Bits and pieces 7 Jan 2009 I’m away from what serves as my computer these days for a while – off to Sydney to find a place to live. Also, the Seed Masters (whom I for one welcome) are upgrading Moveable Type from 3 to 4, so we can’t blog for a few days anyway. But I would like to announce that my paper with Gareth J. Nelson on a possible precursor to punctuated equilibrium and the biological species concept, Pierre Trémaux, has been published in the journal History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences. The full details are: Wilkins, John S., and Gareth J. Nelson. 2008. Trémaux on species: A theory of allopatric speciation (and punctuated equilibrium) before Wagner. Hist. Phil. Life Sci. 30: 179-206. A manuscript version is available from the PhilSci Archive. Evolution History Species and systematics trashcan categorial
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
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Rise of the Planet of the Moralists 1: Introduction 11 Oct 201122 Jun 2018 Rise of the Planet of the Moralists Series1: Introduction2: Chains and Trees 3: Clades and grades4: Predicting traits5: Social dominance and power This is an extended meditation upon the recent film Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). There may be spoilers (first and final warning) so read at your own risk. The film… Read More
Evolution More on the really bad journalism 26 Jan 2009 An excellent fisking by Johnny at Ecographica is here – including the cover that New Scientist should have used… More from Larry at Sandwalk here, on the cover and the intent of the article. Marco F at Leucophaea has a blog in Italian that I think says complimentary things about… Read More