BOOK: Rereading the Fossil Record: The Growth of Paleobiology as an Evolutionary Discipline

Rereading the Fossil Record: The Growth of Paleobiology as an Evolutionary Discipline, by David Sepkoski (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012), 432 pp.

Although fossils have provided some of the most important evidence for evolution, the discipline of paleontology has not always had a central place in evolutionary biology. Beginning in Darwin’s day, and for much of the twentieth century, paleontologists were often regarded as mere fossil collectors by many evolutionary biologists, their attempts to contribute to evolutionary theory ignored or regarded with scorn. In the 1950s, however, paleontologists began mounting a counter-movement that insisted on the valid, important, and original contribution of paleontology to evolutionary theory. This movement, called “paleobiology” by its proponents, advocated for an approach to the fossil record that was theoretical, quantitative, and oriented towards explaining the broad patterns of evolution and extinction in the history of life.

Rereading the Fossil Record provides, as never before, a historical account of the origin, rise, and importance of paleobiology, from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1980s. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, David Sepkoski shows how the movement was conceived and promoted by a small but influential group of paleontologists—including Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, among others—and examines the intellectual, disciplinary, and political dynamics involved in the ascendency of paleobiology. By emphasizing the close relationship between paleobiology and other evolutionary disciplines, this book writes a new chapter in the history of evolutionary biology, while also offering insights into the dynamics of disciplinary change in modern science.

BOOK: Ordering Life: Karl Jordan and the Naturalist Tradition

Ordering Life: Karl Jordan and the Naturalist Tradition, by Kristin Johnson (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), 376 pp.

For centuries naturalists have endeavored to name, order, and explain biological diversity. Karl Jordan (1861–1959) dedicated his long life to this effort, describing thousands of new species in the process. Ordering Life explores the career of this prominent figure as he worked to ensure a continued role for natural history museums and the field of taxonomy in the rapidly changing world of twentieth-century science.

Jordan made an effort to both practice good taxonomy and secure status and patronage in a world that would soon be transformed by wars and economic and political upheaval. Kristin Johnson traces his response to these changes and shows that creating scientific knowledge about the natural world depends on much more than just good method or robust theory. The broader social context in which scientists work is just as important to the project of naming, describing, classifying, and, ultimately, explaining life.

BOOK: Charles Darwin’s Notebooks from the Voyage of the ‘Beagle’

Charles Darwin’s Notebooks from the Voyage of the Beagle, edited by Gordon Chancellor and John van Wyhe (Cambridge: Cambirdge University Press, 2009), 650 pp.

This is the first full edition of the notebooks used by Darwin during his epic voyage in the Beagle. It contains transcriptions of all fifteen notebooks, which now survive as some of the most precious documents in the history of science. The notebooks record the entire range of Darwin’s interests and activities during the Beagle journey, with observations on geology, zoology, botany, ecology, barometer and thermometer readings, ethnography, anthropology, archaeology and linguistics, along with maps, drawings, financial records, shopping lists, reading notes, essays and personal diary entries. Some of Darwin’s critical discoveries and experiences, made famous through his own publications, are recorded in their most immediate form in the notebooks, and published here for the first time. The notebook texts are accompanied by full editorial apparatus and introductions explaining Darwin’s actions at each stage, focusing on discoveries that were pivotal to convincing him that life on Earth had evolved.

BOOK: Charles Darwin’s Shorter Publications, 1829–1883

Charles Darwin’s Shorter Publications, 1829-1883, edited by John van Wyhe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 556 pp.

Charles Darwin’s words first appeared in print as a student at Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1829, and in almost every subsequent year of his life he published essays, articles, letters to editors, or other brief works. These shorter publications contain a wealth of valuable material. They represent an important part of the Darwin visible to the Victorian public, alongside his ever present sense of humour, and reveal an even wider variety of his scientific interests and abilities, which continued to his final days. This book brings together all known shorter publications and printed items Darwin wrote during his lifetime, including his first and his last publications, and the first publication, with A. R. Wallace, of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. With over seventy newly discovered items, the book is fully edited and annotated, and contains original illustrations and a comprehensive bibliography.

VIDEO: A Brief History of Climate Science

I don’t think I have mentioned on this blog that the National Center for Science Education, an organization I have long supported for its efforts in defending evolution education in public schools and ceasing efforts to push creationism, has branced out to doing the same regarding the education of climate change science. There are lots of great videos on their YouTube page, including this latest one on “A Brief History of Climate Science”:

BOOK: Species, Serpents, Spirits, and Skulls: Science at the Margins in the Victorian Age

Species, Serpents, Spirits, and Skulls: Science at the Margins in the Victorian Age, by Sherrie Lynne Lyons (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2010), 245 pp.

Science permeates nearly every aspect of our lives, and yet, as current debates over intelligent design, the causes of global warming, and alternative health practices indicate, the question of how to distinguish science from pseudoscience remains a difficult one. To address this question, Sherrie Lynne Lyons draws on four examples from the nineteenth century—sea serpent investigations, spiritualism, phrenology, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Each attracted the interest of prominent scientists as well as the general public, yet three remained at the edges of scientific respectability while the fourth, evolutionary theory, although initially regarded as scientific heresy, ultimately became the new scientific orthodoxy. Taking a serious look at the science behind these examples, Lyons argues that distinguishing between science and pseudoscience, particularly in the midst of discovery, is not as easy as the popular image of science tends to suggest. Two examples of present-day controversies surrounding evolutionary psychology and the meaning of fossils confirm this assertion. She concludes that although the boundaries of what constitutes science are not always clear-cut, the very intimate relationship between science and society, rather than being a hindrance, contributes to the richness and diversity of scientific ideas. Taken together, these entertaining and accessible examples illuminate important issues concerning the theory, practice, and content of science.

BOOK: Once We Had Gills: Growing Up Evolutionist in an Evolving World

Last year biologist Rudolf A. Raff published Once We All Had Gills: Growing Up Evolutionist in an Evolving World (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2012):

In this book, Rudolf A. Raff reaches out to the scientifically queasy, using his life story and his growth as a scientist to illustrate why science matters, especially at a time when many Americans are both suspicious of science and hostile to scientific ways of thinking. Noting that science has too often been the object of controversy in school curriculums and debates on public policy issues ranging from energy and conservation to stem-cell research and climate change, Raff argues that when the public is confused or ill-informed, these issues tend to be decided on religious, economic, and political grounds that disregard the realities of the natural world. Speaking up for science and scientific literacy, Raff tells how and why he became an evolutionary biologist and describes some of the vibrant and living science of evolution. Once We All Had Gills is also the story of evolution writ large: its history, how it is studied, what it means, and why it has become a useful target in a cultural war against rational thought and the idea of a secular, religiously tolerant nation.

The National Center for Science Education has an excerpt from the book, chapter 19 on creationism, here.

