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Darwin-L Message Log 43: 1–33 — March 1997
Academic Discussion on the History and Theory of the Historical Sciences
Darwin-L was an international discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences, active from 1993–1997. Darwin-L was established to promote the reintegration of a range of fields all of which are concerned with reconstructing the past from evidence in the present, and to encourage communication among scholars, scientists, and researchers in these fields. The group had more than 600 members from 35 countries, and produced a consistently high level of discussion over its several years of operation. Darwin-L was not restricted to evolutionary biology nor to the work of Charles Darwin, but instead addressed the entire range of historical sciences from an explicitly comparative perspective, including evolutionary biology, historical linguistics, textual transmission and stemmatics, historical geology, systematics and phylogeny, archeology, paleontology, cosmology, historical geography, historical anthropology, and related “palaetiological” fields.
This log contains public messages posted to the Darwin-L discussion group during March 1997. It has been lightly edited for format: message numbers have been added for ease of reference, message headers have been trimmed, some irregular lines have been reformatted, and error messages and personal messages accidentally posted to the group as a whole have been deleted. No genuine editorial changes have been made to the content of any of the posts. This log is provided for personal reference and research purposes only, and none of the material contained herein should be published or quoted without the permission of the original poster.
The master copy of this log is maintained in the Darwin-L Archives (rjohara.net/darwin) by Dr. Robert J. O’Hara. The Darwin-L Archives also contain additional information about the Darwin-L discussion group, the complete Today in the Historical Sciences calendar for every month of the year, a collection of recommended readings on the historical sciences, and an account of William Whewell’s concept of “palaetiology.”
-------------------------------------------
DARWIN-L MESSAGE LOG 43: 1-33 -- MARCH 1997
-------------------------------------------
DARWIN-L
A Network Discussion Group on the
History and Theory of the Historical Sciences
Darwin-L@raven.cc.ukans.edu is an international network discussion group on
the history and theory of the historical sciences. Darwin-L was established
in September 1993 to promote the reintegration of a range of fields all of
which are concerned with reconstructing the past from evidence in the present,
and to encourage communication among academic professionals in these fields.
Darwin-L is not restricted to evolutionary biology nor to the work of Charles
Darwin but instead addresses the entire range of historical sciences from an
interdisciplinary perspective, including evolutionary biology, historical
linguistics, textual transmission and stemmatics, historical geology,
systematics and phylogeny, archeology, paleontology, cosmology, historical
anthropology, historical geography, and related "palaetiological" fields.
This log contains the public messages posted to Darwin-L during March 1997.
It has been lightly edited for format: message numbers have been added for ease
of reference, message headers have been trimmed, some irregular lines have been
reformatted, and some administrative messages and personal messages posted to
the group as a whole have been deleted. No genuine editorial changes have been
made to the content of any of the posts. This log is provided for personal
reference and research purposes only, and none of the material contained herein
should be published or quoted without the permission of the original poster.
The master copy of this log is maintained on the Darwin-L Web Server at
http://rjohara.uncg.edu. For instructions on how to retrieve copies of this
and other log files, and for additional information about Darwin-L and the
historical sciences, connect to the Darwin-L Web Server or send the e-mail
message INFO DARWIN-L to listserv@raven.cc.ukans.edu.
Darwin-L is administered by Robert J. O'Hara (darwin@iris.uncg.edu), Center for
Critical Inquiry in the Liberal Arts and Department of Biology, University of
North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27412 U.S.A., and it
is supported by the Center for Critical Inquiry, University of North Carolina
at Greensboro, and the Department of History and the Academic Computing Center,
University of Kansas.
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:1>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Sat Mar 1 12:23:33 1997
Date: Sat, 01 Mar 1997 13:23:28 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: List owner's monthly greeting
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
Greetings to all Darwin-L subscribers. On the first of every month I send
out a short note on the status of our group, along with a reminder of basic
commands. For additional information about the group please visit the
Darwin-L Web Server <http://rjohara.uncg.edu>.
Darwin-L is an international discussion group for professionals in the
historical sciences. The group is not devoted to any particular discipline,
such as evolutionary biology, but rather seeks to promote interdisciplinary
comparisons across the entire range of fields concerned with historical
reconstruction, including evolution, historical linguistics, archeology,
geology, cosmology, historical geography, textual transmission, and history
proper. Darwin-L is not an amateur chat forum, nor a forum for discussion
of creationism and evolution. Darwin-L currently has about 700 members from
more than 35 countries.
Because Darwin-L does have a large membership and is sometimes a high-volume
discussion group it is important for all participants to try to keep their
postings as substantive as possible so that we can maintain a favorable
"signal-to-noise" ratio. Because Darwin-L is not a chat-oriented group,
personal messages should be sent by private e-mail rather than to the group
as a whole. The list owner does lightly moderate the group in order to
filter out error messages, commercial advertising, and occasional off-topic
postings. Subscribers who feel burdened from time to time by the volume of
their Darwin-L mail may wish to take advantage of the "digest" option
described below.
Because different mail systems work differently, not all subscribers see
the e-mail address of the original sender of each message in the message
header (some people only see "Darwin-L" as the source). It is therefore
very important to include your name and e-mail address at the end of every
message you post so that everyone can identify you and reply privately if
appropriate. Remember also that in most cases when you type "reply" in
response to a message from Darwin-L your reply is sent to the group as a
whole, rather than to the original sender.
The following are the most frequently used listserv commands that Darwin-L
members may wish to know. All of these commands should be sent as regular
e-mail messages to the listserv address (listserv@raven.cc.ukans.edu),
not to the address of the group as a whole (Darwin-L@raven.cc.ukans.edu).
In each case leave the subject line of the message blank and include no
extraneous text, as the command will be read and processed by the listserv
program rather than by a person. To join the group send the message:
SUBSCRIBE DARWIN-L Your Name
For example: SUBSCRIBE DARWIN-L John Smith
To cancel your subscription send the message:
UNSUBSCRIBE DARWIN-L
If you feel burdened by the volume of mail you receive from Darwin-L you
may instruct the listserv program to deliver mail to you in digest format
(one message per day consisting of the whole day's posts bundled together).
To receive your mail in digest format send the message:
SET DARWIN-L MAIL DIGEST
To change your subscription from digest format back to one-at-a-time
delivery send the message:
SET DARWIN-L MAIL ACK
To temporarily suspend mail delivery (when you go on vacation, for example)
send the message:
SET DARWIN-L MAIL POSTPONE
To resume regular delivery send either the DIGEST or ACK messages above.
For a comprehensive introduction to Darwin-L with notes on our scope and
on network etiquette, and a summary of all available commands, send the
message:
INFO DARWIN-L
To post a public message to the group as a whole simply send it as regular
e-mail to the group's address (Darwin-L@raven.cc.ukans.edu).
I thank you all for your continuing interest in Darwin-L and in the
interdisciplinary study of the historical sciences.
