Renaissance mathematicus 6 Aug 2009 I know I’ve been busy for a while now, but that’s no excuse for not having made more of our blog-friend Thony Christie’s new blog, Renaissance Mathematicus. Which is a real pity as he’s been doing some interesting pieces on the history of science. Since I’m such a slacker, go read Thony for a bit. History
History Fallacies on fallacies 22 Sep 2008 Many people are confused about what counts as a fallacy, including teachers of critical reasoning. Opponents of science often accuse pro-science writers of “the fallacy of authority” or “the ad hominem fallacy” when they are noted for having made silly and false claims before. I thought some words about what… Read More
Biology My latest paper 4 Jul 2010 I have just had a paper published: “What is a species? Essences and generation” Theory in Biosciences Volume 129, Numbers 2-3 / September, 2010. Pages 141-148 . DOI 10.1007/s12064-010-0090-z Abstract: Arguments against essentialism in biology rely strongly on a claim that modern biology abandoned Aristotle’s notion of a species as… Read More
Biology Why is Darwin’s theory so controversial? 24 Nov 2012 So asks this essay and gets the whole thing wrong. Darwin’s theories (plural) are not controversial because they imply that species are mutable. This was a widely held view by preachers, moralists, Aristotelians, naturalists, breeders, formalists, folk biology, and even biblical translators. Darwin was not controversial because he implied racist… Read More
This is really embarrassing, a glowing recommendation from the Aussie Anthropoid and another one from Will Thomas at Ether Wave Propaganda both on the same day! It’s a conspiracy isn’t it? Now if I could just work out the evil intentions behind…