Groves on the species concept 13 Sep 2009 Colin Groves, the primatologist from the ANU who does a lot of systematics, has an interview on the topic of species here at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s radio show “Ockham’s Razor”. The podcast will be up in due course. One thing I must dispute with Colin is that there even is a phylogenetic species concept. But that’s for another day… Late note: Listen to the show here. Species concept Systematics
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
Epistemology Dynamics and classification redux 7 Aug 2010 In my last two posts in this series, I suggested that science is a field of possible moments, with no set trajectory over what I called the “dance floor of science”. Some commentators have objected to this, arguing that there is no real difference between classification and theory building. I… Read More
“One thing I must dispute with Colin” Why do some bloggers use the first names of the authors of papers/articles or the person being interviewed? Is it not conventional to use just the last name or both when discussing a colleague’s work? As well, Jerry Coyne tends to use first names: “According to Richard, both he and Armstrong were commissioned to write on the topic. . . .” whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/dawkins-17-armstrong-0/
it depends, I think, on whether they are known personally to you or not. People I know I tend to use their first name.