BOOK: What About Darwin?

Historian Thomas F. Glick, author/editor of many books on the reception of Darwinism (The Comparative Reception of Darwinism, Darwin on Evolution: The Development of the Theory of Natural Selection, The Reception of Darwinism in the Iberian World: Spain, Spanish America and Brazil (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science), Negotiating Darwin: The Vatican Confronts Evolution, 1877-1902 (Medicine, Science, and Religion in Historical Context), and The Reception of Charles Darwin in Europe (Reception of British & Irish Authors Europe)), has recently published What about Darwin?: All Species of Opinion from Scientists, Sages, Friends, and Enemies Who Met, Read, and Discussed the Naturalist Who Changed the World (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010):

Charles Darwin and his revolutionary ideas inspired pundits the world over to put pen to paper. In this unique dictionary of quotations, Darwin scholar Thomas Glick presents fascinating observations about Darwin and his ideas from such notable figures as P. T. Barnum, Anton Chekhov, Mahatma Gandhi, Carl Jung, Martin Luther King, Mao Tse-tung, Pius IX, Jules Verne, and Virginia Woolf.

What was it about Darwin that generated such widespread interest? His Origin of Species changed the world. Naturalists, clerics, politicians, novelists, poets, musicians, economists, and philosophers alike could not help but engage his theory of evolution. Whatever their view of his theory, however, those who met Darwin were unfailingly charmed by his modesty, kindness, honesty, and seriousness of purpose.

This diverse collection drawn from essays, letters, novels, short stories, plays, poetry, speeches, and parodies demonstrates how Darwin’s ideas permeated all areas of thought. The quotations trace a broad conversation about Darwin across great distances of time and space, revealing his profound influence on the great thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

BOOK: The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People

Paleontologist Neil Shubin, author of the bestseller Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (2008) has published his second book, The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People (New York: Pantheon Books, 2013):

From one of our finest and most popular science writers, and the best-selling author of Your Inner Fish, comes the answer to a scientific mystery as big as the world itself: How are the events that formed our solar system billions of years ago embedded inside each of us?

In Your Inner Fish, Neil Shubin delved into the amazing connections between human bodies—our hands, heads, and jaws—and the structures in fish and worms that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. In The Universe Within, with his trademark clarity and exuberance, Shubin takes an even more expansive approach to the question of why we look the way we do. Starting once again with fossils, he turns his gaze skyward, showing us how the entirety of the universe’s fourteen-billion-year history can be seen in our bodies. As he moves from our very molecular composition (a result of stellar events at the origin of our solar system) through the workings of our eyes, Shubin makes clear how the evolution of the cosmos has profoundly marked our own bodies.

Donald Prothero reviewed The Universe Within for Skeptic, here.

ARTICLE: Seaside natural history and divinity: a science-inclined Scottish cleric’s avoidance of evolution (1860–1868)

New in Archives of Natural History:

Seaside natural history and divinity: a science-inclined Scottish cleric’s avoidance of evolution (1860–1868)

P.G. Moore

Abstract The Reverend Robert William Fraser (1810–1876), a Presbyterian minister in Edinburgh, published on religious, historical and scientific (physical science, natural history) themes. His natural history titles Ebb and flow (1860), Seaside divinity (1861) and The seaside naturalist (1868) were aimed at the popular market. Appearing in the years immediately after Darwin’s On the origin of species (1859), the tone of Fraser’s books sheds light on the response of a popular, science-inclined clergyman in Scotland’s Enlightenment capital to the idea of evolution. His avoidance of the issue of evolution by natural selection is evident but was not shared by all contemporary clerics.

Some recent Darwin in the news…

Friends of Charles Darwin: An old tradition (April Fool’s prank played on HMS Beagle)

Darwin Correspondence Project: Race, Civilization, and Progress

BBC: Charles Darwin letters reveal his emotional side

Daily Mail: ‘Thank God she never knew she was leaving us’: Darwin’s secret grief at watching daughter-in-law die revealed in unseen letters

TIME: Cambridge Publishes Charles Darwin’s Secret Letters Online

io9: Hundreds of Charles Darwin’s previously unpublished letters to be released online

Darwin’s letters from 1872 will be published in May 2013: The Correspondence of Charles Darwin: Volume 20, 1872

What’s New on Darwin Online

BBC’s In Our Time: Alfred Russel Wallace

Strange Behaviors: Darwin’s Other Dangerous Idea

University of Cambridge: Darwin’s ‘forgotten women’ celebrated on International Women’s Day

Not Exactly Rocket Science: The Origin of the Friendly Wolf that Confused Darwin

BOOK: Philosophy after Darwin: Classic and Contemporary Readings

Philosophy after Darwin: Classic and Contemporary Readings, edited my Michael Ruse (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009), 580 pp.

Wittgenstein famously remarked in 1923, “Darwin’s theory has no more relevance for philosophy than any other hypothesis in natural science.” Yet today we are witnessing a major revival of interest in applying evolutionary approaches to philosophical problems. Philosophy after Darwin is an anthology of essential writings covering the most influential ideas about the philosophical implications of Darwinism, from the publication of On the Origin of Species to today’s cutting-edge research.

Michael Ruse presents writings by leading modern thinkers and researchers–including some writings never before published–together with the most important historical documents on Darwinism and philosophy, starting with Darwin himself. Included here are Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Henry Huxley, G. E. Moore, John Dewey, Konrad Lorenz, Stephen Toulmin, Karl Popper, Edward O. Wilson, Hilary Putnam, Philip Kitcher, Elliott Sober, and Peter Singer. Readers will encounter some of the staunchest critics of the evolutionary approach, such as Alvin Plantinga, as well as revealing excerpts from works like Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. Ruse’s comprehensive general introduction and insightful section introductions put these writings in context and explain how they relate to such fields as epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and ethics.

An invaluable anthology and sourcebook, Philosophy after Darwin traces philosophy’s complicated relationship with Darwin’s dangerous idea, and shows how this relationship reflects a broad movement toward a secular, more naturalistic understanding of the human experience.

ARTICLE: A bridge-builder: Wolf-Ernst Reif and the Darwinisation of German paleontology

From Historical Biology: A Journal of Paleobiology:

A bridge-builder: Wolf-Ernst Reif and the Darwinisation of German paleontology

Georgy S. Levit and Uwe Hoßfeld

Abstract Wolf-Ernst Reif was an outstanding German paleontologist, who, along with his empirical studies (biomechanics, functional and constructional morphology, etc.), paid significant attention to theoretical issues and the history of his discipline. Reif was a bridge-builder, skillfully synthesising history, theory and empirical studies within German-language paleontology. This paper briefly discusses sophisticated relationships between German paleontology and Darwinism based on the historical studies of Wolf-Ernst Reif. German paleontology did not fully embrace Darwinism until the 1970s. There are several reasons for this. First, alternative evolutionary theories (saltationism, neo-Lamarckism, orthogenesis) occupied a significant segment of the theoretical landscape in the German life sciences. Second, typological thinking persisted in German paleontology after the Second World War. Third, German paleontologists were relatively uninterested in discussing mechanisms of evolution, concentrating instead on reconstructing phylogenetic history.