Bob O'Hara, Darwin-L list owner
Dr. Robert J. O'Hara (darwin@iris.uncg.edu) | Darwin-L Server
Cornelia Strong College, 100 Foust Building | http://rjohara.uncg.edu
University of North Carolina at Greensboro | Strong College Server
Greensboro, North Carolina 27412 U.S.A. | http://strong.uncg.edu
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:2>From Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com Sat Mar 1 13:32:44 1997
From: "Izzy (Israel) Cohen" <Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com>
To: DARWIN-L list <DARWIN-L@RAVEN.CC.UKANS.EDU>
Cc: Jeffrey Henning - model lang <74774.157@compuserve.com>
Subject: FW: Intro of new subscriber
Date: Sat, 01 Mar 97 21:33:00 PST
> I am a biology prof at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
> Have become interested in the well-known and oft-cited parallels between
> biological and linguistic evolution. Would like to learn more about the
> linguistic equivalents of biological "mutation" and "selection". In other
> words, what causes linguistic change and then what causes these changes to
> become established in a population?
http://members.aol.com/JAHenning/index.htm
is an interesting WEB site.
Altho it purports to be about creating "model" languages,
primarily for use in literary scripts, a la J.R.R.Tolkien,
it is actually about the mechanisms of change in the
development of real languages.
Most of the examples are drawn from IndoEuropean languages.
This site contains many fascinating examples which illustrate
how English words have evolved to become the words we know today.
Israel Cohen
izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:3>From Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com Sat Mar 1 13:33:59 1997
From: "Izzy (Israel) Cohen" <Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com>
To: DARWIN-L list <DARWIN-L@RAVEN.CC.UKANS.EDU>
Subject: FW: Journal of Human Evolution
Date: Sat, 01 Mar 97 21:35:00 PST
forwarded by Israel Cohen
izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com
----------
Subject: Journal of Human Evolution
Date: Saturday, 1 March 1997 01:35AM
From: james <jrenfro@seas.upenn.edu>
http://www.hbuk.co.uk/ap/journals/hu/
This online version of the print journal of the same name is published by
Academic Press, Inc. through a program titled IDEAL (International Digital
Electronic Access Library). The Journal of Human Evolution concentrates on
publishing papers covering all aspects of human evolution. The central
focus is aimed jointly at palaeoanthropological work, covering human and
primate fossils, and at comparative studies of living species, including
both morphological and molecular evidence. These include descriptions of
new discoveries, interpretative analyses of new and previously described
material, and assessments of the phylogeny and palaeobiology of primate
species.
In addition to original research papers, space is allocated for the rapid
publication of short communications on new discoveries, such as exciting
new fossils, or on matters of topical interest, such as reports on
meetings. The journal also publishes longer review papers solicited from
workers active in particular fields of research. All manuscripts are
subjected to review by three referees of whom two will be associate
editors.
Research Areas Include:
Palaeoanthropological work, covering human and primate fossils
Comparative studies of living species, including both morphological and
molecular evidence
Primate systematics, behaviour, and ecology in the context of the
evolution of the group involved
Functional studies, particularly relating to diet and locomotion
Body size and allometric studies
Studies in palaeolithic archaeology
Taphonomic and stratigraphical studies supporting fossil evidence for
primate and human evolution
Palaeoecological and palaeogeographical models for primate and human
evolution
Some articles appearing in the December 1996 issue of the Journal include:
'Dental variation of Proconsul from the Tinderet region, Kenya', 'New
Late-Pleistocene uranium-thorium and ESR dates for the Singa hominid
(Sudan)', and 'Randomization procedures and sexual dimorphism in
Australopithecus afarensis'.
Subscription to this electronic journal involves licensing agreements with
academic and industrial networks or consortia of libraries and can not be
done on a personal or even title by title basis. However, the table of
contents and article abstracts for each issue are available online
free-of-charge. Articles are provided to members of subscriber
institutions in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format.
ISSN 0047-2484
Editors: L. Aiello and T. Harrison
Email: apsubs@acad.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:4>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Mon Mar 3 16:45:27 1997
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 17:45:17 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: Darwin-L Web Server and new subscribers (from the list owner)
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
A number of new subscribers have joined Darwin-L in the past week or two,
and I thought it might be helpful for me to mention some of the things that
are available on the Darwin-L Web Server <http://rjohara.uncg.edu>.
The long introductory message that all members receive when they first
join the group is available on the server under the ABOUT DARWIN-L heading,
and the collection of irregularly-posted "Today in the Historical Sciences"
messages are available by following the CALENDAR link.
The FILES section of the server includes a number of miscellaneous files
and working bibliographies on various topics in the historical sciences,
including "trees of history", narrative in science, and the history of
systematics. Some of these are a bit out of date, but they should still
serve as useful starting points for further investigation. Also included
in the FILES section is a complete list of all subscribers (about 660),
and this list is updated monthly.
For several weeks now all new subscribers have been asked to submit a
statement of their interests in the historical sciences to the list owner.
I have compiled all of these and they are also available now on the FILES
page. They show what a remarkable range of interesting scholars we have
here on Darwin-L. Long-time subscribers who would like to have their
interests added to this list are invited to send them (following the
existing format closely) to the list owner by private e-mail.
The LOGS section of the Darwin-L Web Server contains cleanly-formatted
copies of past Darwin-L discussions (mostly up to date); the raw logs
are always available directly from the listserv itself (see About Darwin-L
for instructions on how to retrieve them).
The RESOURCES page contains links to a number of other web resources in
the historical sciences. The web grows and changes so fast that it is
impossible to make such a list comprehensive, but it should serve as an
interesting starting point for subscribers in a browsing mood.
A number of people have sent me e-mail saying that they were once members of
the group but were dropped somehow and now wish to rejoin. Everyone should
remember that the listserv software will automatically delete from the list
anyone whose mail repeatedly bounces -- this is an essential feature from
the point of view of a list manager, because with more than 600 people on
the list almost any message posted to Darwin-L will bounce back from several
addresses that are no longer valid.
I'm grateful to all our subscribers for their continuing contributions
to the group and to the comparative study of the historical sciences.
Bob O'Hara, Darwin-L list owner
Robert J. O'Hara (darwin@iris.uncg.edu) |
Cornelia Strong College, 100 Foust Building | http://rjohara.uncg.edu
University of North Carolina at Greensboro | http://strong.uncg.edu
Greensboro, North Carolina 27412 U.S.A. |
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:5>From Kim.Sterelny@vuw.ac.nz Mon Mar 3 18:56:51 1997
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 14:03:45 +1300
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
From: Kim.Sterelny@vuw.ac.nz (Kim Sterelny)
Subject: a question on Owen
Dear All,
I seem to recall Owen as having once proposed that the human
species be recognised as a separate phylum in recognition of our cognitive
distance from all the other animals. But I have not been able to track a
reference to this down. Does anyone know it off hand, or know whether I am
conffusing Owen with someone else? Noone should go to any trouble over
this, as this is only an example and I can substitute another if need be.
I doubt whether this is of any interest to the list as a whole, so if
anyone list member has this information, and a free minute to send it to:
kimbo@kauri.vuw.ac.nz
i'd be grateful
Kim
Kim Sterelny
Philosophy
Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600, Wellington
New Zealand
phone: 64/(0)4/4721-000
Fax: 64/(0)4/495-5130
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:6>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Mon Mar 3 21:20:42 1997
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 22:17:57 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: NESTOR bibliography on the ancient Aegean (fwd)
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
--begin forwarded message--------------
We here at NESTOR would like to announce the existence of NESTOR's new Home
Page and the new online searchable NESTOR database (1957-1995), now
available on the Web. Please type:
http://ucaswww.mcm.uc.edu/classics/nestor/nestor.html
for the Home Page or type:
http://stream.blg.uc.edu/nestor/nsearch.html
to go directly to the searchable database. There is a Help Page available.
