laelaps | November 17, 2008
"The Young Monkey," from Funny People, or the True Origin of Species
When I refer to a book with the phrase Origin of Species in the title, it is generally understood that I am talking about the volume by Charles Darwin, published in 1859, that was so important that we are still avidly discussing it almost 150 years after it was published. Like any popular hit, however, there were other tomes that tried to capitalize on the fame of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Earlier this year I mentioned one such title; a print version of some of T.H. Huxley's popular lectures…
laelaps | November 17, 2008
A red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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laelaps | November 16, 2008During the past few weeks I have tried to step back from adding new material to my book to gain a better perspective on how I'm telling the story I want to convey. Much of what I'm writing concerns recent discoveries to explain how we know what we say we know about evolution, but the framework from which all that hangs is a combination of historical and scientific narrative.
Nowhere is it more important to be conscious of this than in the chapter on human evolution. I have done my best to avoid illustrating evolution as development towards a given point, that our species in particular was…
laelaps | November 16, 2008
An American bison (Bison bison), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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laelaps | November 15, 2008
Buffy
Earlier this fall my wife and I rescued four kittens that had been living in our backyard. There were two orange ones (Owen & Cope), one black one (Vlad), and one grey one (Buffy). Buffy was the last to be caught, and she did not like it one bit. Where the other kittens warmed up quickly, Buffy hissed at us anytime we came near her cage, and this went on for a few weeks.
Eventually, though, she started to purr, even if she became frightened when we tried to pet her. I realized that she had become too territorial about her cage, and I decided to let her have the run of the…
laelaps | November 15, 2008
A lace monitor (Varanus varius), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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laelaps | November 14, 2008
For over 300 years, our species has recognized the similarities between ourselves and other primates, particularly apes. For most of that time scholars in the West have attempted to keep our species cordoned off from our relatives, either through the static hierarchy of the Great Chain of Being or the possession of particular traits (from a hippocampus minor in the brain to a soul). Evolutionary theory, however, required researchers to look for similarities instead of stark differences. Which apes were our closest relatives?
It has only been recently that the two living species of…
laelaps | November 14, 2008With a little less than a week to go, I have fallen behind in the 3rd Annual Blogging Scholarship contest. Thanks to the many links and referrals I received from friends during the weekend and the beginning of the week I was able to hold on to third, but later this week The Burnt Orange Report came out of nowhere and buried me. At present I'm barely holding on to 4th, with the MIT Admissions blog catching up.
Even if I was able to make it back into the top 3, the far-and-away leader of this contest is the USS Mariner, a sports analysis blog. With nearly 7,000 votes, it is doubtful that anyone…
laelaps | November 14, 2008
A male and female nyala (Tragelaphus angasii), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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laelaps | November 13, 2008...then I need your help.
Yesterday, after being inspired by the announcement of Ed's book, I broached the concept of there being a "best of" Laelaps collection. A few of you have voiced your encouragement, and I am definitely considering producing a collection of my work in print form. I'm probably the worst person to ask to choose what posts are best, particularly since I've been a little down lately, so I need you to pick your favorite Laelaps posts.
All you have to do is let me know which posts you would like to see in print in the comments. You don't even need to send me a link (a short…
laelaps | November 13, 2008
George the lion (Panthera leo), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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laelaps | November 12, 2008
A particularly interesting line of fundamentalist Christian argument against evolution is that of "devilution." There was more of a tendency for life (particularly humanity) to degenerate rather than progress upwards. Where the argument originated among creationists, I have yet to discover, but during the beginning of the 20th century some considered it more reasonable that apes were degenerate humans than humans derived apes. This is not to say that they actually believed this, but that they directly tied evolution to causing "backsliding" and moral decay, a more vivid version of the "If we…
laelaps | November 12, 2008
One day, back when I was blogging via Wordpress, I stumbled across another science blog called Not Exactly Rocket Science. I was very impressed by what was posted there, and it is no surprise that ScienceBlogs eventually snapped up Ed to write here.
Ed has earned a reputation as one of the best science bloggers out there, and now you can purchase a collected volume of some of his best work. Announced yesterday, Not Exactly Rocket Science contains about 80 of Ed's well-crafted pieces. I definitely encourage you to pick up a copy.
Now the question is, "When are we going to see the bound…
laelaps | November 12, 2008
A red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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laelaps | November 11, 2008
Lately I have been a bit fixated on the arguments over evolution & creationism in America during the beginning of the 20th century (see here and here). As a result of further digging, I came across a few more resources that raise some interesting questions.
First is a short article from the Theological Monthly published in 1922. Entitled "Is Darwinism Still Popular?" the piece attacked scientists and members of the media who ridiculed folks like William Jennings Bryan for their belief in creationism. Much of it would sound awfully familiar to anyone acquainted with the present creation…
laelaps | November 11, 2008
A false gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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laelaps | November 10, 2008
The skulls of Homo sapiens and a Neanderthal compared, from Arthur Keith's Antiquity of Man.
Our species is nothing if not vain. The natural world is saturated with wonders, yet the phenomena of most concern are those directly relating to us. Even in the long public argument over evolution, where the ancestry of whales and birds is often quarreled over, our own ancestry is the real reason for the contention. What makes evolution so threatening to some is that it applies to every organism and does not allow us to draw a line in the sand between us and the rest of life on this planet. We are…
laelaps | November 10, 2008
A California sea lion pup (Zalophus californianus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
laelaps | November 9, 2008
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had entered myself as a contestant for the 3rd annual College Blogging Scholarship. I wasn't too optimistic about my chances, but much to my surprise I got an e-mail Friday evening letting me know that I made the final 20! I am proud to say I'm in the running for $10,000 that will help finance my last semesters and pay down the debt I have accrued over the last few years. (Sorry I did not put something up about this sooner; a scheduled post didn't go up for some reason.)
Now comes the tricky part. The next round of the contest is determined by voting, and I…