A review of my species book 22 Dec 2010 David Morrison, editor at Systematic Biology, has given me a very nice and well informed and researched review for my book Species: A history of the idea. He even likes the cover. I have had some good and mixed reviews, but this one took time and effort, and he gets it right. I particular liked being called “the most readable philosopher that I have ever come across, as I hardly ever needed to use a dictionary to understand his words.” This might go against me in the next Philosopher’s Guild meeting, though… Book Species concept
Book Favourite Terry Pratchett Discworld novels 17 Jun 2010 This popped up on alt.fan.pratchett (yeah, I know, I’m Avoiding Work), so of course I had to. Feel free to disagree, although anyone who dislike Pratchett and the Holy Discworld Scriptures is a lost cause and should not be replied to. Under the fold: Read More
Evolution Darwin’s motivation 5 Dec 2010 For some time now I have been convinced that Darwin’s original and most pressing problem was not adaptation. It was the existence of taxonomic diversity. I have thought that the debates over what was a natural classification amongst the unjustly derided Quinarians William Sharp Macleay and William Swainson were the… Read More
Academe My latest paper – Carving Nature at its Joints, a review 25 Nov 201225 Nov 2012 You can find it online here. A very interesting but ultimately, to me, largely frustrating book (because it didn’t answer my questions, goddammit!). Review – Carving Nature at Its Joints Natural Kinds in Metaphysics and Science by Joseph Keim Campbell, Michael O’Rourke and Matthew H. Slater (Editors) MIT Press, 2012… Read More
Hey!, cheapskate, buy it! It’s got interesting & attractive cover art by Ernst Haeckel ; as such it impresses friends who see it on your coffee table, especially when you tell them you know the guy (not Haeckel).
From Sweden? Morrison works there. I would love a Swedish knighthood. If it was good enough for Linne, it’s good enough for me…
Well, I suppose that the Philosopher’s Guild seeks a coherent unreadableness, which I’m fully confident that you’ll one day achieve because I’ve seen you do it in the past.:) Anyway, John, Merry Christmas.:)
Could be ESL, I don’t know what that is, but neither of the other two. People visit, see it, pick it up from the coffee table and then actually start reading it.
…which is completely the reverse of what I would consider a coffee table book – hence the snark – kind of like “inflammable”