation of apparently coherent observations, the past few decades have seen the return of obscurantist mysticism in the formo f socalled “creation science” and other abuses of the intellect. Forgetting the history of biology is no way to combat these, ant they provide another reason why it is worthwhile to recall how our current ideas cam into existence.