[Federation of parts. On Virchow's notion of individuality].
An introductory essay to the Italian translation of R. Virchow's "Atoms and Individuals", the paper presents his notion of organic individuality as an outcome of his new cell theory. Virchow's stress on the federal structure of the biological individual as composed of "cell-territories" supersedes the previous cellular atomism, and can be considered a turning point in the establishment of a modular approach to the organism.
Caianiello
Silvia
S
Istituto per la Storia del Pensiero Filosofico e Scientifico Moderno (ISPF), CNR, Napoli, Italy.
D000715:Anatomy / Q000266:history; D003585:Cell Biology / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D011044:Poland