Verne Grant died 24 Aug 200718 Sep 2017 I’m very late to this, but one of the significant figures in the synthesis, Verne Grant, died in May. Grant’s book The Origin of Adaptations (1963) was one that influenced a lot of theorising about evolution. His essay on species concepts in 1957 pointed out that botanical notions of species had to be very different to the reigning Mayrian biospecies concept. Grant, Verne. 1957. The Plant Species in Theory and Practice. In The Species Problem, edited by E. Mayr. Washington DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science. ———. 1963. The origin of adaptations. New York: Columbia University Press. Evolution History Species and systematics
Epistemology Do atheists “relapse”? 31 May 2010 Carol Everhart Roper at OpEdNews has an interesting essay “Is there such a thing as an ex-atheist?” and asnwers, anecdotally, no. I tend to agree. While it is a common trope by Christians in particular that they were atheists and converted, in every case with which I am familiar, and… Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity Rise of the Planet of the Moralists 3: clades and grades 20 Oct 201122 Jun 2018 Rise of the Planet of the Moralists Series1: Introduction2: Chains and Trees 3: Clades and grades4: Predicting traits5: Social dominance and power Note: My researchers readers have inundated provided me with all kinds of interesting references (hi Jeb and Jocelyn). One that is particularly interesting is this book. It appears… Read More
I haven’t read the Origins of Adaptations for years, but Grant’s point about the difference between the way plants and animals evolve has shaped my thinking about evolution and, more generally, about science ever since I first encountered his book.