BOOK: Darwin in Galapagos: Footsteps to a New World

Darwin in Galápagos: Footsteps to a New World, K. Thalia Grant and Gregory B. Estes (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009), 362 pp.

In 1835, during his voyage on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin spent several weeks in Galápagos exploring the islands and making extensive notes on their natural history. Darwin in Galápagos is the first book to recreate Darwin’s historic visit to the islands, following in his footsteps day by day and island by island as he records all that he observes around him.

Thalia Grant and Gregory Estes meticulously retrace Darwin’s island expeditions, taking you on an unforgettable guided tour. Drawing from Darwin’s original notebooks and logs from the Beagle, the latest findings by Darwin scholars and modern science, and their own intimate knowledge of the archipelago, Grant and Estes offer rare insights into Darwin’s thinking about evolution in the context of the actual locales that inspired him. They introduce Darwin as a young naturalist in England and onboard the Beagle and then put you in his shoes as he explores remote places in the islands. They identify the unique animals and plants he observed and collected, and describe dramatic changes to the islands since Darwin’s time. They also explore the importance of Darwin’s observations and collections to the development of his thinking after the voyage.

Ideal for visitors to Galápagos and a delight for armchair travelers, Darwin in Galápagos is generously illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs and line drawings, as well as detailed maps of Darwin’s island itinerary and informative box features on the archipelago’s natural history.

The Giants’ Shoulders #56

Image of £2 coins from UK by Flickr user p_rocket71

Welcome to The Giants’ Shoulders #56, bringing you the world of history of science blogging over the last month all in one place. For lack of energy (I’m under the weather) and the overwhelming number of great and worthy posts (this is only a good sign that history of science blogging is healthy), there is no grand theme to this blog carnival. Instead, I will offer the posts to you in Chicago Manual Style format. Yes, CMS has citation (footnote/endnote) and bibliographic guidelines for blog posts! Awesome. I will use the citation format, as that includes the title of the blog post, whereas the bibliographic format only includes the post URL and name of the blog. For example,

John Ptak, “History of Science Reference Tools,” Ptak Science Books, February 3, 2013, http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2013/02/history-of-science-reference-tools.html.

The author of the post above would like to expand his list of science reference tools, so he respectfully invites readers to share their top five go-to reference sites for the history of science, either in the comments here, or John can be reached on Twitter at @ptak. Thanks!

Also, before I bombard you with an incredibly long list of posts, let me highlight a few that go together, as they address the act of blogging:

Jai Virdi, “HPS Blogging V.2013,” From the Hands of Quacks, January 30, 2013, http://jaivirdi.com/2013/01/30/hps-blogging-v-2013/.

Mike Thicke, “False dilemmas in science blogging,” The Bubble Chamber, January 30, 2013, http://thebubblechamber.org/2013/01/false-choices-in-science-blogging/.

Nathaniel Comfort, “Toward a historioriography of science & social media,” Genotopia, February 4, 2013, http://genotopia.scienceblog.com/271/toward-a-historioriography-of-science-social-media/.

Mike Thicke, “Interview with James Collier of the Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective,” The Bubble Chamber, February 10, 2013, http://thebubblechamber.org/2013/02/interview-with-james-collier-of-the-social-epistemology-review-and-reply-collective/.

On to the #histsci!

Dan Allosso, “Birth Control in the First Half of the 19th Century,” The Historical Society, February 6, 2013, http://histsociety.blogspot.fr/2013/02/birth-control-in-first-half-of-19th.html.

Rupert Baker, “Our unusual ‘Chymist’,” The Repository, The Royal Society, January 17, 2013, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2013/01/17/unusual-chymist/.

Philip Ball, “Righting history,” Chemistry World, January 9, 2013, http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/01/chemistry-science-history.

Michael Barton, “Get to Know Darwin,” The Dispersal of Darwin, January 30, 2013, http://thedispersalofdarwin.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/get-to-know-darwin/.

Michael Barton, “I post this without comment,” The Dispersal of Darwin, February 5, 2013, http://thedispersalofdarwin.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/i-post-this-without-comment/.

BBC, “Five Portraits of Science,” The Essay, BBC Radio 3, January 14-18, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006x3hl/episodes/guide#b01px412.

David Bressan, “The Forgotten Naturalist: Alfred Russel Wallace,” History of Geology, January 9, 2013, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2013/01/09/the-forgotten-naturalist-alfred-russel-wallace/.

David Bressan, “Geologizing with Darwin,” History of Geology, February 12, 2013, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2013/02/12/geologizing-with-darwin/.

David Bressan, “Men among prediluvian Beasts,” History of Geology, January 27, 2013, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2013/01/27/men-among-prediluvian-beasts/.

B. Ricardo Brown, “Darwin, Slavery, the HMS Black Joke, and Seaman Morgan,” Until Darwin: Science & the Origins of Race, February 12, 2013, http://until-darwin.blogspot.com/2013/02/darwin-slavery-hms-black-joke-and.html.

B. Ricardo Brown, “Darwin, Slavery, and Science (2009),” Until Darwin: Science & the Origins of Race, January 24, 2013, http://until-darwin.blogspot.com/2013/01/darwin-slavery-and-science-2009.html.

Michael Bycroft, “Correctives to #overlyhonestmethods,” Double Refraction, January 17, 2013, http://doublerfraction.blogspot.com/2013/01/correctives-to-overlyhonestmethods.html.

Richard Carter, “Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell, 10th January, 1860,” The Friends of Charles Darwin, January 10, 2013, http://friendsofdarwin.com/2013/01/20130110/.

Thony Christie, “Down a mineshaft or why historians (must) become polymaths,” Renaissance Mathematicus, February 7, 2013, http://thonyc.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/down-a-mineshaft-or-why-historians-must-become-polymaths/.

Thony Christie, “A play is not a history book,” Renaissance Mathematicus, February 15, 2013, http://thonyc.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/a-play-is-not-a-history-book/.

Thony Christie, “What Kepler and Newton really did,” Renaissance Mathematicus, February 5, 2013, http://thonyc.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/what-kepler-and-newton-really-did/.

Matthew Cobb, “What is life? The physicist who sparked a revolution in biology,” Notes & Theories, February 7, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2013/feb/07/wonders-life-physicist-revolution-biology.

Jason Colavito, “How a (Sort of) Believer in Ancient Astronauts Almost Became U.S. President,” JasonColavito.com, February 6, 2013, http://www.jasoncolavito.com/1/post/2013/02/how-a-sort-of-believer-in-ancient-astronauts-almost-became-us-president.html.