Cheers,
-- Eric
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Eric H. Cline, Ph.D. |
| |
| Visiting Assistant Professor Adjunct Research Assistant Professor |
| Dept of History, Xavier University Dept of Classics, Univ of Cincinnati |
| Cincinnati, OH 45207 Cincinnati, OH 45219 |
| (Cline@xavier.xu.edu; 513-745-3279) (Clinee@ucbeh.san.uc.edu) |
| |
| Editor, NESTOR |
| Dept of Classics |
| University of Cincinnati |
| Cincinnati, OH 45219 |
| (Nestor@ucbeh.san.uc.edu) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--end forwarded message----------------
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:7>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Mon Mar 3 21:20:54 1997
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 22:19:10 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: "Teaching Archaeometry" web site (fwd)
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
--begin forwarded message--------------
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 14:31:42 -0600
From: Sarah Wisseman <wisarc@uiuc.edu>
The new web site "TEACHING ARCHAEOMETRY" is finally available at:
http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/departments/ATAM/teach-arch.html
The purpose of the site is to provide resources for the teaching of
archaeometry/archaeological science. It includes background on the field,
course syllabi from several universities, a "Forum" for postings on
curriculum and training issues, and other web links. Feedback is welcome.
--end forwarded message----------------
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:8>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Mon Mar 3 21:30:48 1997
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 22:20:44 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: Conservation of geological sites (fwd)
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
--begin forwarded message--------------
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 07:42:57 -0800 (PST)
From: San Diego Natural History Museum <libsdnhm@CLASS.ORG>
To: NHCOLL-L <NHCOLL-L@ucmp1.berkeley.edu>, ARCH-L <ARCH-L@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU>,
Subject: conservation of geological sites
*Conservation of Geological Sites: March 24-27
Utah Field House of Natural History, Vernal, Utah,
and Dinosaur National Monument, Jensen, Utah
Geological-origin specimens and objects in museums are subject to a wide
range of problems causing damage and deterioration. These courses provide
an integrated overview of the nature, prevention and treatment of
deterioration of geological materials, including collections in
archaeology, paleontology, petrology, mineralogy, meteoritics,
architecture, and sculpture.
*Conservation of Geological Sites* surveys the unique problems faced when
geological materials are managed or exhibited in situ. This course is
designed for all museum and conservation professionals managing scientific
or interpretive sites, as well as those managing outdoor exhibits or
structures of geological-origin materials with no protection from
weathering.
This course lasts for four days and includes both lecture and practical
sessions. Course handouts, manuals, and recommended reading lists will be
provided on the first day. Fees include the costs of all lab chemicals and
supplies. Information on lodging, transportation, and meals wills be sent
to registrants. These costs are not included in the registration fee.
Instructors:
Sally Shelton, Director, Collections Care and Conservation, San Diego
Natural History Museum. Ms. Shelton specializes in natural history
conservation and is a graduate of the Cambridge course in geological
consevation. She is the president-elect of the Society for the
Preservation of Natural History Collections.
Each course will also feature regional experts as co-instructors.
Course fees are $300 for one course; $575 for two; $850 for three; and
$1100 for four.
International Academic Projects is committed to providing high-level
professional short courses to the museum and conservation communities. For
a complete catalogue, please contact:
Jim Black, International Academic Projects
31-34 Gordon Square
London WC1H 0PY UK
phone (171) 387 9651; FAX (171) 388 0283
email james.black@ucl.ac.uk
web site http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~tcfa313
For more information on the geological conservation courses, please contact
Sally Shelton at the address below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| San Diego Natural History Museum |
| P. O. Box 1390 |
| San Diego, California 92112 USA |
| phone (619) 232-3821, x226; FAX (619) 232-0248 |
| email LIBSDNHM@CLASS.ORG |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--end forwarded message----------------
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:9>From ronald@hawaii.edu Tue Mar 4 02:27:14 1997
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 22:26:50 -1000
From: Ron Amundson <ronald@hawaii.edu>
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: a question on Owen
On Mon, 3 Mar 1997, Kim Sterelny wrote:
> Dear All,
> I seem to recall Owen as having once proposed that the human
> species be recognised as a separate phylum in recognition of our cognitive
> distance from all the other animals. But I have not been able to track a
> reference to this down. Does anyone know it off hand, or know whether I am
> conffusing Owen with someone else? Noone should go to any trouble over
> this, as this is only an example and I can substitute another if need be.
Accd. to Nikolaas Rupke, in _Richard Owen Victorian Naturalist_, Owen
place humans in a separate sub-class. (p. 268 ff.) Rupke thinks he had
fairly direct religious/strategic reasons, partly because the work in
which he said this contains Owen's strongest religious peroration (Rupke's
vocabulary, not mine), and a footnote even describes how hard it is to
separate humans from orangs on anatomical grounds alone. Paper was in J.
Proc. Linnean Soc. 1858, and was given in a modified version as a public
lecture.
What might please you more, Kim, compliments of Rupke, is Isadore
Geoffroy's classification of humans as a separate _kingdom_ (plants,
animals, and us). "... it is by his faculties, so incomparably higher, by
the addition of _intellectual_ and _moral faculties_ to the _faculty of
sensation_ and the _faculty of motion_, that Man in his turn separates
himself from the animal kingdom and consitutes above it, the supreme
division of nature, the Human Kingdom." (from v. 2 of his Histoire
naturell generale des regnes organiques, published 1854-1862, translation
taken from a review in _Natural History Review_ 1862, p. 8)
Anyone want to go for a separate state of matter:
Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Man?
Ron (in a sub-class of my own)
__
Ron Amundson
University of Hawaii at Hilo
ronald@Hawaii.Edu
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:10>From John@attach.edu.ar Tue Mar 4 00:19:12 1997
From: Juan Carlos Garelli <John@attach.edu.ar>
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 02:53:35 -0300
Subject: Re: a question on Owen
Organization: Attachment Research Center
In a message dated 4 Mar 97 at 14:03, a propos of: a question on
Owen , Kim Sterelny says:
> I seem to recall Owen as having once proposed that the human
> species be recognised as a separate phylum in recognition of our
> cognitive distance from all the other animals. But I have not been
> able to track a reference to this down.
Yes, Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) wrote something along those lines
in his very long anonymous review (The Edinburgh Review, 1860) of
Darwin's Origin of Species, on which Darwin commented:
It is extremely malignant, clever, and I fear will be very
damaging... It requires much study to appreciate all the
bitter spite of many of the remarks against me... He
misquotes some passages, altering words within inverted
commas...
As Darwin's thesis began to become more widely known and accepted;
it seems that Owen shifted his position somewhat. The London Review
(1866) published a "communication" from him in which, although he
denied the Darwinian doctrine, he admitted the accuracy of its
basis, claiming to have been the first to have pointed out the truth
of the principle on which it was founded.
