Evolution How to review intelligent design: defending Hacking 21 Sep 200718 Sep 2017 Jason Rosenhouse, of Evolutionblog, has posted a rather snarky review of a book review by the historian and philosopher Ian Hacking that was published in The Nation. Jason titled his comment “How not to defend evolution”. Here’s my take on it. Continue Reading
Ecology and Biodiversity The constancy of change and the lack of balance 16 Sep 2007 All the strangers look like family All the family looks so strange The only constant I am sure of Is this accelerating rate of change — Peter Gabriel, Downside-Up, from the Ovo Album Creek Running North has a delightful rumination on the lack of a balance of nature, in which… Continue Reading
Evolution What is “life”, at last 13 Sep 200718 Sep 2017 Recently, that is since 1975 or so, the view has arisen that a living thing is something that satisfies several conditions. Continue Reading
Ecology and Biodiversity What is “life”, again? 8 Sep 200718 Sep 2017 Now we turn to the modern accounts of life. In 1828, Friedrich Wöhler produced uric acid without using “kidney of man or dog”. Prior to that time, there was considered to be something different between organic chemistry and inorganic chemistry. Living things had some “vital fluid” that other things lacked…. Continue Reading
Ecology and Biodiversity Australian bees are BETTER than American bees 7 Sep 2007 So, you thought that Colony Collapse Disorder, which is causing billions of dollars in losses in American agriculture, was an act of nature? You poor fools! It’s a plot, I tell yez. We Australians have hardier bees than you do, so they can carry an infectious disease that your weakly… Continue Reading
Ecology and Biodiversity Organic farming – a good idea? 7 Sep 2007 COSMOS magazine has an interesting article sure to stir up trouble by suggesting that, among other things, global organic farming would necessitate clearing all remaining forests and even then a substantial portion of the earth’s population would starve. I don’t know enough about this topic to speak sensibly, but I… Continue Reading
Ecology and Biodiversity The meaning of “life” 6 Sep 2007 Carl Zimmer has one of his usually clear and precise articles on recent work on the nature of life, focussing on the work of Carol Cleland, who is at the National Astrobiology Institute, despite reduced funding for actual science by the present administration. I met Carol last year when we… Continue Reading
Evolution The more things change.. 2 Sep 2007 I have decided that I am sick and tired of the antievolutionists. When I got into this game about 15 years or more ago, I thought that if we just argued and presented information about what evolution really is, and what it means for modern thinking, people would move away… Continue Reading
Ecology and Biodiversity Theories of speciation 1 Sep 200718 Sep 2017 Continuing on from my last post, let’s consider the modes of speciation that are called into account for the existence of species. Continue Reading
Evolution Are species theoretical objects? 31 Aug 2007 A lot of people have said something like “species are the units of evolution”. What does this even mean? So far as I can tell, nobody has really fleshed this out. Continue Reading