This is a re-post of one from late 2007. I was in at a local school last week, talking with their scholarship candidates, & we talked about a lot of this stuff. So I thought it would be worthwhile to post it again (at the top of the queue, so to speak!) so as to […]
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science as a human endeavour
What follows is the text of a talk I gave to a teachers’ conference last weekend, on the ‘human side’ of science. In other words (lots of them!), it’s about the nature of science. Quite a long post (for me), but I hope you get something from it.
Continue readinghow evolutionary theory develops
I’ve just come across an excellent post by evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci, talking about how evolutionary theory has developed since the ‘modern synthesis’ was set out. (And of course, the modern synthesis was an advance on Darwin’s orginal theory of natural selection as the agent of descent with modification – science changes as it accommodates […]
Continue readingbeing clever isn’t something we should be frightened of
I’ve just watched TV One’s interview with Robert, Lord Winston, who was here to open the new Fertility Associates buildings, receive an honorary degree from Auckland University, & probably much else besides. And he had some important, provocative things to say about the state of science in New Zealand, and the country’s attitudes to science.
Continue readingthings to remember when writing an essay
I’m marking exams at the moment & this has made me think I should revisit an earlier item on writing an extended (essay-type) answer to a question.
Continue readingWhy Scholarship is hard work
I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment & thought I'd re-post this one – although it probably reiterates what your teachers have already told you about doing lots of reading around the subject! You've probably found by now that preparing for Scholarship exams involves (among other things) an awful lot of reading. I was reading an […]
Continue readingrapid evolutionary change in lizards
This is another wonderful paper – the result of what may be a unique translocation experiment involving Italian wall lizards (Podarcis sicula: Herrel et al., 2008). (I do read other stuff – I might tell you about some of that next time.)
Continue readingdo you google?
I'll bet you do – I use Google a lot myself. It's a great tool for finding images or information quickly. But – what about when you are looking for material for a biology assignment, or to broaden your knowledge on a particular topic?
Continue readingmore forensic genetics – and the origins of multicellular animals
When I'm lecturing about animal diversity and the origins of the multicellular animals (aka metazoans), I point out the similarity between the single-celled protozoans called choanoflagellates and the choanocytes (or 'feeding cells') of sponges. The textbook interpretation is that choanoflagellates may have shared a common ancestor with metazoans, and there's an increasing amount of genetic […]
Continue readingorrorin tugenensis & the origins of bipedalism
Ever since its fossil remains were discovered, scientists have wondered about the place of Orrorin tugenensis and its place in our family tree. Was it bipedal? And where were its closest relatives? One controversial suggestion was that Orrorin was directly ancestral to our own genus – leaving the australopiths completely out in the cold.
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