--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning…" description: "\"“Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female contributions into \"material\" and \"message,\" but abstractly, he had captured one of the ess..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg" --- # Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female… ![“Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female contributions into "material" and "message," but abstractly, he had captured one of the essential truths about the nature of heredity. The transmission of heredity, as Aristotle perceived it, was essentially the transmission of…” quote by Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52a/siddhartha-mukherjee-1619_aristotle_aristotle-was-wrong-in-his-partitioning_2946764.jpg) > ““Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female contributions into "material" and "message," but abstractly, he had captured one of the essential truths about the nature of heredity. The transmission of heredity, as Aristotle perceived it, was essentially the transmission of information. Information was then used to build an organism from scratch: message became material. And when an organism matured, it generated male or female semen again-transforming material back to message. In fact, rather than Pythagoras's triangle, there was a circle, or a cycle, at work: form begat information, and then information begat form. Centuries later, the biologist Max Delbruck would joke that Aristotle should have been given the Nobel Prize posthumously-for the discovery of DNA.”” [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aristotle’s view of heredity anticipated DNA: information becomes material and back again, forming a cycle. **In simple terms:** DNA is a loop of information and form. Key Takeaway Recognize the information‑material cycle in biology. Themes science history genetics Mood analytical curious Type scientific reflective When to use this quote - genetic research - education - medical ethics Key Concepts information theory biology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does this cycle affect modern genetics? - What ethical issues arise from DNA manipulation? A Different Perspective Modern genetics is far more complex than Aristotle’s analogy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nobel prize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobel-prize/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins won the Nobel Prize for their discovery. Franklin was not included in the prize. 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The transmission of heredity, as Aristotle perceived it, was essentially the transmission of information. Information was then used to build an organism from scratch: message became material. And when an organism matured, it generated male or female semen again-transforming material back to message. In fact, rather than Pythagoras's triangle, there was a circle, or a cycle, at work: form begat information, and then information begat form. 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