Nathaniel Comfort, “Hilary Rose on eugenics & genetic medicine,” Genotopia, January 31, 2013, http://genotopia.scienceblog.com/268/hilary-rose-on-eugenics-genetic-medicine/.

Richard Conniff, “Lost and Gone Forever,” The Opinionator, The New York Times, February 3, 2013, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/lost-and-gone-forever/.

Justin Cook, “International Museum of Horology (Musée International d’Horlogerie), Switzerland,” The BSHS Travel Guide, February 6, 2013, http://www.bshs.org.uk/travel-guide/international-museum-of-horology-musee-international-dhorlogerie-switzerland.

Joanna Corden, “Piltdown Man,” The Repository, The Royal Society, February 4, 2013, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2013/02/04/piltdown-man/.

Stephanie Cowell, “Poetry, pain, and opium in Victorian England: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s use of laudanum,” Wonders & Marvels, February 5, 2013, http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2013/02/poetry-pain-and-opium-in-victorian-england-elizabeth-barrett-brownings-use-of-laudanum.html.

Henry Cowles, “A Novel History of Psychology,” AmericanScience: A Team Blog, February 15, 2013, http://americanscience.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-novel-history-of-psychology.html.

Henry Cowles, “Up Goer Five and the Rhetoric of Science,” AmericanScience: A Team Blog, January 31, 2013, http://americanscience.blogspot.com/2013/01/up-goer-five-and-rhetoric-of-science.html.

Helen Anne Curry, “David Kinkela on DDT, American politics, and transnational history,” AmericanScience: A Team Blog, January 16, 2013, http://americanscience.blogspot.com/2013/01/david-kinkela-on-ddt-american-politics.html.

Athene Donald, “A cracking tale: why did the world’s first jetliner fall out of the sky?,” Occam’s Corner, January 21, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/occams-corner/2013/jan/21/cracking-tale-first-jet-aircraft.

Lindsey Fitzharris, “Silent Voices in History: The Searchers of the Dead,” the chirurgeon’s apprentice, February 11, 2013, http://thechirurgeonsapprentice.com/2013/02/11/silent-voices-in-history-the-searchers-of-the-dead/.

Katherine Ford, “A curious fact…,” The Repository, The Royal Society, January 15, 2003, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2013/01/15/curious-fact/.

Katherine Ford, “A Fellow’s election card,” The Repository, The Royal Society, February 11, 2013, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2013/02/11/election-card/.

Jennifer Frazer, “Darwin’s Neon Golf Balls,” The Artful Amoeba, January 15, 2013, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/2013/01/15/darwins-neon-golf-balls/.

Susannah Gibson, “Natural Histories in Eighteenth-Century Britain,” Dissertation Reviews, February 13, 2013, http://dissertationreviews.org/archives/2275.

Greg Gbur, “Phantasmagoria: How Étienne-Gaspard Robert terrified Paris for science,” Skulls in the Stars, February 11, 2013, http://skullsinthestars.com/2013/02/11/phantasmagoria-how-etienne-gaspard-robert-terrified-paris-for-science/.

Greg Gbur, “The physicist vanishes,” Science Chamber of Horrors, February 4, 2013, http://sciencehorrors.tumblr.com/post/42322645813/the-physicist-vanishes.

Greg Good, “Romantic Science, Romantic Music: Alexander von Humboldt and Franz Schubert,” GEOcosmoHISTORY, February 10, 2013, http://www.geocosmohistory.com/2013/02/romantic-science-romantic-music.html.

Greg Good, “Starting off in a new direction: Earth, Cosmos, and History,” GEOcosmoHISTORY, February 8, 2013, http://www.geocosmohistory.com/2013/02/starting-off-in-new-direction-earth.html.

Graeme Gooday, “Review: Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond,” Reviews in History, February 13, 2013, http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1369.

Bill Griffith, “Lord Porter of Luddenham at Imperial College, London,” BSHS Travel Guide, February 2, 2013, http://www.bshs.org.uk/travel-guide/lord-porter-of-luddenham-at-imperial-college-london.

Jacob Hamblin, “Can’t Historians Predict the Future?,” Minds in a Groove, February 4, 2013, http://jacobdarwinhamblin.com/2013/02/04/cant-historians-predict-the-future/.

Jacob Hamblin, “History of Science off the Beaten Path, History of Science at Oregon State University, January 31, 2013, http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/historyofscience/2013/01/31/history-of-science-off-the-beaten-path/.

Ann-Marie Hansen, “Contracts and Early Modern Scholarly Networks,” The Sloane Letters Blog, February 4, 2013, http://www.sloaneletters.com/earlymodern-scholarly-contracts/.

Jennifer Harbster, “Saving Science Blogs,” Inside Adams, January 25, 2013, http://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2013/01/saving-science-blogs/.

Tom Harper, “Stargazing with maps. In the dark?,” Magnificent Maps Blog, January 18, 2013, http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/magnificentmaps/2013/01/stargazing-with-maps-in-the-dark.html.

Darin Hayton, “Forgeries, Lies, and Deception in History,” Darin Hayton, February 8, 2013, http://dhayton.haverford.edu/2013/02/08/forgeries-lies-and-deception-in-history/.

Darin Hayton, “Gopkin on Galileo,” Darin Hayton, February 6, 2013, http://dhayton.haverford.edu/2013/02/06/gopnik-on-galileo/.

Darin Hayton, “Science Heroes Refuse to Die, Darin Hayton, February 3, 2013, http://dhayton.haverford.edu/2013/02/03/science-heroes-refuse-to-die/.

Darin Hayton, “Tales of Scientific Heroes are Just Celebrity Biographies,” Darin Hayton, January 31, 2013, http://dhayton.haverford.edu/2013/01/31/tales-of-scientific-heroes-are-just-celebrity-biographies/.

Vanessa Heggie, “The science of Ripper Street,” The H Word, February 3, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/the-h-word/2013/feb/03/victorian-science-of-ripper-street.

Robinson A. Herrera, “The Ambulatory Archive: Santa Muerte Tattoos as Historical Sources,” The Appendix, December 2012, http://theappendix.net/issues/2012/12/the-ambulatory-archive-santa-muerte-tattoos-as-historical-sources.

Rebekah Higgit, “Heritage and the Royal Institution,” The H Word, January 29, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-h-word/2013/jan/29/history-science.

Rebekah Higgit, “Thinking about life on Mars – video,” The H Word, January 18, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-h-word/2013/jan/18/mars-history-science.

 Joanna Hopkins, “Can you feel the chemistry?,” The Repository, The Royal Society, February 14, 2013, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2013/02/14/can-you-feel-the-chemistry/.

Rowan Hooper, “Wallace: Wonders of nature have been solace of my life,” New Scientist, January 24, 2013, http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23103-wallace-wonders-of-nature-have-been-solace-of-my-life.html.

