The summer 2008 double issue of the Oekologie blog carnival is up on my other blog. Enjoy reading!
And a brand new heavy-weight carnival has begun with the first edition of The Giant's Shoulders hosted at A Blog Around the Clock. This new monthly carnival is definitely one to keep your eyes on because it is focused entirely on blog posts about classic papers!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Carnivalia: Oekologie and The Giant's Shoulders
Thursday, July 10, 2008
An LOLcat Laden Tangled Bank
I'm bemused about the whole LOLcat meme that rages all over the internets - and now them damn LOLcats haz ur Evolution in the 109th edition of the Tangled Bank over at Greg Laden's Blog!.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Happy Natural Selection Day!
Well, there isn't one, officially, but today should be it! For 150 years ago on July 1, 1858, the world first officially heard about the theory of evolution by natural selection, in a joint presentation of papers by Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin. And this being the sesquicentennial year for the theory, let's continue celebrating for the whole year, shall we? Here's an essay on Wallace to get you going:
Today we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first public announcement of what Richard Dawkins has called "...the most momentous idea ever to occur to a human mind." He was of course referring to the theory of natural selection, the primary mechanism driving the evolution of life on our planet; an idea actually discovered independently by two minds, not just one. Whilst the owner of one of these brains, Charles Darwin, is rather well known, the possessor of the other, Alfred Russel Wallace, is not exactly the household name he once was. So who was Wallace and how did he come to be the co-discoverer of what is probably the most revered (and reviled) idea in human history?
[From The Beagle Project Blog: A guest post by Wallace's Rottweiler on the 150th anniversary of natural selection.]
As to Wallace's more famous co-author, 'here's a video of his rottweiler, 'Dawkins on Darwin' courtesy Channel 4. And, of course, there is more at ScienceBlogs.
And for you students in Fresno State, isn't it about time we had a cadre of Darwin's Bulldogs on campus? (For those not from around here, the official mascot for Fresno State is Bulldogs!)Thursday, June 26, 2008
A letter that changed the world...
In early 1858, on Ternate in Malaysia, a young specimen collector was tracking the island's elusive birds of paradise when he was struck by malaria. 'Every day, during the cold and succeeding hot fits, I had to lie down during which time I had nothing to do but to think over any subjects then particularly interesting me,' he later recalled.
Thoughts of money or women might have filled lesser heads. Alfred Russel Wallace was made of different stuff, however. He began thinking about disease and famine; about how they kept human populations in check; and about recent discoveries indicating that the earth's age was vast. How might these waves of death, repeated over aeons, influence the make-up of different species, he wondered?
Then the fever subsided - and inspiration struck. Fittest variations will survive longest and will eventually evolve into new species, he realised. Thus the theory of natural selection appeared, fever-like, in the mind of one of our greatest naturalists. Wallace wrote up his ideas and sent them to Charles Darwin, already a naturalist of some reputation. His paper arrived on 18 June, 1858 - 150 years ago last week - at Darwin's estate in Downe, in Kent.
Darwin, in his own words, was 'smashed'. For two decades he had been working on the same idea and now someone else might get the credit for what was later to be described, by palaeontologist Stephen Jay Gould, as 'the greatest ideological revolution in the history of science' or in the words of Richard Dawkins, 'the most important idea to occur to a human mind.' In anguish Darwin wrote to his friends, the botanist Joseph Hooker and the geologist Charles Lyell. What followed has become the stuff of scientific legend.
[From How Darwin won the evolution race | Science | The Observer]
Go read the rest to kick off the celebrations for the sesquicentennial anniversary of this momentous event in human history. And while online, check out the original essay in the letter from Wallace which set things in motion, available via the Alfred Russel Wallace Page. You can also download a pdf version of the essay as part of a volume of Wallace's writings courtesy Google. The joint paper from Darwin and Wallace presented to the Royal Society is, of course, available in its entirety, with some added commentary, via Darwin Online.
