Taxonomy as product 5 Feb 2011 Taxonomists may be described as producers, their productions being the classifications and names of plants. The non-taxonomists may be likened to consumers, the aforesaid classifications and names being the commodities which they consume. Now the characteristics of a commodity are of importance not only to the consumer but also to the producer, since, if the two are to continue in amicable trade relations, they must be satisfied with one another. It must be economic for the consumer to remain the customer of the producer. This the producer seeks to ensure by giving close attention to the standard and utility of his wares. [Good, Ronald. 1935. The real Species Problem. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 147:107–110.] Quotes Systematics
Metaphysics Philosophy quote: Nagel on Analytic Philosophy 1 Oct 20114 Oct 2011 In 1935, Ernest Nagel spent a year traveling around European philosophy departments, and he reported his observations on what he called the new “analytic philosophy” in the Journal of Philosophy. I was particularly taken by his programmatic description: the men with whom I have talked are impatient with philosophic systems… Read More
Epistemology Evolution quotes: The English and theories 11 Dec 2012 ‘What I really like about the English is that they don’t have theories. No Englishman would ever have said, “I think, therefore I am.” Although possibly he might have said, “I think, therefore I am, I think.”‘ [Solomon, from Dodger, by Terry Pratchett, p219] Read More
Biology Evidence and Evolution 23 Jul 2009 I have just finished doing a review (for Systematic Biology) that took me six months. It was not because I was slack. It was because I had to read it in three page segments. The book is “Evidence and Evolution: The Logic Behind the Science” (Elliott Sober) Read More