Bugs online 9 Aug 2008 This is cool. I always like to find historical documents online; even better when they’re free. The Society for General Microbiology has scanned its journal International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM) back to the first edition in 1951 and made the archival articles free to all. Since the discovery of organisms is a once-off affair, subsequent researchers need access to the item that announced it in peer-reviewed print to be able to be sure they are working on the right species. So more than most sciences, taxonomy is a historical science, and since bugs (the technical term for bacteria, algae, and other microbes) have only really been deeply and widely studied in the past 60 years or so, this counts as “historical material”. Congrats to the SGM, and now for the other professional publishers… Ecology and Biodiversity History Species and systematics
Administrative Whewell’s Ghost, a HPS blog 7 Sep 2010 In conjunction with John Lynch and Rebekah Higgit, a new blog has been launched for history and philosophy of science posts, entitled Whewell’s Ghost. Rebekah and I have kicked it off with a couple of posts. Anyone may contribute to this, on the history and philosophy of any aspect of… Read More
Evolution Bats and mice and wings and things 18 May 200818 Sep 2017 Comparative limb growth of a bat (top) and a mouse, in utero development. From the paper below. One of my favourite statistics is this: one in every four mammal species you meet is a rat or rodent, and one in every five is a bat. That’s right, nine in every… Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity Mantis shrimps: is there anything they can’t do? 21 Mar 2008 They see in 12 colours and using polarised light, they move at the speed of a bullet. Go read about them at Not Exactly Rocket Science. Yes, they are the coolest inverts… Read More
Now THAT is just plain beautiful. This is one journal that lack of free access to has been irritating me, so I’m excruciatingly happy to see them opening up…
Now THAT is just plain beautiful. This is one journal that lack of free access to has been irritating me, so I’m excruciatingly happy to see them opening up…