HTH,
Juan Carlos Garelli, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Early Development
University of Buenos Aires
The Atachment Research Center Home Page URL is:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/3041
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:11>From WirtAtmar@aol.com Mon Mar 3 23:32:55 1997
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 00:32:31 -0500 (EST)
From: WirtAtmar@aol.com
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu, Kim.Sterelny@vuw.ac.nz
Subject: Re: a question on Owen
Kim Sterelny writes:
>I seem to recall Owen as having once proposed that the human
>species be recognised as a separate phylum in recognition of our cognitive
>distance from all the other animals.
I do not know if Owen ever proposed such an idea, but Julian Huxley certainly
did. My only reservation in answering your question more authoritatively is
that I am no longer sure whether Huxley proposed that man be placed in a new
kingdom, to be named Psychozoa, or whether he merely proposed Psychozoa as a
grade level, a concept that is currently out of fashion in systematics.
Mayr commonly refers to Huxley's proposal in his various writings (e.g., in
"The Growth of Biological Thought", 1988, p. 240 and in "Toward a New
Philosophy of Biology", 1988, p. 281) as that of placing man in the Kingdom
Psychozoa. While I have access to most of Huxley's writings, there is one
essay that I have unfortunately never seen (and which remains on my "to do"
list). If Mayr is correct, I would strongly suspect that Huxley's proposal,
as Mayr reports it, would appear in "The Uniqueness of Man," an essay Huxley
published in 1940.
It is important to understand Huxley's place in evolutionary biology in order
to understand his motivations. Mayr has credited Huxley with being the
primary motivating force in the change from the typological (essentialist)
thinking to the populational views that are characteristic of the modern
synthesis. Huxley saw virtually all species populations as being polytypic --
and introduced words such as "cline" and "isophene" into population biology.
But perhaps more importantly, Huxley was unabashed in his view of evolution
as a creative, progressive process -- a view he shared to some significant
degree with all of the other primary architects of the modern synthesis
(Mayr, Rensch, Simpson, Haldane, and Dobzansky), although he was more
outspoken on this subject than most. Rensch, Simpson and especially Huxley
wanted to see anagenesis (evolutionary progressions in design) represented in
whatever systematic classificatory system that was to be adopted -- in
contrast to a more simple cladogenetic (grouped by commonality of descent)
systematics. I've enclosed a bit of Huxley's text at the end of this posting,
and his views on such a systematics are quite evident.
Clearly, Psychozoa, as a separate kingdom, does not exist in anyone's
textbooks. Undoubtedly, a portion of the reason for its absence is simply
political, political in the sense of public relations. On one hand, no
biologist takes lightly his or her responsibility to insure that the lay
public accurately understand the historical, evolutionary relationship that
places man in the natural world. But on the other, most of us could quite
easily and eloquently argue the appropriateness of the classification, on
mere technical grounds alone.
While the differences between humanity and all other Metazoa can be
characterized as differences only of degree, especially if each difference is
taken separately and analyzed piecemeal, the collective differences that
exist between humanity and the remainder of Animalia are clearly profound. No
other species exchanges so much information with such complex utterances, or
possesses a memory so long, or so dominates and so transforms its environs.
Nor does any other species see the world in so an extremely elaborate and
subtle manner as humanity has come to see it, with so conscious an awareness
of self, with such deep sense of spirituality and religion, or with such a
sense of impending mortality. Nor has any other naturally evolved species
ever "sensed" the extraordinary intracacies of nature, "felt" a subatomic
particle, or abstracted the natural history of the world into a mathematics.
Sentience is a quality not to be lightly dismissed. As of now, as far as we
know, we are its sole representative in all of the universe.
Of the three qualities of nature that characterize life (mass, energy, and
information), information is the attribute most characteristic of life.
Indeed, Manfred Eigen has argued that information does not exist in the
inanimate universe, absent of life. Rather, information is a quality that
defines life, and is itself defined by life. In that regard, the evolution of
cooperative, task-partitioning multicellularity, as an informational schema,
was a qualitative change in grade so great that the creation of three new
kingdoms (Animalia, Plantae, and Fungi) is warranted in anyone's taxonomy.
The obvious fact that one of these kingdoms has now fostered the evolution of
a sentience so complete that as S. J. Gould likes to say, "Humanity is
evolution contemplating itself," is sufficient to potentially demand the
establishment of a new kingdom: Psychozoa. Human evolution no longer proceeds
primarily through organic modification, but culturally, as the "evolution of
the superorganic," as Alfred Kroeber, the early 20th Century anthropologist,
has termed the process, and is more indicative yet of the nature of the
profound change in informational grade that has occurred. Having been
decoupled from the demands of organic evolution, human evolution is
proceeding at an extraordinary pace. We are not the same organism we were
10,000 years ago -- or even a 100 years ago.
Julian Huxley was wont to measure "evolutionary progress" as a measure of the
disconnectance of the phyletic lineage from its environment. In that regard,
a homeothermic mammal is a reptile wrapped in warm space-suit, self-heated,
and far better isolated from the vagaries of its environment than any
ancestral reptile, and is thus allowed to exploit novel adaptive zones that
would be otherwise forbidden. Simpson, Rensch and Huxley visualized
evolutionary anagenesis as a series of plateaus, plateaus with the tracks of
cladogenesis written across them. Cladogenetic branching does not stop once
evolution has settled on a flat plateau; cladogenesis (branches that form due
to a lack of genetic communication) is actually more a function of mere time
than progress. But every once and a while, some progress is made in some
clade and some part of the cladogenetic tracks rise to another level -- and
presumably more isolates yet again that phyletic lineage from its
environment. By that measure of Huxley's alone, humanity stands unique.
Three primary schools of thought have arisen on how best to approach the
classificatory process: phenetics, cladistics, and evolutionary taxonomy.
Clearly, cladistics now dominates, and for a very straightforward set of
reasons: it is a simple procedure, one that is only marginally subjective,
and is practicable for both extant and extinct taxa. But cladistics -- by
itself -- is relatively informationally sterile. Indeed, the features chosen
by the cladist must, by necessity, be selectively unimportant. If they were
not, the cladistic process would be greatly confused by the recurrent
convergent evolution of a feature or its selective elimination from successor
lineages.
Mayr writes: "As Rensch, Huxley, and others have emphasized, the anagenetic
component of evolution often leads to the development of definite 'grades,'
or levels of evolutionary change, which must receive recognition in
classification. The objection raised by the cladists that this would
introduce subjectivity into classification has been rejected by the
evolutionary taxonomist with two arguments. The first is that cladistic
method likewise is replete with subjectivity owing to decision making as to
the polarity of evolutionary change, owing to mosaic evolution, and owing to
decisions concerning evolutionary parallelism (Hull, 1979). The second
counterargument is that in most cases it is not too difficult to calculate an
approximate ratio between autapomorphies and synapomorphies of two sister
groups. Whenever a clade (a phyletic lineage) has entered a new adaptive
zone, resulting in a drastic reorganization, the transformation may have to
be given greater taxonomic weight than the proximity of joint ancestry. The
particular importance of the autapomorphies is that they reflect the
occupation of new niches and new adaptive zones, which often are of far
greater biological significance than the cladistic synapomorphies" (Mayr,
1982, "Growth of Biological Thought" p. 234).
