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Geschichte der Biologie

2006-08-20T17:51:36Z

Rhtcmu:

The '''history of biology''' traces man's understanding of the [[life|living world]] from the earliest recorded history to modern times. Though the concept of ''[[biology]]'' as a single coherent field of knowledge only arose in the 19th century, the biological sciences emerged from [[history of medicine|traditions of medicine]] and [[natural history]] reaching back to the ancient Greeks (particularly [[Galen]] and [[Aristotle]], respectively).

During the [[Renaissance]] and [[Age of Discovery]], renewed interest in [[empiricism]] as well as the rapidly increasing number of known organisms led to significant developments in biological thought; [[Vesalius]] inaugurated the rise of experimentation and careful observation in physiology, and a series of naturalists culminating with [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] and [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Buffon]] began to create a conceptual framework for [[Scientific classification|analyzing the diversity of life]] and the [[fossil record]], as well as the development and behavior of plants and animals. The growing importance of [[natural theology]]—partly a response to the rise of [[mechanical philosophy]]—was also an important impetus for the growth of natural history (though it also further entrenched the [[argument from design]]).

In the 18th century many fields of science—including [[botany]], [[zoology]], and [[geology]]—began to professionalize, forming the precursors of [[scientific discipline]]s in the modern sense (though the process would not be complete until the late 1800s). [[Lavoisier]] and other physical scientists began to connect the animate and inanimate worlds through the techniques and theory of physics and chemistry. Into the 19th century, explorer-naturalists such as [[Alexander von Humboldt]] tried to elucidate the interactions between organisms and their environment, and the ways these relationships depend on geography—creating the foundations for [[biogeography]], [[ecology]] and [[ethology]]. Many naturalists began to reject [[essentialism]] and seriously consider the possibilities of [[extinction]] and the [[history of evolutionary thought|mutability of species]]. These developments, as well as the results of new fields such as [[embryology]] and [[paleontology]], were synthesized in [[Darwin]]'s theory of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]]. The end of the 19th century saw debates over [[spontaneous generation]] and the rise of the [[germ theory of disease]] and the fields of [[cytology]], [[bacteriology]] and [[physiological chemistry]], though the problem of [[biological inheritance|inheritance]] was still a mystery.

In the early 20th century, the rediscovery of [[Gregor Mendel|Mendel]]'s work led to the rapid development of [[genetics]] by [[Thomas Hunt Morgan]] and his students, and by the 1930s the combination of [[population genetics]] and natural selection led to the "[[Modern evolutionary synthesis|neo-Darwinian synthesis]]" and the rise of the discipline of [[evolutionary biology]]. New biological disciplines developed rapidly, especially after [[James D. Watson|Watson]] and [[Francis Crick|Crick]] discovered the structure of [[DNA]] in 1953. Following the cracking of the [[genetic code]] and the establishement of the [[Central Dogma]], biology has largely split between ''organismal biology''—consisting of ecology, ethology, systematics, paleontology, evolutionary biology, developmental biology, and other disciplines that deal with whole organisms or groups of organisms—and the constellation of disciplines related to ''[[molecular biology]]''—including [[cell biology]], [[biophysics]], [[biochemistry]], [[neuroscience]], [[immunology]], and many other overlapping subjects.

{{histOfScience}}

== Etymology ==
The word biology is formed by combining the [[Greek (language)|Greek]] βίος (bios), meaning "life", and the suffix '-logy', meaning "science of", "knowledge of", "study of", based on the Greek verb λεγειν, 'legein' = "to select", "to gather" (cf. the noun λόγος, 'logos' = "word"). The term "biology" in its modern sense appears to have been introduced independently by :
* [[Karl Friedrich Burdach]] in [[1800]],
* [[Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus]] (''Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur'', 1802) and
* [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] (''Hydrogéologie'', 1802).
The word itself appears in the title of Volume 3 of [[Michael Christoph Hanov]]'s ''Philosophiae naturalis sive physicae dogmaticae: Geologia, biologia, phytologia generalis et dendrologia'', published in [[1766]].

Before ''biology'', there were several terms used for study of animals and plants. ''[[Natural history]]'' referred to the descriptive aspects of biology, though it also included [[mineralogy]] and other non-biological fields; from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance, the unifying framework of natural history was the ''scala naturae'' or ''[[Great Chain of Being]]''. ''[[Natural philosophy]]'' and ''[[natural theology]]'' encompassed the conceptual basis of plant and animal life, dealing with problems of why organisms exist and behave the way they do, though these subjects also included what is now [[geology]], [[physics]], [[chemistry]], and [[astronomy]]. Physiology and (botanical) pharmacology were the province of medicine. ''Botany'', ''zoology'', and (in the case of fossils) ''geology'' replaced ''natural history'' and ''natural philosophy'' in the 18th and 19th century before ''biology'' was widely adopted.

