De Chene (philosophy, Emory U.) discusses the context in which Descartes' ideas about the nature of biology took shape, addressing how the themes, arguments, and vocabulary of Descartes' mechanistic biology relate to the writings of 17th century authors, from late Aristotelian theories of the soul to medical literature and treatises on machines. He outlines Descartes' theories of vital operations, his use of the machine model in physiology, how he classified different kinds of unity of the body, and other aspects of his thought. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR