Category Archives: Evolution

De Loys’ Ape

Posted on October 8, 2012 by

Louis François Fernand Hector de Loys, (1892-1935) was a Swiss geologist and pioneer of oil field prospection in Europe, Africa and America. Unfortunately de Loys is today less known for his geological work than for a story involving a strange … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Evolution, Geology | Leave a comment

Dude, your evolutionary theory just ate my philosophy – Leopold and the evolutionary possibility of a Land Ethic

Posted on October 30, 2011 by

Somebody somewhere at this moment is writing a reverential essay about Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic.  I feel a little ungenerous, I admit, to write in less than enthusiastic tones.  It seems to me though that if the land ethic, Leopold’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmental History, Evolution, Philosophy | Leave a comment

What is systematics and what is taxonomy?

Posted on February 5, 2011 by

Over the past few years there have been increasing numbers of calls for governments to properly fund systematics and taxonomy (and a number of largely molecular-focused biologists insisting they can do the requisite tasks with magic molecule detectors, so don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Biology, Epistemology, Evolution, General Science, History, Philosophy | 1 Comment

Darwin’s motivation

Posted on December 5, 2010 by

For some time now I have been convinced that Darwin’s original and most pressing problem was not adaptation. It was the existence of taxonomic diversity. I have thought that the debates over what was a natural classification amongst the unjustly … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, History | Tagged , | 1 Comment

On the origins of creativity

Posted on September 25, 2010 by

I’m not a very creative guy. I had an idea back in the 1970s, but I managed not to do anything about it in time for someone else to do something with an almost identical idea. I think I dodged … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Epistemology, Evolution, Philosophy | Tagged , | Leave a comment