== Biology in ancient time ==
From early times, perhaps predating the appearance of modern humans, people must have had and passed on knowledge about plants and animals to increase their chances of survival. For example, they had to know how to avoid (or sometimes use) poisonous plants and animals and how to track, capture, and butcher different species of animals. They had to know which plants could be prepared to make good nets or baskets. In this sense, biology predates the written history of humans.

Agriculture requires specialised knowledge on plants and animals. Ancient [[Orient]]al people knew about the pollination of [[date palm]] from a very early point of time. In [[Mesopotamia]] they knew that pollen could be used in fertilizing plants. A business contract of the [[Hammurabi]] period (c. 1800 BCE) mentions flowers of the date palm as an article of commerce.

In [[India]] texts described some aspects of bird life. In [[Egypt]] the metamorphosis of insects and frogs was described. Egyptians and Babylonians also knew of anatomy and physiology in various forms. In [[Mesopotamia]], animals were sometimes kept in what can be described as the first zoological gardens.

However, [[superstition]] often blended with facts. In [[Babylon]] and [[Assyria]] organs of animals were used in prediction, and in Egypt medicine included a large amount of mysticism.
[[Image:Aristotle.jpg|thumb|left|[[Aristotle]] (sculpture)]]
In the [[Ancient Greek]] and [[Hellenistic]] worlds scholars became more interested in [[empiricism]]. [[Aristotle]] is one of the most prolific natural philosophers of [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]]. He made countless observations of nature, especially the [[habit]]s and [[Abstraction|attributes]] of [[plant]]s and [[animal]]s in the world around him, which he devoted considerable attention to [[categorization|categorizing]]. Aristotle's successor, [[Theophrastus]], wrote a series of books on botany, [[Historia Plantarum|History of Plants]], which survived as the most important contribution of antiquity to botany, even into the [[Middle Ages]].

In ancient Rome, [[Pliny the Elder]] was known for his knowledge of plants and nature. Later, Claudius [[Galen]] became a pioneer in medicine and anatomy.

== Post Ancient World biology ==
The decline of the [[Roman Empire]] led to the disapperance or destruction of much knowledge.
This time is often called the dark ages. However, some people who dealt with medical issues still studied plants and animals as well. In [[Byzantium]] and the [[Islamic]] world, natural philosophy was kept alive. Many of the Greek works were translated into [[Arabic]] and many of the works of Aristotle were preserved. Of the Arab biologists, [[al-Jahiz]], who died about 868, is particularly noteworthy. He wrote ''Kitab al Hayawan'' (''Book of animals''). In the 1200's the German scholar named [[Albertus Magnus]] wrote ''De vegetabilibus'', seven books, and ''De animalibus'', 26 books. He was particularly interested in plant propagation and reproduction and discussed in some detail the sexuality of plants and animals. He was also, by the way, among the teachers of [[Thomas Aquinas]].

== Persian and Islamic biology ==
[[Persia]] and other Islamic areas became important in the development of science. Based on Greeks and Indian science and connected to Europe they were in a good position to help science develop. There were also Arab and Turkish scientists but the most important ones were Persians. [[Avicenna]] (commemorated in the genus ''[[Avicennia]]'') was very important in biology and recorded many findings. He is sometimes regarded as the father of modern medicine. [[Rhazes]] was also very important and he was also a good biologist.

== The Renaissance ==
Interestingly, as many visual artists were interested in the bodies of animals and humans, they studied the physiology in detail. Such comparisons as that between a horse leg and a human leg were made. [[Otto Brunfels]], [[Hieronymus Bock]] (also known as [[Hieronymus Tragus]]) and [[Leonhart Fuchs]] were three men who wrote books about wild plants; they have been referred to as the fathers of German botany. Books about animals were also made, such as those by [[Conrad Gesner]], illustrated by, among others, [[Albrecht Dürer]].

