Professor Garland (Gar) Allen is a highly distinguished historian of biology; indeed he was there for the inception of the very field itself within the mid-20th Century! I'm particularly interested in the different ways of approaching the idea of 'life,' and Gar helps me to understand some of the context in which ideas have been at play over the years. We talk about the mechanistic views, as well as more holistic and vitalistic accounts that have been debated through the history of biology. I get the feeling that we only scratched the surface, however this will be a fantastic introduction for anyone interested in the big picture of biological thought. For more information, check out his very intuitive and comprehensive 2017 book, Scientific Process and Social Issues in Biology Education.