The Blue Book is in PDF 10 Sep 2009 Systematists know the tome by Gareth Nelson and Norman Platnick, Systematics and Biogeography (1981), as the Blue Book (shades of Wittgenstein!). It was published once and is now so hard to get that I have been unable to find a copy in ten years of looking. Now, Malte Ebach tells me, the series at UCP of which my book is part, is making a legal PDF available here. I’m taking it to the local print shop for a physical copy. It’s not searchable (but give me a copy of Acrobat and I’ll make it so), but at least it’s there. The core historical narrative of it started me off on what became my book. If anyone can send me a scan of the cover and spine, I’ll upload it on my box.net page. History Species and systematics Species concept Systematics
Species and systematics The ontology of biology 4 – pattern and process 16 Jan 200918 Sep 2017 One of the enduring mistakes made in science and philosophy is to confuse how things seem with how they are. In biology, the conjunction “pattern and process” has been around for decades, at least since 1947 in ecology, when Alex Watt used it as a title for an essay on… Read More
History Greewald on Bush on Evil 20 Jun 2007 A very thoughtful and interesting, dare I say almost philosophical, discussion of the Manichaean nature of the Bush Administration is in the present Salon here. A quote: The power to order people detained and imprisoned based solely on accusation is one of the most extraordinary and tyrannical powers any political… Read More
Evolution An essay on the evolution of human evolution 12 Aug 2007 Laelaps has a very nice essay that ranges from the number of ribs humans have, the book of Genesis, creationism, and the variety of stories told about human evolution from the nineteenth century to now. Go read it. It’s one of the few blog posts in which you’ll read of… Read More
In morphometrics (my field), the “blue book” is a different book entirely. We also have the orange book, the black book, the red book …
Now there’s a meme, John. “Decode the book:” I add “the white book” and “the camel book.” For bonus points, pick the field as well.
Not to brag, but I got myself a copy of the blue book, dust jacket and all, after only 8 years of looking. I got Platnick to sign it before I left the AMNH (ok, now I am bragging). I’ll get you a scan next week after I return home from holidays [/brag]