Wheeler on Yoon on species 8 Aug 2009 Quentin Wheeler has an interesting discussion of the recent book Naming Nature by Carol Kaesuk Yoon; in which he (rightly) dismisses her apparent claim (I haven’t read the book) that species are subjective. Go read it. Species and systematics Species concept Systematics
Ecology and Biodiversity Hybrid species and conservation 4 Sep 2009 Here’s what Elio Schaechter calls a Talmudic Question – if two endangered species hybridise, are their biodiversities conserved? I ask because this is exactly what happens frequently in, say, birds, and because there are a lot of debates over what hybrid species signify. Read More
Academe Why philosophers should publish in science journals 16 Feb 2011 Generally my papers cause a mild reaction – like a dose of poison ivy. But i just had a paper published in Zootaxa, a mild mannered systematics journal, and as well as a two week turnaround, unheard of in philosophy (my last big paper took a year and a half),… Read More
Biology Evolution quote: Sirks and Zirkle 25 Apr 201122 Feb 2026 From The Evolution of Biology (M J Sirks and Conway Zirkle, New York, Ronald Press, 1964: 305) This is basically what I argue in my Species book. I am getting used to finding that the older and unappreciated historians did the same thing I did much later. They are generally… Read More