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 I always like to find historical documents online; even better when they’re free.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
Epistemology Metaphysical determinism 20 May 201227 Aug 2012 There is a hypothesis called the Sapir-Whorf Thesis (also known as linguistic relativity) in language that one can only think what one’s language permits you to think, and indeed forces you to think. This idea that some conceptual scheme can determine how you think is widely held. It appears again… Read More
Evolution Sociobiology 4: individuals as groups, and a summary 21 Nov 200718 Sep 2017 This is the fourth of a series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Wilson and Wilson (W&W) then continue on to employ some recent work on individuals as groups, and the “major transitions” literature. Read More
History How to fix Iraq, and not invade Iran 28 Sep 200718 Sep 2017 There’s been a lot of media spin and unthinking objections to the visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the US. He was called the “modern Hitler”, for example. This strikes me as both unthinking and dangerous. Ahmadinejad is his own kind of threat and problem, and comparisons to past dangerous… 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…