== Modern biology ==
=== Seventeenth and eighteenth century===
In [[1628]] [[William Harvey]] explained that blood circulates throughout the body, and is pumped by the heart. [[Antony van Leeuwenhoek]]'s invention of the microscope in about [[1650]] opened up the micro-world of biology. The History of Plants was greatly extended, almost into an encyclopedia, by Giovanni Bodeo da Stapel in 1644 AD. In [[1658]] [[Jan Swammerdam]] was the first to observe and describe red blood cells, while Leeuwenhoek was the first to describe [[spermatozoa]], [[bacteria]] and [[infusoria]] in the 1670's and 1680's. By the 1690's plants were, like animals, known to be [[plant sexuality|sexual]], having [[stamen]]s and [[pistil]]s.

[[Scientific classification|Systematizing]], naming and classifying dominated biology throughout much of the 17th and 18th centuries. [[Carolus Linnaeus]] published a basic [[taxonomy]] for the natural world in [[1735]], and in the 1750's introduced [[Binomial nomenclature|scientific names]] for all his species. The discovery and description of new species, and collecting specimens became a widespread passion of scientific gentlemen.

===Nineteenth century===
[[Friedrich Wöhler|Wöhler]] showed In [[1828]] that organic molecules, such as [[urea]], can be created by synthetic means that do not involve life, and thus provided a powerful argument against [[vitalism]]. The first enzyme, [[diastase]], was described in [[1833]], and the science of [[biochemistry]] may be said to have begun.

By the mid 1850's the [[miasma theory of disease]] was largely superseded by the [[germ theory of disease]] and [[antisepsis]] became a medically important invention. Surgery and medicine was advanced in [[1858]] when [[Gray's Anatomy]] was first published.

In about the 1880's the science of [[bacteriology]] began to be formed, especially through the work of [[Robert Koch]], who introduced methods for growing pure cultures on [[Agar plate|agar gels]] containing specific nutrients in Petri dishes. He also introduced the "[[Koch's postulates]]" for the reliable determination of when a proposed microorganism caused a specific disease. The long-held idea that living organisms could easily originate from nonliving matter ([[spontaneous generation]]) was finally discredited in a series of experiments carried out by [[Louis Pasteur]].

[[Schleiden]] and [[Theodor Schwann|Schwann]] proposed the [[cell theory]] in [[1839]]: the basic unit of organisms is the cell and all cells come from preexisting cells.

The British naturalist [[Charles Darwin]] seminal work ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' ([[1859]]) described [[natural selection]], the primary mechanism for [[evolution]].
[[Image:Charles Darwin.jpg|left|thumb|[[Charles Darwin]], [[1854]]]]

In [[1866]] [[genetics]] had its beginnings in the work of the [[Austria]]n [[monk]] [[Gregor Mendel]] who formulated his [[laws of inheritance]]. However, his work was not recognized until 35 years afterward. Three years after his publication, in [[1869]] [[Friedrich Miescher]] discovered what he called nuclein, which was later realized to be a crude preparation of DNA.

The cytologist [[Walther Flemming]] in [[1882]] was the first to demonstrate that the discrete stages of mitosis were not an artifact of staining, but occurred in living cells, and moreover, that chromosomes doubled in number just before the cell divided and a daughter cell was produced. In [[1887]] [[August Weismann]] proposed that the chromosome number must then be halved in the case of the sexual cells, the [[gametes]]. This was shortly proved to be the case and the process of [[meiosis]] began to be understood.

===Twentieth century===
In about 1902, the [[chromosome]] was identified as being the site of the genes, and its central position in heredity and development were finally realized. Linkage of genes and the [[crossing over]] of chromosomes during cell division were explored, particularly in [[Thomas Hunt Morgan]]'s fly lab in Columbia University. Early in the twentieth century, a unification of the idea of evolution by [[natural selection]] with [[Mendelian inheritance|Mendelian genetics]] to produce the [[modern synthesis]] occurred. These ideas continued to be developed in the discipline of [[population genetics]] and in the second half of the century began to be applied in the new discipline of the genetics of behavior, [[sociobiology]], and, especially in humans, [[evolutionary psychology]].

By the end of the 19th century all of the major pathways of [[drug metabolism]] had been discovered. In the early decades of the twentieth century the role of minor components of foods in human nurtrition, the [[vitamins]], began to be isolated and synthesized. Then in the 1920's and 1930's the [[metabolic pathways]] of life, such as the [[citric acid cycle]] and [[glycolysis]], finally began to be worked out by biochemists. This work continued to be very actively pursued for the rest of the century and into the next. During 1939-1941 [[Fritz Lipmann]] showed that [[Adenosine triphosphate|ATP]] is the universal carrier of energy in the cell and then in the mid-1950's the power generators of the cell, the [[mitochondria]], also began to be understood.