Virginia Hughes, “Darwin In the Age of Ebooks,” Download the Universe, January 7, 2013, http://www.downloadtheuniverse.com/dtu/2013/01/darwin-in-the-age-of-ebooks.html.

Dana Hunter, “Darwin: Geologist First and Last,” Rosetta Stones, February 10, 2013, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/rosetta-stones/2013/02/10/darwin-geologist-first-and-last/.

Ashutosh Jogalekar, “Leo Szilárd, a traffic light and a slice of nuclear history,” The Curious Wavefunction, February 12, 2013, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2013/02/12/leo-szilard-a-traffic-light-and-a-slice-of-nuclear-history/.

Eric Michael Johnson, “Macaque and Dagger in the Simian Space Race,” The Primate Diaries,” February 14, 2013, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/primate-diaries/2013/02/14/macaque-and-dagger-in-the-simian-space-race/.

Steve Jones, “Alfred Russel Wallace, the man who pre-empted Darwin,” The Telegraph, January 14, 2013, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/evolution/9801281/Alfred-Russel-Wallace-the-man-who-pre-empted-Darwin.html.

Gilbert King, “The Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla and his Tower,” The Past Imperfect, February 4, 2013, http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2013/02/the-rise-and-fall-of-nikola-tesla-and-his-tower/.

Greg Laden, “Charles Darwin, Geologist,” Greg Laden’s Blog, February 11, 2013, http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2013/02/11/charles-darwin-geologist-2/.

Fiona Keates, “That’s Ent-ertainment,” The Repository, The Royal Society, February 8, 2013, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2013/02/08/george-ent/.

Roger Launius, “Reflections on the Loss of STS-107: Ten Years Ago,” Roger Launius’s Blog, February 1, 2013, http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/reflections-on-the-loss-of-sts-107-ten-years-ago-redirect/.

Roger Launius, “Wednesday’s Book Review: ‘Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age’,” Roger Launius’s Blog, February 6, 2013, http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/wednesdays-book-review-red-moon-rising-sputnik-and-the-hidden-rivalries-that-ignited-the-space-age/.

Roger Launius, “What is the Space Shuttle’s Place in Modern American History?,” Roger Launius’s Blog, January 14, 2013, http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/what-is-the-space-shuttles-place-in-modern-american-history/.

Daniel Lende, “On Science, Social Science, and Politics,” Neuroanthropology, January 21, 2013, http://blogs.plos.org/neuroanthropology/2013/01/21/on-science-social-science-and-politics/.

Cory Lewis, “HPS could be the Corpus Callosum of the academy,” The Bubble Chamber, January 16, 2013, http://thebubblechamber.org/2013/01/hps-could-be-the-corpus-callosum-of-the-academy/.

Eleanor Louson, “A cold day in Ottowa,” Productive (adj), February 6, 2013, http://elouson.blogspot.ca/2013/02/a-cold-day-in-ottawa.html.

Martin Mahony, “The slippery concept of ‘climate’,” Topograph: contested landscapes of knowing, January 16, 2013, http://thetopograph.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-slippery-concept-of-climate.html.

Adrienne Mayor, “Alexander the Great and the Rain of Burning Sand,” Wonders & Marvels, February 2013, http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2013/02/alexander-the-great-and-the-rain-of-burning-sand.html.

Patrick McCray, “Apprehending the Artifact,” Leaping Robot Blog, February 6, 2013, http://www.patrickmccray.com/2013/02/06/apprehending-the-artifact/.

John McKay, “Boltunov’s drawing,” archy, February 6, 2013, http://johnmckay.blogspot.com/2013/02/boltunovs-drawing.html.

John McKay, “An Early Description of Permafrost,” Mammoth Tales, February 3, 2013, http://mammothtales.blogspot.com/2013/02/an-early-description-of-permafrost.html.

Adam McLean, “Lawrence Principe takes Basilius Valentinus to the laboratory,” Bibliotheca Philosophica, February 13, 2013, http://www.ritmanlibrary.com/2013/02/lawrence-principe-takes-basilius-valentinus-to-the-laboratory/.

Keith Moore, “The romantic Mr Edwards,” The Repository, The Royal Society, February 13, 2013, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2013/02/13/romantic-mr-edwards/.

Larry Moran, “How Linus Pauling Discovered the α-Helix,” Sandwalk, February 7, 2013, http://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-linus-pauling-discovered-the.html.

Kate Morant, “The Paramore becalmed,” Halley’s Log, January 15, 2013, http://halleyslog.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/the-paramore-becalmed/.

Dawn Moutrey, “Winter surprise: tiny phrenology book,” Whipple Library Books Blog, January 23, 2013, http://whipplelib.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/winter-surprise-tiny-phrenology-book/.

Carla Nappi, “Christopher I. Beckwith, Warriors of the Cloisters: The Central Asian Origins of Science in the Medieval World,” New Books in Science, Technology, and Society, January 22, 2013, http://newbooksinscitechsoc.com/2013/01/22/christopher-i-beckwith-warriors-of-the-cloisters-the-central-asian-origins-of-science-in-the-medieval-world-princeton-university-press-2012/.

Carla Nappi, “Deborah R. Coen, The Earthquake Observers: Disaster Science from Lisbon to Richter,” New Books in Science, Technology, and Society, February 11, 2013, http://newbooksinscitechsoc.com/2013/02/11/deborah-r-coen-the-earthquake-observers-disaster-science-from-lisbon-to-richter-university-of-chicago-press-2012-2/.

Carla Nappi, “Joel Isaac: Working Knowledge: Making the Human Sciences from Parsons to Kuhn,” New Books in Science, Technology, and Society, January 28, 2013, http://newbooksinscitechsoc.com/2013/01/28/joel-isaac-working-knowledge-making-the-human-sciences-from-parsons-to-kuhn-harvard-up-2012/.

Carla Nappi, “Michael Gordin: The Pseudo-Science Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe,” New Books in Science, Technology, and Society, January 15, 2013, http://newbooksinscitechsoc.com/2013/01/15/michael-d-gordin-the-pseudo-science-wars-immanuel-velikovsky-and-the-birth-of-the-modern-fringe-university-of-chicago-press-2012/.

Hannah Newton, “A Bag of Worms: Treating the Sick Child in Early Modern England, 1580-1720,” The Recipes Project, January 17, 2013, http://recipes.hypotheses.org/744.

Roger Pielke, Jr., “The Authoritarian Science Myth,” Roger Pielke, Jr.’s Blog, January 17, 2013, http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-authoritarian-science-myth.html.

John Pieret, “On the First Day of Darwin” through “On the Twelfth Day of Darwin, Thoughts in a Haystack, February 1-12, 2013, http://dododreams.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html.

 Maria Popova, “Happy Birthday, Pale Blue Dot: A Timeless Valentine to the Cosmos,” Brain Pickings, February 14, 2013, http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/02/14/happy-birthday-pale-blue-dot/.

Maria Popova, “How Chemistry Works: Gorgeous Vintage Science Diagrams, 1854,” Brain Pickings, January 31, 2013, http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/31/edward-youmans-chemical-atlas/.

James Poskett, “Django Unchained and the racist science of phrenology,” Notes & Theories, February 5, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2013/feb/05/django-unchained-racist-science-phrenology.

James Poskett, “Letters of Alfred Russel Wallace go online,” Nature, January 24, 2013, http://www.nature.com/news/letters-of-alfred-russel-wallace-go-online-1.12300.

John Ptak, “How Old are (Some) Scientific Words? Many Not Very,” Ptak Science Books, February 3, 2013, http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2013/02/how-old-are-some-scientific-words-many-not-very.html.

John Ptak, “Pre-Darwin Darwin, Without the Post-Darwin,” Ptak Science Books, January 19, 2013, http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2013/01/pre-darwin-darwin-without-the-post-darwin.html.

Michael Robinson, “Beyond the Extreme,” Time to Eat the Dogs, January 27, 2013, http://timetoeatthedogs.com/2013/01/27/beyond-the-extreme/.

David Rooney, “The multiple lives of Alan Turing,” Stories from the stores, February 5, 2013, http://sciencemuseumdiscovery.com/blogs/collections/the-multiple-lives-of-alan-turing/.

Meg Rosenburg, “Between Science and HPS: How did I get here?,” True Anomalies: Tales from the History of Science, February 13, 2013, http://www.trueanomalies.com/between-science-and-hps/.

Steve Shapiro, and Andrew Bensley, “The 6 Greatest Acts of Trolling in the History of Science,” CRACKED.com, February 3, 2013, http://www.cracked.com/article_20212_the-6-greatest-acts-trolling-in-history-science.html.

Patrick Slaney, “Audra J. Wolfe: Competing with the Soviets: Science, Technology, and the State in Cold War America,” New Books in Science, Technology, and Society, February 4, 2013, http://newbooksinscitechsoc.com/2013/02/04/audra-j-wolfe-competing-with-the-soviets-science-technology-and-the-state-in-cold-war-america-johns-hopkins-2013/.

Lisa Smith, “Hans Sloane’s New York Collections,” The Sloane Letters Blog, February 10, 2013, http://www.sloaneletters.com/sloane-new-york/.

Lisa Smith, “Preparing for an Epidemic in the Eighteenth Century,” The Sloane Letters Blog, January 28, 2013, http://www.sloaneletters.com/preparing-epidemic-18thc/.

Amy Shira Teitel, “Schirra’s Stellar Navigation,” Vintage Space, January 26, 2013, http://amyshirateitel.com/2013/01/26/schirras-stellar-navigation/.

Brian Switek, “Book Review: The Complete Dinosaur, Second Edition,” Laelaps, January 29, 2013, http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/29/book-review-the-complete-dinosaur-second-edition/.

Brian Switek, “Fossils of Future Past,” Laelaps, January 24, 2013, http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/24/fossils-of-future-past/.

Will Thomas, “Kuhn’s Demon, or: The Iconoclastic Tradition in Science Criticism,” Ether Wave Propaganda, January 21, 2013, http://etherwave.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/kuhns-demon-or-the-iconoclastic-tradition-in-science-criticism/.

Will Thomas, “R.A. Fisher, Scientific Method, and the Tower of Babel, Part 1 and 2,” Ether Wave Propaganda, February 2/9, 2013, http://etherwave.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/r-a-fisher-scientific-method-and-the-tower-of-babel-pt-1/ and http://etherwave.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/r-a-fisher-scientific-method-and-the-tower-of-babel-pt-2/.

UCL History of Medicine, “How To Make a Victorian Villain (or the Tale of Isaac Baker Brown) Part 1 and 2,” The UCL Centre for the History of Medicine Blog, January 17/26, 2013, http://uclhistoryofmedicine.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/how-to-make-a-victorian-villain-or-the-tale-of-isaac-baker-brown-part-1-3/ and http://uclhistoryofmedicine.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/how-to-make-a-victorian-villain-or-the-tale-of-isaac-baker-brown-part-2-2/.

Alberto Vanzo, “Empiricism and innate ideas,” Early Modern Experimental Philosophy, February 4, 2013, https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/2013/02/empiricism-and-innate-ideas/.

Jai Virdi, “Popular Remedies for Deafness,” From the Hands of Quacks, February 11, 2013, http://jaivirdi.com/2013/02/11/popular-remedies-for-deafness/.

Jai Virdi, “Searching for Charlatans,” From the Hands of Quacks, February 1, 2013, http://jaivirdi.com/2013/02/01/searching-for-charlatans/.

Jennifer Wallis, “Muscle and mind in the asylum,” Asylum Science, February 4, 2013, http://asylumscience.com/2013/02/04/muscle-and-mind-in-the-asylum/.

Michael Washburn, “Floating Ideas: ‘Soundings,’ About Marie Tharp, by Hali Felt,” Sunday Book Review (The New York Times), January 25, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/books/review/soundings-about-marie-tharp-by-hali-felt.html.

Brandon Watson, “Whewell on Newton’s Laws IV: The Second and Third Laws,” Siris, January 30, 2013, http://branemrys.blogspot.de/2013/01/whewell-on-newtons-laws-iv-second-and.html.

Mike White, “There is grandeur in Lucretius’ view of life,” The Finch and Pea, February 10, 2013, http://thefinchandpea.com/2013/02/10/there-is-grandeur-in-lucretius-view-of-life/.

Emily Winterburn, “Happy familes and Nobel Prizes,” Tea and Stars, February 6, 2013, http://scienceanddomesticity.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/happy-families-and-nobel-prizes/.

Emily Winterburn, “Herschel’s telescope,” Tea and Stars, January 12, 2013, http://scienceanddomesticity.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/herschels-telescope/.

Alun Withey, “‘Weird’ remedies and the problem of ‘folklore’,” Dr Alun Withey, January 24, 2013, http://dralun.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/weird-remedies-and-the-problem-of-folklore/.

Ed Yong, “Scientific families: Dynasty,” Nature, January 16, 2013, http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-families-dynasty-1.12205.

Michelle Ziegler, “History Meets Biology at the AHA,” Contagions, January 8, 2013, http://contagions.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/history-meets-biology-at-the-aha/.

Unknown, “Rankine on Entropy, Love and Marriage,” Carnotcycle, February 1, 2013, http://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/rankine-on-entropy-love-and-marriage/.

And, since February 12 was Darwin Day AND Mardi Gras, I’ll share one more Darwin post (from last year, but too good not to):

Cyriaque Lamar, “In the 1870s, Charles Darwin was the theme of a downright deranged Mardi Gras parade,” io9, May 2, 2012, http://io9.com/5906922/in-the-1870s-charles-darwin-was-the-theme-of-a-downright-deranged-mardi-gras-parade.

Well, there you have it, about a month’s worth of history of science/technology/medicine blogging (and this is far from comprehensive). Just one month? Wow!

As far as I know, a host for the March edition of The Giants’ Shoulders is still needed. If interested, reach out to the blog carnival organizers here or here.

Giants’ Shoulders #57 will be hosted by Alison Boyle (@ali_boyle) on the Science Museum Blog on 16^th March. Submission should as always be made direct to the host or to Thony at The Renaissance Mathematicus or to Dr SkySkull at Skull in the Stars by 15^th March at the latest.

ARTICLE: Abandoning Evolution: The Forgotten History of Antievolution Activism and the Transformation of American Social Science

Published in the most recent issue of Isis:

Abandoning Evolution: The Forgotten History of Antievolution Activism and the Transformation of American Social Science

Michael Lienesch

Abstract From its inception, antievolution activism has been aimed not only at the natural sciences but also, and almost as often, at the social sciences. Although almost entirely overlooked by scholars, this activism played a significant part in the development of American social science in the early twentieth century. Analyzing public writings and private papers of antievolution activists, academic social scientists, and university officials from the 1920s, this essay recalls this forgotten history, showing how antievolution activism contributed to the abandonment of evolutionary theory and the adoption of a set of secular, scientific, and professional characteristics that have come to define much of modern social science.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) speaking on the floor of the House in support of Darwin Day

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) speaking on the floor of the House in support of Darwin Day:

For Darwin Day, you could…

Embrace your inner fish:

Consider again that dot:

Be connected:

Be astounded:

Be an African:

Get vaccinated:

Be a child of evolution:

Seeking guest posts for The Dispersal of Darwin

I would like to get more original content up on The Dispersal of Darwin. Since graduating from Montana State in May 2010 and moving to Portland, and now having a second child, I am not doing any research, have no papers to write, and thus, I have less time for writing posts about some aspect about Darwin (I find myself spending more available time on my children and nature blog).

Drawing by John Hawks

Thus, I would like to open up my blog to guest posts. If you have something you would like to write and need an online venue to share it, or you already have something original about Darwin and the history of science and would like to share, consider having it as a guest post here. If you know of other students, colleagues, etc. that work on Darwin, please forward this request along. Contact me at darwinsbulldog AT gmail DOT com if interested and we’ll start a conversation.

BOOK REVIEW: The Complete Dinosaur

In 1993, the movie Jurassic Park and Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name sent me into a dinosaur frenzy. Over the next decade I visited most of the museums in southern California that had dinosaur displays, and attended many museum lectures with paleontologists. I checked out scores of books on dinosaurs from public libraries, and read through them like a mad man. I cherished a 1993 issue of National Geographic about changing theories in dinosaur science and eagerly awaited new issues of AMNH’s Natural History. I recorded episodes of PaleoWorld from The Learning Channel onto VHS (you know, when you could actually “learn” something from that station). And I joined the now defunct Dinosaur Society. I was a dinosaur nerd, in high school. It is through this concentrated must-read everything-I-can-about-dinosaurs-as-soon-as-possible phase that I became familiar with Charles Darwin and evolution. Many of the dinosaur books I read gave at least passing mention to them, if not a more devoted section about how times were changing in the nineteenth century, and how dinosaurs and other fossil remains fit in with this new evolutionary perspective. A decade later, I abandoned my plans to major in paleontology at Montana State University in Bozeman and was convinced to switch over to the history department. I majored in history, focusing on the history of science, especially Darwin and evolution. But living in Bozeman always afforded me a closeness to dinosaurs. On campus was the Museum of the Rockies, and while going to school there I was able to see the museum move on from older displays to a new dinosaur hall. And I took my son there – many times (many). He has scores of dinosaur figurines and books, talks about different species of dinosaurs, and we’re big fans of Dinosaur Train on PBS (thank you, Dr. Scott). While I did not become a paleontologist like I thought I would – but perhaps Patrick might – dinosaurs had not gone extinct in my life. Perhaps this is why I find value in the release of a second edition of The Complete Dinosaur. It is the perfect guide to dinosaurs for someone like me. I am not a trained paleontologist, so the mostly non-technical language in the book works nicely (unlike that of another large dinosaur reference book, The Dinosauria); but I am not foreign to some anatomical jargon (I did take several science courses, including one on dinosaur paleontology), so when some of the authors refer to fossae and trochanters, I am not in the dark.

The Complete Dinosaur, edited by M.K. Brett Surman, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., and James O. Farlow (and published by Indiana University Press, 2012), consists of 45 chapters by different authors in five parts: The Discovery of Dinosaurs, the Study of Dinosaurs, the Clades of Dinosaurs (think different groups), the Paleobiology of Dinosaurs, and Dinosaur Evolution in the Mesozoic. That first section on discovery attracts me the most, as a history buff and major. Chapters discuss early discoveries (it’s great to see reference to work from Adrienne Mayor on ancient civilizations’ perceptions of fossil bones), the anatomist Richard Owen and his creation of the term and group “dinosaur,” and four chapters on dinosaur discoveries in Europe, North America, Asia, and the southern continents. In the study section are chapters on bones, muscles, classification, geologic time, how technology advances the study of dinosaurs, museum exhibits, and how artists reconstruct dinosaurs. The middle section on different dinosaur groups is pretty straight forward. Choose a chapter to learn about dinosaurian ancestors, early dinosaurs, theropods (the meat-eaters), birds (yes, they get their own chapter!), prosauropods, sauropods (long-necked dinosaurs), stegosaurs, ankylosaurs, Marginocephalia (pachycephalosaurs and ceratopsians like Triceratops), and ornithopods (including the duck-billed dinosaurs). In the paleobiology section, one can brush up on dinosaur food and dung, sex, eggs, growth, disease, movement (as evidenced through trackways), metabolic physiology, among other topics – essentially, how dinosaurs lived.

The final section on evolution covers biogeography, faunas, extinction, and in the final chapter, “Dinosaurs and Evolutionary Theory,” the authors of which show how dinosaurs have not been utilized in evolutionary theories. Although Darwin surely knew of new fossil discoveries and Owen’s work on forming the new group of animals, there does not seem to be any significant mention of dinosaurs in his correspondence. While Padian and Burton suggest that Darwin steered clear of discussing dinosaurs as not to ruffle Owen’s feathers (for he thought differently than Darwin on evolutionary mechanisms), they are wrong to state that “Darwin does not mention dinosaurs in his published work, the watershed of evolutionary theory in Victorian times” (p. 1063). In later editions of On the Origin of Species (1859), Darwin refers to “dinosaurians” twice while discussing extinction in his chapter “On the Geological Succession of Organic Beings” (the first mention is in his third edition of 1861 and the second mention is his fifth edition of 1869). Historical quibble aside, the final chapter is an interesting overview of the role that dinosaurs as a group of extinct animals have played – or not played – in evolutionary thinking. For such a large book devoted to mostly science, it’s nice to see that science embedded by appreciation for the history of the field of dinosaur paleontology on both ends.

