Travel Diary 4 7 Oct 2009 I am in Göttingen now, talking to primatologists at the DPZ (Deutsches Primatenzentrum) conference on hybridisation. Neither I nor any of the said primatologists are in the picture above. This is an appropriate place to give a talk on species concepts, because in the 18th century, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach worked here, and he is the originator of the so-called biological species concept. Tonight is a talk on the tree of life, a subject dear to my heart, by Mike Arnold of the University of Georgia, and the conference proper begins tomorrow. Biology Ecology and Biodiversity Evolution Philosophy Science
Evolution Carnival of Evolution 2 May 2010 The 23rd edition of the Carnival of Evolution is up. It includes two of my posts, so you know that it can only get better. Go check it out. Read More
Philosophy The Greek Pantheon Test 5 Nov 2010 I’ve been very busy teaching, and so this blog has suffered. So I thought I’d do a short screed of an idea that I have had for some time. I have discussed what a religion is for a while now. Instead I want to ask today, What is a god?… Read More
Evolution Strong reciprocity 22 Sep 2007 On Friday I assessed an essay by a masters student on the evolution of reciprocity and altruism (she cleverly introduced a notion of benevolent behaviour rather than “altruism” in social contexts, to avoid confusion with genetic altruism. Then today my various feeds identified this rather excellent essay (more of a… Read More