[[Oswald Avery]] conclusively showed in [[1943]] that [[DNA]] was the genetic material of the chromosome, not its protein. By [[1953]] [[James Watson]] and [[Francis Crick]] showed that the structure of DNA was a double helix and showed its probable connection to replication. The nature of the [[genetic code]] was unraveled experimentally starting with the work of [[Marshall W. Nirenberg|Nirenberg]], [[Khorana]] and others in the late 1950's. This discovery, and others, especially the discovery of the first [[restriction enzyme]] in [[1968]] and [[PCR]] in [[1983]] gave rise to the vigorous science that we know today as [[molecular biology]].

The largest, most costly single biological study ever undertaken, the [[Human genome project]] began in 1988 under the leadership of James Watson, and a first draft of the human DNA sequence was announced in [[2000]]. By 2003 99% of the genome had been sequenced to an accuracy of one part in ten thousand. The [[HapMap]] project to determine patterns of differences in the human genome began in 2002 and by 2005 completed its first phase work by of discovering on the order of one million [[SNP]]s in 270 people sampled from four distinct populations of people: Han Chinese, Japanese, Yoruba Nigerians, and Northern Europeans. The advent of whole-genome sequencing and surveys of their variation in different populations (races), together with new statistical methods, permitted researchers by [[2006]] to systematically identify candidate loci for recent natural selection during evolution in humans. Some of these genes were also shown to be [[ancestry-informative marker]]s which came to be used in genealogical studies and to understand ancient [[human migrations]].

The study of organisms, their reproduction, and the functions of their organs had come to be the study of molecules. Reductionism was triumphant. Even the methods of [[scientific classification]] of organisms, especially [[cladistics]], began in the last quarter of the century to use RNA and DNA sequences as characters. By the mid 1980's even the overall division of the tree of life into three domains (as opposed to the classical two), the [[Archaea]], the [[Bacteria]], and the [[Eukarya]], based on [[Woese]]'s pioneering work on [[16S rRNA]] sequencing, became generally accepted in the scientific community.

While [[cloning]] in plants was known for millennia it was only in [[1951]] that the first animal, the [[tadpole]], was cloned by nuclear transfer. [[Dolly the sheep|Dolly]], the sheep was cloned by transfer of a mature somatic cell nucleus into an enucleated [[oocyte]] in [[1997]]. Within a few years, several other animals, including dogs, cats, horses and cattle were cloned by similar methods.

In [[1965]] it was shown that normal cells in culture divide only a fixed number of times (the [[Hayflick Limit]]) then aged and died. About the same time, [[stem cells]] were shown to be exceptions to this rule and began to be studied in earnest. Toward the end of the century, [[stem cells|totipotent stem cell]]s came to be recognized as crucial for the understanding of developmental biology and raised hopes for new medical applications.

In [[1983]] the unity of much of the [[morphogenesis]] of organisms from fertilized egg to adult began to be unraveled by the discovery of the [[homeobox]] genes, first in the fruit fly, then in other insects and animals, including man.

Starting in [[1990]] an important mechanism of gene regulation, [[RNA interference]] began to be understood and became an important laboratory technique to [[knockdown]] genes in order to determine their function in [[model organisms]].

The first genome of a plant model organism, ''[[Arabidopsis thaliana]]'' was sequenced in [[2000]]. Dozens of bacteria, the [[House mouse|mouse]], the nematode ''[[Caenorhabditis elegans]]'' and other model organisms were sequenced and their genes mapped, often by large international collaborations. The first decade of the twenty-first century saw the rise of [[proteomics]], computational biology and [[bioinformatics]], with an emphasis on huge databases of experimentally derived data, all connected by the Internet and available to researchers everywhere, which has fundamentally changed the structure of the science of biology itself.

==References==
Asimov, Isaac ''Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology: The Lives & Achievements of 1510 Great Scientists from Ancient Times to the Present'' Revised second edition, Doubleday (1982) ISBN 0385177712.