In the text immediately below however, Huxley recapitulates all of the
arguments above but only suggests the name, Psychozoa, not as a kingdom, but
as a grade label:
==================================
"Biological classification aims at reflecting the facts of biological
evolution. It is often assumed by zoologists that it does so by
distinguishing groups accroding to their ancestry. Each taxonomic group,
according to this view, is distinguishable because it is descended from one
ancestral lineage. Thus, all species of weasels and stoats are pigenholed
together in the genus >Mustela< because they are all descended from a single
weasel-like ancestor; all families of carnivores are pigeon-holed in the
order Carnivora because even such divergent creatures as seals, tigers,
bears, and weasels are all descended from a single proto-carnivore lineage;
all orders of mammals in the class Mammalia because their universal
possession of hair, milk, and warm-blood is only comprehensible if they are
all descended from a single proto-mammalian lineage with those properties.
"Recently, however, it is becoming apparent that these taxonomic assumptions
are fully valid only for a classification concerned with evolutionary
divergence. Others are needed for a classification which also takes account
of evolutionary advance. Thus G. G. Simpson in his >Meaning of Evolution<
states that the latest and dominant group of bony fish 'called Teleostei in
formal classification', is 'apparently a structural (and functional) grade'
independently evolved by several lines; and this parallel evolution of
improvements appears to be a common feature in smaller-scale deployments,
like that of the horse family (Equidae).
"Actually, the idea of a common grade of improvement in place or in addition
to that of a common ancestry is implicit in much taxonomic practice. Thus
from the strict common-ancestry point of view, birds and mammals are parts of
the great reptilian radiation, and should be classed as orders on a par with
other reptilian orders like Crocodiles or Dinosaurs. However, they both
developed such outstanding improvements in general organization that they
became new dominant groups more varied and more abundant than any reptilian
order -- the birds primarily in the air and the mammals primarily on the
land. For this reason, they are called classes, with new orders as their
major subdivisions. Both are actually monophyletic groups; but whereas this
fact of common ancestry is the basis of our classification of other products
of reptilian radiation, in their case the decisive factor is advance to a new
level of organization. >Aves< and >Mammalia< are grade labels as well as
ancestry labels.
"Sometimes, indeed, our taxonomy designates only grades. This would be so for
teleost fish is Simpson's views are confirmed. It was once so for the
subkingdom Metazoa, originally intended to cover all multicellular animals.
Later, however, when it became clear that sponges had evolved independently
to the multicellular level, the zealots for ancestry classification placed
them in a new subkingdom, the Parazoa, leaving Metazoa as a combined grade
and ancestry label for the rest of the multicellular animals.
"I personally would like to see a new, evolutionary classification, which
would combine the advance and ancestry principles. We would then have
>groups< (Note 1) of common ancestry -- classes, orders, and other familiar
designations, and >grades< of advance (advance sometimes independently
achieved, sometimes in common), for which new designations would be needed.
Thus, Birds and Mammals would continue to rank as two classes, but would be
included in a single grade, which might be call >Homotherma<, since
temperature regulation is their diagnostic improvement. Other obvious grade
lables for Vertebrates would include terms already in use, such as
>Gnathostomata< for forms with jaws, >Tetrapoda< for those with walking
limbs, and >Amniota< for those with a protective 'private pond' for the
embryo. I would hope that Metazoa would be restored to its original use as a
grade label, and that Man would be placed in a new major grade, which might
be called >Psychozoa< (J. S. Huxley, 1955. "Evolution, cultural and
biological," Yearbook of Anthropology, reprinted in Huxley, 1957, "New
bottles for New Wine," pp. 61-92).
(Note 1) >Clades<, from the Greek for branches, is perhaps preferable, as
more precise.
===================================
Wirt Atmar
atmar@fmnh.org
wirtatmar@aol.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:12>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Fri Mar 7 21:23:10 1997
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 1997 22:22:59 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: Course on conservation of collections (fwd)
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
--begin forwarded message--------------
NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS COURSE
Conservation of Natural Science Materials
5 week course 7th July - 8th August
Certificate in the Care and Conservation of Natural Science Materials
Venue: The Conservation Unit, Department of Earth Sciences, University of
Cambridge
Natural Science Collections contain a wide variety of materials of both
inorganic and organic origin which are of educational, scientific and
economic value. The management and conservation of natural science
collections is vitally important to the safe-guarding of this important
resource. Natural Science Materials are also found in other areas. These
include ethnography, stone, or textiles collections. This courses will
therefore appeal to conservators working with similar materials in other
collections, such as ethnographic and archaeological conservators. to
people responsible for the care of natural science collections, as well
as existing natural science conservators.
This 5 week course will cover natural science materials from a modern
conservation perspective. It will discuss their treatments in light of
approaches to similar materials in other areas of conservation and
will also look at traditional methods of preparing and conserving
this material.
The course will cover the chemistry of these materials, control
of deterioration (from both a passive and an active perspective) and
collections maintenance.
People who complete the course will have a solid overview of the factors
which cause the deterioration of natural science materials and how these
collections are maintained and conservation problems can be resolved.
The course will include a large element of hands-on conservation relating
to natural science materials.
It is possible to arrange for individuals to take portions of the
course. If you are interested in this then please contact Chris Collins
at the address below.
Course Details:
Number of places on course: 10 - 12
Costs will cover all tuition fees, the course manual, site visits, tea
and coffee. Lunch will be provided at a small extra cost if desired.
Course Cost GBP 1100
Accommodation will be arranged separately depending on participants
requirements. It is hoped that college accommodation will be available
at a reduced rate.
Course Structure
Week 1 Preventive Conservation for Natural History Collections
Introduction to Course
Introduction to materials
Inorganic
Organic
Agents of deterioration
Value and Understanding of Materials
Ethics and Documentation
Legal problems
Site Conservation and Collecting
Surveying Collections
Environmental Monitoring and Control
Pest control and Monitoring
Environmental Control
Micro-environments
Storage Techniques
storage materials
practical problems and solutions
Anoxic Storage
standards in the care of collections
Week 2 - 3 Material Science
Starting with whole object
status and information of object
material science of object
preparation of material (and affects on original object)
deterioration mechanisms
Investigative techniques
Chemistry and physics of Colour
Oxygen in the environment
Water in the environment
Identification of deterioration
organic
inorganic
Week 4-5 Conservation and Preparation Methodology
Conservation Methodology
Taking Practical Examples
Traditional Techniques of Preparation
Taxidermy, preparation and display of skins
geological preparation
entomological preparation
botanical preparation techniques
casting and moulding techniques
Conservation Project
Paper chemistry
Techniques in conservation of paper
Problems. treatments and solutions
de-acidification
mineral oxidation and hydration
cleaning
Resins and Adhesives
=============
Chris Collins
Geological Conservation Unit
Dept. of Earth Sciences
University of Cambridge
Madingley Rise, Madingley Road
Cambridge. CB3 OEZ
tel: +44 1223 362522 fax: +44 1223 366860
--end forwarded message----------------
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:13>From jennings@sfu.ca Fri Mar 7 12:50:14 1997
From: Ray Jennings <jennings@sfu.ca>
Subject: Re: Intro of new subscriber
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 10:49:24 -0800 (PST)
Hi:
I am just finishing a book manuscript called "The Descent of Logic" which
attempts to explain how connective meanings evolve from physical meanings,
and how distinct logical meanings proliferate. The explanations depend upon
the application of the vocabulary of species, mutation and so on, and seem
to explain the data. I'd be happy to supply more details if it would be of
any interest to you.
