Alfred Russel Wallace, the other guy who came up with the theory of natural selection, was quite the Renaissance man Victorian Era Superscientist. An essay in this week's issue of Nature reports the discovery of a letter from Wallace to William Talbot on a way to improve the mirrors used in telescopes. You can read the letter here. I won't touch on the science, but apparently Wallace mastered optics by the age of 20. Not bad for a guy who also happens to be known as the father of biogeography.
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Every time I read David Foster Wallace, I think, that's just classic David Foster Wallace. Which is to say it's completely unexpected, novel, different from the way almost anyone else thinks, including David Foster Wallace the last time I read him.
Today is the anniversary of Charles Darwin's 197th birthday.
Lest it be said that I never say anything nice about anyone from Duke, let me second Dave's recommendation of Al Featherston's article about coaching consistency at the Duk
If you haven't had enough of Wallace and Darwin yet, head on over to the Beagle Project Blog where there is a guest post b