evolvingthoughts

Rarely has science been as much a public issue as in the past 30 years. Sure, people have queried the wisdom of this or that science or technology in the past, like the use of nuclear power or for weapons. But apart from anti-vaccination movements since the late nineteenth century, very little…

I cannot believe I didn't pick this up myself. Coulter's book Godless isn't what it seems to be - an ill-informed rehash of tired old creationist bafflegab. Instead, it's a Sokalesque hoax designed to make conservatives reassess their own rationality and to expose the idiocy of intelligent design…

For some reason I am finding it harder to get published as I go on, not easier. I suspect I am getting dumber as I age. However, I just had a paper published in Biology and Philosophy: Wilkins, John S. 2007. The dimensions, modes and definitions of species and speciation. Biology and Philosophy…

I count PZ Myers as a friend. After all, he drove 1000 miles to come visit me when I was in Toronto two years ago (breaking his car in the process and having to spend time in some isolated Canadian wasteland). But friends can disagree about basic issues, and this time I do. Elaine Pagels is the…

Don Metcalf, who I have mentioned before here, has been awarded the American Association for Cancer Research Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research. Donald Metcalf receives American Association for Cancer Research Lifetime Achievement Award PHILADELPHIA – Donald Metcalf, M.D., the…

Etiology is the study of the causes of things (usually diseases). In my own personal lexicon, etiobiology is the study of the causes and origins of biological processes. Usually, the search term is "origins of life", and recently some new papers have reinvigorated the field. One is the rerunning…

Revere at Effect Measure has an update and discussion of the Elsevier arms trade issue that is worth reading for its measuredness (natch!).

Politicians generally have very little in the way of vision and understanding. So it is a warming (apologies for the pun) experience to see not one but three governments - those of France, Germany and Britain - attempting to make a continuous review of biodiversity a standing program for advising…

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in the Historical and Social Sciences. Recently Added: "Pottery in Archeology" by CFeagans at Hot Cup of Joe "Cause, Manner and Mechanism of Death" [Forensic science] by William the Coroner at Dr Zeus's Forensic Files

Here is a list of Basic Concept Posts on Learning Science. Recently added: Learning Styles and Science Labs by Sandra Porter Learning Styles and Science Labs by Sandra Porter at Discovering Biology in a Digital World

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Philosophy. Recently Added: N/A The Feminist Theory of Science by Zuska, at Thus Spake Zuska Falsifiable Claims by Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science Epistemology by Benjamin Cohen at The Worlds Fair Theory by John Wilkins at Evolving…

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Computer Science and Logic. Recently Added: "Binary Search" by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad Math "Logic" by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad Math "Modal Logic" by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad Math "Syntax and Semantics" by Mark Chu-Carroll…

This is one of the main works of art by a fellow known as Fred Dagg, whose oeuvre includes the discovery and commentating the sport of farnarkling, and who wrote the real New Zealand national anthem. In it, he explains the meaning of life, in 1977 to the presenter of the ABC's Science Show 100th…

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Geology. Recently Added: Paleomagnetism by Chris Rowan at Highly Allochthonous The Composition of the Earth by Chris Rowan at Highly Allochthonous Chronology and Stratigraphy by Chris Rowan at Highly Allochthonous Paleomagnetism by Chris Rowan at…

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Medicine and Psychiatry. Recently added: The history of hormone therapy and menopause, parts 1, 2 and 3 by Evil Monkey at Neurotopia Introduction to Microbiology and Infectious Disease by Tara C. Smith at Aetiology Normal flora, Normal Flora 2 by Tara C…

There will no doubt be many April Fool's gags and hoaxes tomorrow. None will have the cachet of the Spaghetti Harvest, or the discovery of Homo micturans, because you can't get the wood, you know, but they will all be worthwhile relief from the inanity and insanity of our present society. But…

You scored as Existentialism. Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism: You choose the meaning and purpose of your life. "Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does." "It is up to you to give [life] a meaning." --Jean-…

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Mathematics. Recently Added: Fractals by Karmen at Chaotic Utopia; Innumeracy by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad Math Statistics Normal Distribution by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad Math Mean, Median and Mode by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math,…

In the very first page to the Origin, Darwin writes: WHEN on board H.M.S. 'Beagle,' as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent. These facts…

Many ideas in the history of biology get going for reasons that have to do with agendas, ideologies, and plain old bad scholarship rather than the results of research. In particular, myths regarding the motivations of historical figures. I well remember Erik Erikson's execrable attempt to…

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Chemistry. Recently Added: Inorganic pH by Cat at Lab Cat Strong and Weak Acids by Cat at Lab Cat Acids and Bases by Cat at Lab Cat Elements by Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science Polar and Non-polar Molecules by Janet Stemwedel at…

Slashdot is reporting that an aircraft from Lan Chile was nearly hit by flaming space junk on a trip from Chile to New Zealand recently. I can attest to how spectacular and potentially dangerous that might be, as I saw some come falling down one night myself. We (Die Familie Wilkins) were coming…

Many words in English come directly via Latin or indirectly via French from Latin, and they have a meaning in English that is sometimes quite different from their etymology, occasionally leaching back into French. Two such words are instruction and information, and both have peculiar meanings…

Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Physics and Astronomy. Recently Added: Phase changes, by Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Science and Ethics; De Broglie Equation (quantum physics) by Wandering Primate; Understanding Electricity by Scott Aaronson at Shtetl-Optimized; Ohm's Law by Chad…

Well, it's a nice idea, but they seem to be a bit confused, on the one hand getting the kids to sing about Linnaean ranks, and on the other about five kingdoms, Animals, Plants, Fungi, Archebacteria and Eubacteria. Still, nice to see taxonomy being taught to primary kids, even if the song is…

As you all may know, I wrote a series of blog entries on microbial species concepts back when I first moved over to Seed, which had previously been on my older blog [links at end]. This then became a talk and later a paper, now in review. My argument was that there was a principle by which we…

To oppose the torrent of scholastic religion by such feeble maxims as these, that it is impossible for the same thing, to be and not to be, that the whole is greater than a part, that two and three make five; is pretending to stop the ocean with a bull-rush. Will you set up profane reason…

At Res Ipsa Loquitur comes a tale of a law professor trying to use Cicero to argue that all morality comes from intelligent design. Yes, that intelligent design. Read the smackdown by the student, who gives me much hope for the legal profession...

A major argument for the existence of the entities in scientific theories is that if these entities did not, on the whole, exist, the empirical adequacy of the theories would be miraculous. In other words, positing the reality of these entities, and the truth of the theories, is an inference to…

The IDiot Dembski has written this: It’s a happy Darwinian world after all … William Dembski Every now and again when I want to feel good about our shared humanity, I curl up with Darwin’s DESCENT OF MAN and read passages like the following: The reckless, degraded, and often vicious members of…