R. E. Jennings,
Department of Philosophy,
Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, British Columbia,
Canada V5A 1S6
(jennings@sfu.ca)
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:14>From jch@orl.co.uk Wed Mar 5 12:42:53 1997
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 18:42:33 +0000
From: Jeremy Henty <jch@orl.co.uk>
Organization: The Olivetti and Oracle Research Laboratory
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: a question on Owen
Juan Carlos Garelli <John@attach.edu.ar> wrote:
> As Darwin's thesis began to become more widely known and accepted;
> it seems that Owen shifted his position somewhat. The London Review
> (1866) published a "communication" from him in which, although he
> denied the Darwinian doctrine, he admitted the accuracy of its
> basis, claiming to have been the first to have pointed out the truth
> of the principle on which it was founded.
Can you, or someone else, clarify this a little? What distinction did
Owen draw between "the Darwinian doctrine", "its basis" and "the truth
of the principle on which it was founded"?
Jeremy Henty (mailto:jch@orl.co.uk)
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:15>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Sat Mar 8 00:40:16 1997
Date: Sat, 08 Mar 1997 01:40:10 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: March 8 -- Today in the Historical Sciences
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
MARCH 8 -- TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES
1841: OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, JR., born at Boston, Massachusetts. In his
college years at Harvard he will join the circle of Chauncey Wright, Charles
Sanders Peirce, and William James, and under the influence of Darwinian
thought this group will give birth to the school of philosophy that will come
to be known as Pragmatism. Later, Holmes will become an associate justice of
the United States Supreme Court, and will author many influential texts on
jurisprudence that reflect his historical perspective, including _The Common
Law_ (1881): "The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience.
The felt necessities of the time, the prevalent moral and political theories,
intuitions of public policy, avowed or unconscious, even the prejudices which
judges share with their fellow-men, have had a good deal more to do than the
syllogism in determining the rules by which men should be governed. The law
embodies the story of a nation's development through many centuries, and it
cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a
book of mathematics. In order to know what it is, we must know what it has
been, and what it tends to become. We must alternately consult history and
existing theories of legislation....In Massachusetts to-day, while, on the one
hand, there are a great many rules which are quite sufficiently accounted for
by their manifest good sense, on the other, there are some which can only be
understood by reference to the infancy of procedure among German tribes, or
to the social condition of Rome under the Decemvirs."
Today in the Historical Sciences is a feature of Darwin-L, an international
network discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.
Send the message INFO DARWIN-L to listserv@raven.cc.ukans.edu or connect to
the Darwin-L Web Server <http://rjohara.uncg.edu> for more information.
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:16>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Mon Mar 10 00:10:15 1997
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 01:10:07 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: March 10 -- Today in the Historical Sciences
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
MARCH 10 -- TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES
1748: JOHN PLAYFAIR, mathematician and geologist, is born at Benvie, Scotland.
Playfair will serve for several years in the ministry as a young man, and will
later become professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. For
many years he will edit the _Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_,
where his friend James Hutton will first publish his cyclical theory of the
earth in 1785. After Hutton's death in 1797, Playfair will devote himself to
the extension and clarification of Hutton's work, and his _Illustrations of
the Huttonian Theory of the Earth_ (Edinburgh, 1802) will deeply influence the
later work of Charles Lyell. Like Hutton, Playfair will give great weight to
the existence of stratigraphic unconformities as indicators of the great age
of the earth, and in his biographical sketch of Hutton he will describe an
expedition the two of them made with Sir James Hall to Siccar Point on the
coast of Scotland, where deformed and uplifted Silurian slates are overlain by
nearly horizontal beds of Devonian Old Red Sandstone. Playfair's account of
the trip will go down as one of the most famous field reports in the history
of geology: "On us who saw these phenomena for the first time, the impression
made will not easily be forgotten. The palpable evidence presented to us, of
one of the most extraordinary and important facts in the natural history of
the earth, gave a reality and substance to those theoretical speculations
which, however probable, had never till now been directly authenticated by the
testimony of the senses. We often said to ourselves, what clearer evidence
could we have had of the different formation of these rocks, and of the long
interval which separated their formation, had we actually seen them emerging
from the bosom of the deep? We felt ourselves necessarily carried back to the
time when the schistus on which we stood was yet at the bottom of the sea, and
when the sandstone before us was only beginning to be deposited (in the shape
of sand or mud) from the waters of a superincumbent ocean. An epocha still
more remote presented itself, when even the most ancient of these rocks,
instead of standing upright in vertical beds, lay in horizontal planes at the
bottom of the sea and was not yet disturbed by that immeasurable force which
has burst asunder the solid pavement of the globe. Revolutions still more
remote appeared in the distance of this extraordinary perspective. The mind
seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time; and while we
listened with earnestness and admiration to the philosopher who was now
unfolding to us the order and series of these wonderful events, we became
sensible how much farther reason may sometimes go than imagination can
venture to follow."
Today in the Historical Sciences is a feature of Darwin-L, an international
network discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.
Send the message INFO DARWIN-L to listserv@raven.cc.ukans.edu or connect to
the Darwin-L Web Server <http://rjohara.uncg.edu> for more information.
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:17>From ronald@hawaii.edu Sat Mar 8 03:59:36 1997
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 23:59:19 -1000
From: Ron Amundson <ronald@hawaii.edu>
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: a question on Owen
On Wed, 5 Mar 1997, Jeremy Henty wrote:
> Juan Carlos Garelli <John@attach.edu.ar> wrote:
> >
> > As Darwin's thesis began to become more widely known and accepted;
> > it seems that Owen shifted his position somewhat. The London Review
> > (1866) published a "communication" from him in which, although he
> > denied the Darwinian doctrine, he admitted the accuracy of its
> > basis, claiming to have been the first to have pointed out the truth
> > of the principle on which it was founded.
>
> Can you, or someone else, clarify this a little? What distinction did
> Owen draw between "the Darwinian doctrine", "its basis" and "the truth
> of the principle on which it was founded"?
>
> Jeremy Henty (mailto:jch@orl.co.uk)
I'm not sure what Juan intended by the distinction between the doctrine
and its basis, but I think the allusion to "claiming to be the first to
have pointed out the truth of the principle" refers to the very widespread
mythology that Owen had claimed priority of discovery of the principle of
natural selection. Here's the (revealing) story, taken from Rupke
(previously cited) p. 246-7. 1) A popular journal reported about an
earlier Owen paper that it had partially assented to the principle of nat.
sel.
2) Owen wrote a letter to the London Review (the one Juan cites) in which
he pointed out that the opinions (about extinctions) which had made the
popular journal think he was an advocate of natural selection were
actually _not_ advocating any such thing, and moreover those opinions
(about extinctions) had been expressed by him (Owen) as early as 1850. So
(ironically) if he _did_ concur with nat. sel. on the basis of those
opinions (which he had not) then he would have held the theory of nat.
sel. in 1850, and Darwin himself would have "adopted" his (Owens) views.
This, of course, was all a somewhat obscurely jokey way of saying that
Owen had _not_ assented to nat. sel. at all, and that the statement that
he _had_ done so did not understand what the differences were between his
and Darwin's theories.