Bowler, Peter J. ''The Earth Encompassed: A History of the Environmental Sciences''. W. W. Norton & Company: New York, 1992. ISBN 0393320804

Coleman, William. ''Biology in the Nineteenth Century: Problems of Form, Function, and Transformation''. Cambridge University Press: New York, 1977. ISBN 052129293X

Mayr, Ernst. ''The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance''. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. ISBN 0674364457

==See also==
*[[Timeline of biology and organic chemistry]]
*[[History of agricultural science]]
*[[History of anatomy]]
*[[History of evolutionary thought]]
*[[History of medicine]]
*[[History of molecular biology]]
*[[History of plant systematics]]
*[[History of zoology (before Darwin)]]
*[[History of zoology, post-Darwin]]
*[[Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids]] - article published by James D. Watson and Francis Crick in 1953
*[[Natural history]]

[[Category:History of biology|*]]
[[Category:Biology]]

[[de:Geschichte der Biologie]]
[[es:Historia de la biología]]
[[fr:Histoire de la biologie]]
[[ja:生物学史]]
[[pl:Historia biologii]]
[[sk:Dejiny biológie]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.antiquebooks.net/readpage.html#torner The entire Torner Collection of Watercolors c. 1700.] Courtesy the Hunt Institute and the Universal Library at Carnegie-Mellon University. Includes Plants, Insects, Fishes, and Mammals from a Mexican Expedition commissioned by Spain.

Die blinden Männer und der Elefant

2006-08-03T11:15:12Z

Rhtcmu: /* External links */

The story of the '''blind men and an [[elephant]]''' appears to have originated in [[India]], but its original source is debated. It has been attributed to the [[Jainism|Jainists]], [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], and sometimes to the [[Sufism|Sufis]] or [[Hinduism|Hindus]], and has been used by all those groups and by the [[Discordianism|Discordians]]. Two of the best-known versions attributed to an individual in the modern day are the 19th Century poem by [[John Godfrey Saxe]] and the late 20th Century story by [[Discordian Works|Reverend Loveshade]].

In various versions of the tale, a group of blind men (or men in the dark) touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each one touches a different part, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then compare notes on what they felt, and learn they are in complete disagreement. The story is used to indicate that reality may be viewed differently depending upon one's perspective.

Various versions are similar, and differ primarily in how the elephant's body parts are described, how violent the conflict becomes, and how (or if) the conflict among the men and their perspectives is resolved.

{{spoiler}}

== Jainist ==

A [[Jainism|Jainist]] version of the story says that six blind men went to determine what the elephant was like.

The blind man who touches a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the tail-toucher claims it's like a rope; the one who feels the trunk compares it to a tree branch; the man who felt the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the belly-toucher asserts it's like a wall; and the tusk feeler insists the elephant feels like a solid pipe.

A wise man explains to them

: All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said. [http://www.jainworld.com/education/stories25.asp]

This resolves the conflict, and is used to illustrate the principle of living in harmony with people who have different belief systems, and that truth can be stated in different ways (in Jainist beliefs often said to be seven versions). This is known as the Syadvada, Anekantvad, or the theory of Manifold Predictions. [http://www.jainworld.com/education/stories25.asp]

== Buddhist ==

A [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] version is told in ''Jainism and Buddhism. Udana 68-69: Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant.'' Buddha tells the story of a raja who had six blind men gathered together to examine the elephant.

: "When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, 'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?' [http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~rywang/berkeley/258/parable.html]

They assert the elephant is like a pot (head), winnowing basket (ear), ploughshare (tusk), plough (trunk), grainery (body), pillar (foot), mortar (back), pestle (tail), or brush (tip of the tail).

The men come to blows, which delights the raja. The raja says

: O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim
: For preacher and monk the honored name!
: For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
: Such folk see only one side of a thing. [http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~rywang/berkeley/258/parable.html]

== Sufi-Hindu ==

[[Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi|Mawlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī]], popularly known in the English-speaking world as simply Rumi, was a 13th Century Persian poet, jurist, theologian and teacher of [[Sufism]].

Rumi credits the tale to the [[Hinduism|Hindus]] in his telling of the story, "The Elephant in the Dark" from ''Tales from Masnavi''. In this version, some Hindus bring an elephant to be exhibited in a dark room.

In a translation by A.J. Arberry, some men feel the elephant in the dark. Depending upon where they touch, they believe the elephant to be like a water spout (trunk), a fan (ear), a pillar (leg), and a throne (back). Rumi uses this story as an example of the limits of individual perception.

: The sensual eye is just like the palm of the hand. The palm has not the means of covering the whole of the best. [http://www.khamush.com/tales_from_masnavi.htm#The_Elephant]

Rumi doesn't present a resolution to the conflict in his version, but states

: The eye of the Sea is one thing and the foam another. Let the foam go, and gaze with the eye of the Sea. Day and night foam-flecks are flung from the sea: of amazing! You behold the foam but not the Sea. We are like boats dashing together; our eyes are darkened, yet we are in clear water. [http://www.khamush.com/tales_from_masnavi.htm#The_Elephant]

== John Godfrey Saxe ==

One of the most famous versions of the 19th Century was the poem "The Blind Men and the Elephant" by [[John Godfrey Saxe]] (1816-1887).