Throughout the book are scientific illustrations and other images, as well as a central section of colored plates of dinosaur art. Throw in individual chapter reference lists, an appendix on dinosaur websites, a glossary, and a very detailed 30 page 3-columned index, and you have a rather “complete dinosaur” book. May my son and I reference it often!

BOOKS: Three-part series on our cosmic, earth, and evolution stories

Dawn Publications specializes in science and nature books for kids. Their series of evolution books by Jennifer Morgan and beautifully illustrated by Dana Lynne Anderson capture for young curious minds the wonder of our connection to the natural world. They tell, from the perspective of the Universe, our cosmic, earth, and evolution stories. Each book contains at the end a section with further detail of topics featured in the story, a glossary, and suggested readings and other resources.

Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story, by Jennifer Morgan and illustrated by Dana Lynne Anderson (Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications, 2002), 48 pp.

Get ready to hear the Universe tell its own life story of chaos and creativity. Time after time the Universe nearly perishes, then bravely triumphs and turns itself into new and even more spectacular forms—like the Sun and Earth. It even turns itself into Earthling scientists who help the Universe discover more about itself. This is a science story from the inside. It’s a story about you, from the time you were really born—about 13 billion years ago. First in a trilogy, this illustrated book ends as the Universe forms a young Earth.

From Lava to Life: The Universe Tells Our Earth Story, by Jennifer Morgan and illustrated by Dana Lynne Anderson (Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications, 2003), 48 pp.

Settle in with your favorite pillow while the Universe tells the thrilling story of Earth. It’s a story about the beginning of life, and how Earth triumphs over crisis to become bacteria… jellyfish… flowers… dinosaurs! It’s a science story that is your story, too, the story of your living Earth and the unbroken chain that connects you to the very first life that began to twitch in the sea four billion years ago.

Mammals Who Morph: The Universe Tells Our Evolution Story, by Jennifer Morgan and illustrated by Dana Lynne Anderson (Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications, 2006), 48 pp.

This remarkable illustrated evolution series, narrated by the Universe itself, concludes with Book Three, the amazing story of mammals. It picks up with the extinction of dinosaurs, and tells how tiny mammals survived and morphed into lots of new Earthlings… horses, whales and a kind of mammal with a powerful imagination—you! It’s a story of chaos, creativity and heroes—the greatest adventure on Earth! And it’s a personal story… about our bodies, our minds, our spirits. It’s our story.

Some seem to think these books, through personification of the Universe as storyteller, are masquerading as creationism/intelligent design. I don’t think so. The intention here is to provide a grand story of sorts for children about the origins of our universe, earth, and life. Some call this the Epic of Evolution or The Great Story. If you’re religious, you can take these books as you will. If you’re secular, you can read these books in a wholly secular tone. As the author notes in the third book, in response to queries about where God is in these books, “The word ‘God’ is purposefully not in the story so that it can be embraced by people of all religious traditions, or of none at all.” What is important is that children are being offered good science through the stories, and that is the case with Born with a Bang, From Lava to Life, and Mammals Who Morph.

I post this without comment…

BOOK: Darwin: A Graphic Biography

For Darwin’s bicentenary in 2009, Simon Gurr and Eugene Byrne put together a graphic novel. It was distributed throughout the UK, and I was happy to have been sent a copy:

It has now been published in the United States through Smithsonian Books:

Darwin: A Graphic Biography is an inspiring expedition into the physical and intellectual adventures of Charles Darwin. Presenting Darwin’s life in a smart and entertaining graphic novel, Darwin: A Graphic Biography attempts to not only educate the reader about Darwin but also the scientific world of the 1800s. The graphic medium is ideal for recreating a very specific time frame, succeeding in placing the reader right next to a young Darwin on a “beetling” expedition. With specimens in both hands, and anxious to get another, Darwin ends up stuffing the third beetle into his mouth. Darwin’s life presented in this form is an inspirational tale for kids of all ages. They’ll be sure to identify with a curious young Darwin finding his way on youthful adventures in the fields near his house. The ups, downs, and near-misses of Darwin’s youth are portrayed honestly and without foreshadowing of his later fame. This is a key point for younger readers: that Darwin wasn’t somehow predestined to greatness. He was curious, patient, and meticulous. He persevered–a great lesson about what science is all about.

It is available on Amazon today, one week before Darwin Day: Darwin: A Graphic Biography. And the National Center for Science Education has a preview, here.

For some images from inside, see: On the origin of Darwin: A Graphic Biography and Happy Birthday, Darwin: A Graphic Biography.

Darwin Day 2013 in Portland, February 12

I’m aware of at least two things going on in Portland for Darwin Day on February 12th.

The Center for Inquiry-Portland will be hanging out between between the Smith and Neuberger buildings on the Portland State University campus from noon to 3:30, passing out cake and talking to people about evolution (last year and 2011 it was at Pioneer Square).

Massimo Pigliucci of the City University of New York will give a Darwin Day talk on the interaction between philosophy and science at 7:00 pm, in SB1 107 (see below for update on location) on the campus of Portland State University. Details on the Meetup page here.

Support the 2013 Darwin Day Resolution

Get to Know Darwin

Carl Zimmer blogged about some new resources from the Darwin Correspondence Project, “Creating Young Darwins.” Based on a university course at Harvard, “Get to Know Darwin” equips educators (and parents!) curriculum for teaching students (or children!) about Darwin’s many experiments. Through some of his papers and letters, they can learn why Darwin did them, how they were conducted, his results, and the context of their connection to his theoretical work.

Integrating Darwin’s correspondence with exercises in experimental science and study of his published work has been a great success. For students in the course, reading the letters enriched their understanding of Darwin’s life and work. The letters provided “a glimpse of his thought process” and “brought the other works we were looking at to life, and gave much context to who Darwin was from childhood to old age, as a father and a husband, and ultimately as a scientist.” They showed students “what excited him, what his hobbies were, and what went on in his daily life.” This kind of historical texture was not merely incidental to students’ learning. As one student in the course put it, “These details may not be present in On the Origin of Species, but they are, in my opinion, an integral part of the full comprehension of it. Knowing that Darwin was a devoted family man, meticulous observer, and a charming individual is more than just interesting – it gives his published work more purpose.”

Here’s the list of available topics: Early Days, Barnacles, Biogeography, Variation Under Domestication, Orchids, Instinct and the Evolution of Mind, Insectivorous Plants, Climbing Plants, Floral Dimorphism, Power of Movement in Plants, and Earthworms.

Bringing the history of science alive for education. I love it!