biology

Tim Lewens

Tim Lewens is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tim Lewens rather than just read about it. In short: Tim Lewens (born 29 June 1974) is a professor in the history and philosophy of biology, medicine, and bioethics at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. Lewens is a Fellow of Clare College, where he serves as Director of Studies in Philosophy and he is a member of the academic staff and lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS).

Key takeaways

Tim Lewens belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tim Lewens to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tim Lewens from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tim Lewens (born 29 June 1974) is a professor in the history and philosophy of biology, medicine, and bioethics at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. Lewens is a Fellow of Clare College, where he serves as Director of Studies in Philosophy and he is a member of the academic staff and lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS).

Background Lewens completed his PhD thesis at the Department of HPS, Cambridge University in 2001. He became a lecturer in History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge soon after completing his doctoral thesis. He now serves as a governor at Exeter School where he was formerly a pupil. He was member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics from 2009 to 2015 and a member of the Council's Working Party on human bodies in medicine and research (report published autumn 2011).

Research Lewens has written and lectured extensively on evolution and his book on this subject, Organisms and Artifacts: Design in Nature and Elsewhere (2004) received wide critical acclaim, as did his 2007 monograph on Charles Darwin. From 2014 to 2017 Lewens was Deputy Director of Cambridge University's Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.

Honours Lewens was 2005's Philip Leverhulme Prize Philosophy subject. In 2008, He was one of eleven recipients of the University of Cambridge's Pilkington Prize for the quality of his teaching.

Selected publications Walsh, Denis M., Lewens, Tim and Ariew, Andre (2002). The Trials of Life: Natural Selection and Random Drift. Philosophy of Science Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 452-473 Lewens, Tim (2004). Organisms and Artifacts: Design in Nature and Elsewhere. Bradford Books, Life and Mind Series. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-12261-0. Lewens, Tim (2006). Darwin. London: Routledge. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-415-34638-2. Lewens, Tim (2015). The Meaning of Science: A Pelican Introduction. Pelican. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-141-97742-3.

References

External links Tim Lewens, list of publications Department of HPS, Cambridge.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tim Lewens

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tim Lewens claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tim Lewens before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tim Lewens ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tim Lewens

In research: Tim Lewens appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tim Lewens in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tim Lewens is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1974 births, Alumni of the University of Cambridge, British bioethicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tim Lewens outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tim Lewens in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tim Lewens means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tim Lewens out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tim Lewens in simple terms?

Why does Tim Lewens matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tim Lewens?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tim Lewens.