3) Darwin, no friend of Owen's (any more, anyhow), misinterpreted this
pompous wisecrack, and stated in the 4th ed. of the Origin that Owen had
claimed priority. (I think this is the same edition in which he finally
conceded that Owen had not been a creationist, as Darwin had implied in
ithe 1st ed.) Such historians as MacLeod, Moore, and Ruse have attributed
the priority claim to Owen, and no one up until Rupke (accd. to Rupke) had
checked the original sources to discover the misunderstanding. This is
not the only example of Darwin's mistaken interpretations of Owen being
carried into the 20th century -- Darwin's opinion that Owen had been a
creationist survived until fairly recently, and was the basis of Hoyle's
ridiculous charge that Archeaeopterus was faked.
There are plenty of other reports of Owen's smallmindedness (e.g. his
claim of priority to von Baer's laws of embryogenesis), and I do not doubt
that he was not warm and cuddly. But he was not Bishop "Soapy Sam"
Wilberforce, as many of our histories would depict him. Nor, for that
matter, was Bishop Wilberforce.
It's the winners who write the histories.
Ron
__
Ron Amundson
University of Hawaii at Hilo
ronald@Hawaii.Edu
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:18>From jsl@rockvax.rockefeller.edu Sat Mar 8 23:54:43 1997
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: a question on Owen ; "Man is a man-made species!" --
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 1997 00:54:37 EST
From: Joshua Lederberg <jsl@rockvax.rockefeller.edu>
<<<
Anyone want to go for a separate state of matter:
Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Man?
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 22:26:50 -1000
From: Ron Amundson <ronald@hawaii.edu>
>>>>
Theilhard de Chardin and Julian Huxley more or less did do
that in their classification of
chemosphere
biosphere
noo"sphere
I heard this from Huxley at:
Wolstenholme G. (Ed.) Man and His Future
Ciba Found. Sym. 1962, 263-273. London
publ:
J. A. Churchill Ltd. London; Little Brown Co. Boston (1963)
While I'm on the topic, can anyone fill me in on the provenience
of the aphorism that "Man is a man-made species!" --
perhaps Marx, Kroeber, or Whyte??
cf:
214. Lederberg, J., 1973.
The genetics of human nature.
Social Res. 40:375-406.
Reply-to: (J. Lederberg)lederberg@rockvax.rockefeller.edu
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:19>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Mon Mar 10 21:45:18 1997
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 22:45:05 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: Conjecture about Owen
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
I've long had a conjecture about Owen's supposed crankiness. If you look
at photographs of him in his later years he seems very clearly to have
protruding eyeballs, a common symptom of hyperthyroidism which often makes
people somewhat irritable and jumpy. I wouldn't be surprised if Owen was
hyperthyroid later in life and that that contributed to his difficult
personality.
Bob O'Hara (darwin@iris.uncg.edu)
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:20>From VISLYONS@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Mon Mar 10 19:54:16 1997
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 20:54:00 -0500 (EST)
From: VISLYONS@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
Subject: Re: a question on Owen
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University at Buffalo
A bit more on Owen and on classification
Thomas Huxley has a nice overview of the history of the classification of
humans in the first chapter of Man's Place in Nature
Ron is right that history is written by the winners, but in the case of
Owen it is partly his own fault. According to Jacob Gruber who worked
extensively on the Owen correspoondence, crucial letterts around the time of
the publication of The Origin to people such as the Duke of Argyl and
Wilberforce are missing. Gruber thinks they were pulled either by Owen or his
grandson. This guaranteed that history would in fact be written by the pro
Darwinian forces since other evidence has been destroyed. How ironic.
Sherrie Lyons
slyons@daemen.edu
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:21>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Wed Mar 12 00:16:27 1997
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 01:16:11 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: March 12 -- Today in the Historical Sciences
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
MARCH 12 -- TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES
1626: JOHN AUBREY is born at Easton Pierse, Wiltshire, England. Following
study at Trinity College, Oxford, where his interest in antiquities will be
kindled, Aubrey will inherit a considerable fortune from his father, but he
will manage his affairs poorly and live extravagantly, and will be reduced
to poverty within a few years. His cheerful disposition will win him many
patrons, however, and his continuing and ever expanding interest in British
antiquities will earn him a patent from the Crown giving him the right to make
antiquarian surveys anywhere in Britain. His careful studies of the ancient
monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury will serve as exemplars for future
antiquarian investigators, and although he will formally publish almost
nothing during his lifetime, he will leave behind a great quantity of
influential manuscript material, including _Monumenta Britannica_, _Remains
of Gentilism and Judaism_, and also the _Essay Towards the Description of
the North Division of Wiltshire_ (1659): "Let us imagine then what kind of
countrie this was in the time of the ancient Britons. By the nature of the
soil, which is a sour woodsere land, very natural for the production of oakes
especially, one may conclude that this North Division was a shady dismal wood:
and the inhabitants almost as savage as the beasts whose skins were their only
rayment. The language British, which for the honour of it was in those dayes
spoken from the Orcades to Italie and Spain. The boats on the Avon (which
signifies River) were basketts of twigges covered with an oxe skin: which the
poore people in Wales use to this day. They call them _curricles_. Within
this shire I believe that there were several _Reguli_ which often made war
upon another: and the great ditches which run on in the plaines and elsewhere
so many miles (not unlikely) their boundaries: and withall served for defence
against the incursions of their enemies, as the Pict's wall, Offa's ditch: and
that in China, to compare things small to great. Their religion is at large
described by Caesar. Their priests were druids. Some of their temples
I pretend to have restored, as Avebury, Stonehenge, &c., as also British
sepulchres. Their waie of fighting is lively sett down by Caesar. Their
camps with their way of meeting their antagonists I have sett down in another
place. They knew the use of iron. They were two or three degrees, I suppose,
less savage than the Americans."
1784: WILLIAM BUCKLAND is born at Axminster in Devonshire, England. Buckland
will study at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and will eventually become
Oxford's first Professor of Geology, the Dean of Westminster, and twice the
president of the Geological Society of London. Among his many publications
will be _Reliquiae diluvianae; or, observations on the organic remains
contined in caves, fissures, and diluvial gravel, and on other geological
phenomena, attesting to the action of an universal deluge_ (London, 1823).
Visitors to his Oxford rooms will often remember the scene long after:
Here see the wrecks of beasts and fishes
With broken saucers, cups and dishes;
The prae-Adamic systems jumbled,
With Sublapsaria brecchia tumbled,
And post-Noachian bears and flounders,
With heads of crocodiles and flounders;
Skins wanting bones, bones wanting skins,
And various blocks to break your shins...
The sage amidst the chaos stands
Contemplative, with laden hands,
This, grasping tight his bread and butter,
And that a flint, whilst he doth utter
Strange sentences that seem to say; --
'I see it all as clear as day....'
His eye in a fine frenzy rolling,
He thus around the fragments strolling,
Still entertains a fond illusion
That all the strata's strange confusion
He shall explain beyond conjecture,
And clear in the ensuing lecture.
Today in the Historical Sciences is a feature of Darwin-L, an international
network discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.
