Now on ScienceBlogs: And so, driven on ceaselessly toward new shores
One man's struggle against impermanence
John Wilkins is an eternal student, who thinks philosophy of biology is at least as interesting as politics or sport and twice as important. He has a PhD from the University of Melbourne and worked at the University of Queensland, in Australia, before taking up a research fellowship at the University of Sydney. After a varied career, involving factories, gardening, civil service, publishing, graphics, public relations but not, unfortunately for the CV, driving a truck, John finally completed his thesis on species concepts in 2004, which he has worked into two books.
This blog is designed evolved to host any random thoughts that happen to be passing through my forebrain at a given moment. So there will be errors...
I also have an Australia-focussed blog: The Drought Resistant Philosopher
The previous instantiation of this blog is accessible here.
February 28, 2007
Category: Basic Concepts
One of the more difficult conceptual problems the layperson has with biology lies in the simple word "primitive". It has many antonyms - "modern", "evolved" and "derived", and like many biological uses of ordinary words, everybody thinks they understand it, and doesn't.
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 9:32 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Biodiversity
This is a cool video, filmed in Panama by actual ecology students, foot fungus and all... ...It describes diversity at all levels from genetic diversity to ecosystem diversity.
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 10:35 AM • 4 Comments •
February 27, 2007
Category: History
"Holy Father," the voice said, "I don't quite know how to tell you this, but we have discovered what prove beyond doubt to be the very bones of Jesus!"... "Herr Tillich, I'm afraid we have quite a problem here, and we hope perhaps you can advise us. Archaeologists in the Holy Land have discovered the bones of our Lord Jesus!"
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 11:55 PM • 21 Comments •
February 26, 2007
Category: History
Others cannot live without faith, without belief, without theology [or theory - the original is smudged.... (1974), "France", in Thomas F Glick (ed.), The Comparative Reception of Darwinism, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 117-163.
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 1:03 AM • 13 Comments •
Category: History
Rees-Mogg repeats the old canards of conservativism about "modernity" - it is a moral failure, a panic against religion, a neurosis, and it caused social Darwinism and eugenics, leading to Hitler, or worse, George Bernard Shaw...
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 12:11 AM • 9 Comments •
February 25, 2007
Category: General Science
He began it to show that the established state-based papers weren't doing trheir job properly, and it took over 15 years to become profitable.... Ian Musgrave has a couple of articles that show fairly conclusively both that the paper is becoming firmly anti-science (as all good conservatives must be these days, it seems), especially with respect to climate change.
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 10:32 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: General Science
I think it means exhaust fans are pleasant to pirates and not to everybody else, who run to find aircon. NASA Watch thinks it means "that big ceiling fans can send flaming arrows down to kill pirates and people crossing the street".
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 8:54 PM • 5 Comments •
Category: Humor
Your Dominant Intelligence is Intrapersonal Intelligence Reflective and thoughtful, you enjoy spending time alone.... A spiritual and philopsophical person, your inner calmness inspires and helps others.
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 10:46 AM • •
Category: Creationism
Wiley resolves the age-old controversy...
Posted by John S. Wilkins at 2:50 AM • 4 Comments •
Highly Allochthonous 11.05.2009
Eruptions 11.05.2009
Not Exactly Rocket Science 11.05.2009
Corpus Callosum 11.05.2009
Starts With a Bang 11.04.2009
