NYT article on genes 10 Nov 2008 Here, by the incredibly young, handsome and way too successful Carl Zimmer, late of the Seed stable. Carl brings to mind my favourite Truman Capote saying: It is not enough to succeed. Friends must be seen to have failed. Anyway, go read the bastard’s excellent essay. I will just sit here in my pool of failure. Evolution General Science Humor
Epistemology Evolution quotes: On human nature and doubt 8 Nov 20128 Nov 2012 That Pyrot had stolen the eighty thousand trusses of hay nobody hesitated for a moment to believe. No one doubted because the general ignorance in which everybody was concerning the affair did not allow of doubt, for doubt is a thing that demands motives. People do not doubt without reasons… Read More
Australian stuff Come to Australia and learn to handle venomous snakes 14 Oct 2009 We like to joke with visitors about the venomous wildlife in Australia. I mean we even have a venomous mammal (well, sort of mammal). But as we have 20 of the world’s top 25 venomous snakes, we sometimes need to teach snake handling for the workplace. And somebody posed a… Read More
Biology Genes – the language of God 3: Why genes aren’t information 16 Jun 201410 Aug 2014 Genes – the language of God 0: Preface Genes – the language of God 1: Genes as Language Genes – the language of God 2: Other popular gene myths and metaphors Genes – the language of God 3: Why genes aren’t information Genes – the language of God 4: Why… Read More
It’s a decent review of the past 50 years of genetics for the lay person. I think that’s why Zimmer is so successful; he conveys mind numbing quantities of science into something readable for the average individual with little background in science. In any event, I know most of that, and I’m a bit upset that he didn’t go more in depth with how untranslated regions within an a sequence function (like operators), but it was still a decent place to send people for a very general overview.
It’s a decent review of the past 50 years of genetics for the lay person. I think that’s why Zimmer is so successful; he conveys mind numbing quantities of science into something readable for the average individual with little background in science. In any event, I know most of that, and I’m a bit upset that he didn’t go more in depth with how untranslated regions within an a sequence function (like operators), but it was still a decent place to send people for a very general overview.
For a layman like me, it’s a great piece of work. One of the difficulties a non-specialist faces in keeping up with the field is that it changes so quickly, and new discoveries keep happening. That’s why I started reading Scienceblogs. Zimmer is indeed absurdly talented. But reading him was what led me to other fascinating blogs like this one. (Fishing for compliments, John?)
For a layman like me, it’s a great piece of work. One of the difficulties a non-specialist faces in keeping up with the field is that it changes so quickly, and new discoveries keep happening. That’s why I started reading Scienceblogs. Zimmer is indeed absurdly talented. But reading him was what led me to other fascinating blogs like this one. (Fishing for compliments, John?)