Authority
elerner | August 31, 2010Though the "publish or perish" life of an academic never rests, it can't help but be infused with the rhythm of the school year. Perhaps that explains a recent surge in bloggerly analysis of the institutions and infrastructures that infuse this scientific lifestyle. From peer review to data collection, there isn't facet of this world that isn't being reconceputalized in terms of openess and transparency. Mike the Mad Biologist has some thoughts on how this might impact the Researcher-Data Producer Conflict, and you should check out this classic from Common Knowledge's John Wilbanks over at…
milhayser | January 26, 2010
Self-expression is a human ideal, but just as you can be a virtuoso with a hammer, you can be a hack with a paintbrush. On Bioephemera, Jessica Palmer questions the value of painted canvas when the painters "neither recognize nor are particularly interested in" the scenes they produce. In the case of Chinese technicians who imitate western styles for the American market, Jessica asks, "isn't an artist's active creative input, his or her emotion and imagination, or at least some degree of innovation, essential to create 'art'?" Razib Khan considers literary issues on Gene Expression,…