The poem begins

: It was six men of Indostan
: To learning much inclined,
: Who went to see the Elephant
: (Though all of them were blind),
: That each by observation
: Might satisfy his mind [http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1179.html]

They conclude that the elephant is like a wall, snake, spear, tree, fan, or rope, depending upon where they touch. They have a heated debate that does not come to physical violence. But in Saxe's version, the conflict is never resolved.

:: Moral:
: So oft in theologic wars,
: The disputants, I ween,
: Rail on in utter ignorance
: Of what each other mean,
: And prate about an Elephant
: Not one of them has seen! [http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1179.html]

== Discordian ==

A well-known [[Discordianism|Discordian]] version of the late 20th Century is Reverend Loveshade's "Five Blind Men and an Elephant," which first appeared in the 1995 online [[Discordian_Works#The Two Apocrypha Discordias|''Non-Existent Apocrypha Discordia'']]. It also appears in the 2001 ''[[Apocrypha Discordia]]'' (a distinct work--this story is the only piece found in both versions), ''Apocrypha Diskordia'' (German translation of the 2001 version), ''The Book of Eris'', [[Discordian Works#Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht|''Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht'']], and ''Principia Harmonia''. In this telling of the elephant story, there are five blind men who touch the elephant and dispute about what they've found, and whether the elephant is like a snake, spear, wall, tree, or fan.

But in this version, the conflict becomes extremely violent.

: The argument grew more heated, and finally escalated into a battle, for each of the five had followers. This became known as the Battle of the Five Armies (not to be mistaken for the one described by that [[J._R._R._Tolkien|Tolkien]] fellow). [http://discordia.loveshade.org/apocrypha/elephant.html]

Then a "blind, self-appointed Discordian oracle" stops and feels the entire elephant, and thinks, "What a bunch of fools these guys are."

The oracles tells them they are all right, and that

: the elephant is a great Tree, and on this tree grow leaves like great Fans to give most wondrous shade and fan the breeze. And the branches of this tree are like Spears to protect it. For this is the Tree of Creation and of Eternal Life, and the Great Serpent hangs still upon it.

: Unfortunately, it is hidden behind a great Wall, which is why it was not discovered until this very day. It cannot be reached by normal means. [http://discordia.loveshade.org/apocrypha/elephant.html]

By twisting the truth into an original perspective that harmonizes the discordant elements (an example of the Ek-sen-trik Discordian principle of "harmonious discord"), the oracle stops the war. Then she tells them that she can teach them, for a price, how to use a rope she's found (the elephant's tail) to climb the elephant, and thus gain eternal life.

: She then named an extremely high price for her services (Eternal Life doesn’t come cheap), and made quite a bundle.

: ''Moral: Anyone can lead blind men to an elephant, but a Discordian can charge admission.'' [http://discordia.loveshade.org/apocrypha/elephant.html]

== See also ==

*[[Buddhism]]
*[[Discordianism]]
*[[Discordian Works]]
*[[Hinduism]]
*[[Jainism]]
*[[Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi]]
*[[John Godfrey Saxe]]
*[[Sufism]]

== External links ==

* [[s:The_Blindmen_and_the_Elephant|Wikisource: "The Blindmen and the Elephant" by John Godfrey Saxe]]
*[http://www.antiquebooks.net/readpage.html#saxe All of Saxe's Poems including original printing of The Blindman and the Elephant] Free to read and full text search.
* [[s:Five_Blind_Men_and_an_Elephant|Wikisource: "Five Blind Men and an Elephant" by Reverend Loveshade]]
* [http://www.jainworld.com/education/stories25.asp Jainist Version hosted by Jainworld]
* [http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~rywang/berkeley/258/parable.html Buddhist Version as found in ''Jainism and Buddhism. Udana'' hosted by the University of Princeton]
* [http://www.khamush.com/tales_from_masnavi.htm#The_Elephant Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi's version as translated by A.J. Arberry]
* [http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1179.html John Godfrey Saxe's version hosted at Rice University]
* [http://discordia.loveshade.org/apocrypha/elephant.html Reverend Loveshade's Discordian version as found in ''Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht'']

[[Category:Fables]]
[[Category:Fairy tales]]
[[Category:Parables]]
[[Category:Short stories]]