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I've got your Basilosaurus right here!

By laelaps on August 12, 2008.

There are few things that make me as happy as being able to find an elusive reference or seemingly ephemeral bit of information, and this afternoon I am smiling. After almost giving up I have been able to locate Richard Harlan description of Basilosaurus, reprinted in his book Medical and Physical Researches, and available for free download. There's lots of other great papers in the book (particularly if you're interested in the scientific study of apes), and I certainly recommend that anyone with a love for dusty old science texts give it a look.

Stumbling across this collection of Harlan's work, as well as relying on similar collections of T.H. Huxley's writings, has made me wonder why we no longer see such volumes. Has the tangled web of journal copyrights and pay-access prevented the appearance of the complete works of notable scientists? I think it would be a beneficial to have the complete "scientific memoirs" made available so that their work is read and remembered (rather than just referenced), but perhaps scientific publishing is too closely wed to business models to allow for it.

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