• Biology, Psychology
• Published 1962
• DOI:10.2307/1217734

THE ORIGIN OF THE MALE AND FEMALE SYMBOLS OF BIOLOGY

@inproceedings{Stearn1962THEOO,
  title={THE ORIGIN OF THE MALE AND FEMALE SYMBOLS OF BIOLOGY},
  author={William Thomas Stearn},
  year={1962}
}

• William Thomas Stearn

The symbols 6 and ?, so widely used in modern biology to distinguish male and female organs or individuals, have a long complex history which touches upon mythology, astrology, alchemy, palaeography, pharmacy, chemistry, heraldry and, as regards their biological application, the schooling and psychology of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-78). They illustrate how an apparently simple historical question in science, as that raised by G. Rattray Taylor in the New Scientist, 11 (no. 245… CONTINUE READING

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