149 years ago today 24 Nov 200818 Sep 2017 Sgt Pepper… oops, wrong oeuvre… On the 24th of November 1859, a green bound book was published. It made something of an impact on the way we think… Hat tip to Professor Olsen @ Large Evolution History
Biology Alienus a me puto 5 Jul 2010 I have mentioned Terence’s line Homo sum: nihil humani a me alienum puto before. It is a declaration that all that is human is not foreign to me. But there are aliens, or we suppose on reasonable grounds that there are, and Stephen Hawking thinks we should not engage them,… Read More
Evolution The World according to Genesis: Stuff that grows 1 Jun 200724 Nov 2022 We’re in the third day, and Elohim has made dry land, but no sun or stars or moon. Still, he’s keen to see something growing, so he tells the land to produce, by spontaneous generation as it was later known, “seed bearing plants and plants bearing fruit with their proper… Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity Apes and evolution in the news 19 Jun 20094 Oct 2017 So there are a couple of interesting developments about fossil apes. One is the retraction by the author of the claim 14 years ago to have found a jaw bone that was evidence of Homo habilis, a precursor species (arguably) of H erectus, in a recent Nature. Previously he and… Read More
I’ve told you lot before: I’m innumerate. I passed pure math with distinction and failed applied. I can’t even do basic arithmetic without a calculator.
I’ve told you lot before: I’m innumerate. I passed pure math with distinction and failed applied. A famous Czech professor of mathematics once said that mathematics is the only science that has no use for numbers.
And just three years later, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I know, I know. But I love telling that to people who claim that Darwin instigated racism.:)
With all respect to James Goetz, 32 years before that, Britain passed into law The Abolition Act, which came into force and effect on 01 August 1833. That act altered the status of a slave to that of an indentured servant. Many imagine that this is a distinction without a difference. But consider; the contract of indenture was one that a minor was permitted to enter into, as it was it the benefit of the minor. By indenture, a minor was contracted to a master, in order to learn a trade. Such an indentured servant was entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and education. (The Brits were not content to “free” their slaves to sleep under bridges, and starve in the gutters.) As the indenture lasted seven years, I will not gainsay anyone who wishes to suggest that the true “Year of Jubilee” was 1840. That’s still 25 yearas before the Yanks did anything about the problem>