Tangled Bank #108 and other summer carnivals
Meanwhile, Bora has issued call for submissions to a new monthly blog carnival The Giant's Shoulders focusing on classic papers. The first edition is scheduled for July 16, a day after my own debut as blog carnival host for Oekologie, the current edition of which is still delayed - so if you have anything to contribute there, please send them to me!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Ken Miller and the missing links between radio and TV
So Miller's book tour brought him to the Colbert Report last night, following the more substantial Science Friday appearance last week:
I was underwhelmed by the Colbert interview, and that is mostly to do with the format of that particular show, and its the very short duration. Miller was good but seemed to rush through a number of things, so I don't know how regular viewers kept up. I recommend listening to the radio interview for a much better discussion. I'm not sure what to make of his comparing the ID/creationists to welfare moms - although it did allow Colbert the opportunity to claim victory! But why bring in the whole economic-conservative image of moms (driving cadillacs) living the high life on govt. handouts? Is this a way to "frame" the issue so that it resonates with conservatives? He made a similar comparison on the radio as well, but the argument seemed more fleshed out there (or at least less abrasive to a liberal like me). Likewise, comparing science to a free-market of ideas where ID has failed to compete, and directly appealing to Colbert's anti-government persona. I wonder if that actually works in convincing anyone on the right... but who better than Ken Miller to "frame" evolution to make it palatable to religious people?
Comparing the two interviews is a good illustration also of how much can go missing when one is forced to condense things for the typical sound-bite demands of TV, especially when faced with a loud talking-head host! And this wasn't even one of those right-wing blowhards on Fox News! If the medium is challenging even for someone as articulate and media-savvy as Ken Miller (winner of the Peabody), what hope do the rest of us scientists have of getting the word out in the mainstream media?
And one more annoyance last night was that the interview seemed unnecessarily short, for Colbert evidently had another 3 minutes available (following Miller), which he padded with REM performing "Hollow Man" - not live, but from their appearance on the show some months ago!! I'm mystified as to why they would do that, when other guests have been on (I think) for longer chats!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Only a Theory: Ken Miller on Science Friday today
Here's something to look forward to on the radio today: evolutionary biologist (and devout Christian) Ken Miller will be interviewed on Science Friday, where we may also hear about his new book: Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul. If you manage to catch the live broadcast on your local NPR affiliate station or on the intertubes, you might even be able to ask him question! In any case, this should be an interesting conversation, which I hope to catch on my drive back from a field trip tomorrow morning:
Only a Theory (broadcast Friday, June 13th, 2008)
Once, there was the battle over whether the concept of evolution should be taught in public schools at all -- a fight remembered for the trial of high school teacher John Scopes in 1925. More recently, the terms of the debate shifted to whether the idea of 'intelligent design' needed to be taught alongside the scientific theory of evolution in the classroom. Now, the terms are shifting again. This summer, the Texas Board of Education is expected to consider whether biology classes should be required to include a discussion of the "strengths and weaknesses" evolutionary theory -- wording that proponents of teaching evolution say is code for creationist ideas. It's a significant question, as the curriculum and textbook-buying decisions of the state of Texas often end up affecting the books offered by publishers. In this segment, guest host Joe Palca talks with biology professor and textbook author Kenneth Miller about the fight to keep creationism out of public school science class. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.
And of course, if you miss the live broadcast, you can always catch the podcast (which is how I normally listen to Science Friday) or listen online.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
On the haphazard construction of the human mind
Perhaps this is a day to continue procrastinating and thinking haphazardly about the human mind! Right after I had whiled away the past several hours reading some brilliant essays from the two procrastination experts on the NPR show today — John Perry and Tim Pychyl — I happened across the following fascinating interview on Onegoodmove (thanks Norm):
Needless to say, Gary Marcus' book Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind is on my wish list now. I guess I should get it when I have something more pressing to deal with... like, say, preparing for the upcoming faculty senate discussions on peer evaluation that are going to scintillate my Monday afternoons this fall!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
A tangled bank on a South Pacific atoll...
And while on the subject, I might as well mention (although it is way to early) that my other blog Reconciliation Ecology is now on the list of future hosts for the Tangled Bank - we'll be kicking off the new year 2009 there!
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