John Wilkins
evolvingthoughts
Posts by this author
April 7, 2007
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…
April 7, 2007
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…
April 7, 2007
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…
April 5, 2007
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…
April 3, 2007
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…
April 3, 2007
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…
April 2, 2007
Revere at Effect Measure has an update and discussion of the Elsevier arms trade issue that is worth reading for its measuredness (natch!).
April 1, 2007
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…
April 1, 2007
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
April 1, 2007
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
April 1, 2007
Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Philosophy.
Recently Added: N/A
The Feminist Theory of Science by Zuska, at Thus Spake ZuskaFalsifiable Claims by Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and ScienceEpistemology by Benjamin Cohen at The Worlds FairTheory by John Wilkins at Evolving…
April 1, 2007
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…
April 1, 2007
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…
March 31, 2007
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…
March 30, 2007
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 AetiologyNormal flora, Normal Flora 2 by Tara C…
March 30, 2007
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…
March 30, 2007
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-Paul…
March 30, 2007
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
StatisticsNormal Distribution by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad MathMean, Median and Mode by Mark Chu-Carroll at Good Math, Bad…
March 29, 2007
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…
March 28, 2007
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…
March 28, 2007
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…
March 27, 2007
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…
March 27, 2007
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…
March 27, 2007
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…
March 26, 2007
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…
March 26, 2007
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…
March 26, 2007
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…
March 25, 2007
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...
March 25, 2007
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…
March 24, 2007
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…