Send the message INFO DARWIN-L to listserv@raven.cc.ukans.edu or connect to
the Darwin-L Web Server <http://rjohara.uncg.edu> for more information.
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:22>From HANSS@sepa.tudelft.nl Tue Mar 11 07:15:49 1997
From: "Hans-Cees Speel" <HANSS@sepa.tudelft.nl>
Organization: TU Delft
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 14:16:15 MET
Subject: who is Jean Rostand?
Dear Darwinners,
in Francois Jacob's 'The Possible and the Actual', my signature 'theories come
and go, the frog remains', is stated.
However, Jacob gives the origin as Jean Rostand's 'Notes of a
Biologist', but then he doesn't put it in the reference list. Who was
Jean Rostand? Was the phrase original to him?
Who knows this?
greetings,
Hans-Cees
Theories come and go, the frog stays [F. Jacob]
-------------------------------------------------------
MY WWW ADRESS HAS CHANGED WITH ALL MY PAGES TO:
http://www.sepa.tudelft.nl/webstaf/hanss/hanss.htm evolution and memetics!
|Hans-Cees Speel School of Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and management
|Technical Univ. Delft, Jaffalaan 5 2600 GA Delft PO Box 5015 The Netherlands
|telephone +3115785776 telefax +3115783422 E-mail hanss@sepa.tudelft.nl
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:23>From sarich@qal.Berkeley.EDU Tue Mar 11 17:12:38 1997
From: Prof Vince Sarich <sarich@qal.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 15:12:33 -0800 (PST)
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Lederberg request
With respect to Dr Lederberg's request, I don't have a source for the exact
quote he provided, but I do have a more contemporary example in the same vein,
and from someone with the same ideology. Barry Schwartz, who is, I believe,
a psych professor at Swarthmore, wrote in his The Battle for Human Nature:
Science, Morality, and Modern Life:
But it is just as important to understand that the modern world is this way
because we, not God or Darwin, have made it this way.
--------
If anyone wants the page, I need to scrounge through my disorganized electro-
nic notes to find it.
Vincent Sarich
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:24>From Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com Tue Mar 11 11:35:39 1997
From: "Izzy (Israel) Cohen" <Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com>
To: DARWIN-L list <DARWIN-L@RAVEN.CC.UKANS.EDU>
Subject: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 97 19:35:00 PST
forwarded by Israel Cohen
izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com
----------
From: newjour-owner
To: ;@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Subject: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Date: Tuesday, 11 March 1997 03:03AM
From: james <jrenfro@seas.upenn.edu>
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
http://www.hbuk.co.uk/ap/journals/zj/
This online version of the print journal of the same name is published by
Academic Press, Inc. through a program titled IDEAL (International Digital
Electronic Access Library). The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
publishes original papers on zoology with an emphasis on the diversity,
systematics, diversity, interrelationships, and evolution of animals both
living and extinct. However, papers in other areas of zoology with
implications for systematics and evolution are also welcome. It is
intended to publish occassional invitedrevies and, within the areas
covered by the journal, the submission of reviews and review-type articles
are encouraged. This important, long-established, and respected forum has
a wide circulation among zoologists, and while narrowly specialized papers
are not automatically excluded, the editor fosters submissions that bear
this broad readership in mind.
Research Areas Include:
Systematics
Comparative anatomy
Functional zoology
Ecology
Behavior
Zoogeography
Some articles appearing in the October 1996 issue of the Journal include:
'Evidence of brain-warming in the mobulid rays, Mobula tarapacana and
Manta birostris (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii: Batoidea:
Myliobatiformes)', 'A phylogenetic reanalysis of allozyme variation among
populations of Galapagos finches', and 'Origin of the inland Acari of
Continental Antarctica, with particular reference to Dronning Maud Land'.
Subscription to this electronic journal involves licensing agreements with
academic and industrial networks or consortia of libraries and can not be
done on a personal or even title by title basis. However, the table of
contents and article abstracts for each issue are available online
free-of-charge. Articles are provided to members of subscriber
institutions in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format.
ISSN 0024-4082
Editor: J.P. Thorpe
Email: apsubs@acad.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:25>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Fri Mar 14 12:16:33 1997
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 13:14:45 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: March 14 -- Today in the Historical Sciences
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
MARCH 14 -- TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES
1793: KARL (KONRAD FRIEDRICH WILHELM) LACHMANN is born at Braunschweig,
Germany. Lachmann will serve for most of his career as professor of philology
at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, where he will codify the principles
of modern textual criticism. From study of the many extant manuscripts of
Lucretius's _De Rerum Natura_, Lachmann will publish in 1850 a reconstruction
of the state of the ancestral manuscript from which they all had been copied,
calculating even the number of pages in the lost ancestor and how many lines
it had on each page. His work will establish a school of historical text
criticism that will profoundly influence Classical scholarship for the
remainder of the nineteenth century.
Today in the Historical Sciences is a feature of Darwin-L, an international
network discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.
Send the message INFO DARWIN-L to listserv@raven.cc.ukans.edu or connect to
the Darwin-L Web Server <http://rjohara.uncg.edu> for more information.
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:26>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Sun Mar 16 16:29:18 1997
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 17:29:09 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: Museums and the Web papers (fwd)
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
--begin forwarded message--------------
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 15:13:56 -0500
From: "J. Trant" <jtrant@ARCHIMUSE.COM>
To: MUSEUM-L@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM
Apologies for cross-posting; please forward as appropriate.
*** Museums and the Web: Conference Pre-Prints Available ***
Preprints of submitted papers for the Museums and the Web Conference, Los
Angeles, California, March 16-19, 1997 are now available on the conference
web site:
www.archimuse.com/mw97
Selected papers will be published by Archives & Museum Informatics, in a
monograph to be released May 1 1997. A special prepublication price is
being offered: use the order form accessible from
www.archimuse.com/pub.html
*** Conference Reminder ***
Wednesday March 12, 1997 is the last date for advance registration. Save
your self some time at the registration desk by faxing your registration
form to +1 412 683 7366.
After Wednesday, new registrations will be taken on-site. See you in Los
Angeles!
jennifer
--------
J. Trant jtrant@archimuse.com
Partner and Principal Consultant www.archimuse.com
Archives & Museums Informatics
5501 Walnut St., Suite 203 ph. + 1-412-683-9775
Pittsburgh, PA USA 15232-1455 fax + 1-412-683-7366
--------
--end forwarded message----------------
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:27>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Sun Mar 16 16:40:10 1997
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 17:32:21 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: "Iter <something>" -- "Journey to where we are"
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
I have a typical scholar's problem that I hope a Darwin-L colleague might be
able to help me with. Several months ago I came across an interesting paper
in the library and said to myself, "Hmm, I'll have to come back and copy
this sometime. No need to write it down; I'll remember the citation." And
of course I did not. I don't really expect anyone to actually come up with
the citation, so fragmentary is my recollection, but perhaps someone can
identify the concept that was being discussed.
The paper was about a narrative genre which was termed, in Latin, "Iter
<something>", meaning "Journey to where we are", or "How we got to where we
are now." The concept wasn't necessarily construed geographically; it might
refer to a history that tells how "we" got to where we are at this point
in time. The important point was that the narrative wasn't a comprehensive
history or geography, but rather just a point-to-point story from where
we were to where we are.
Does this particular concept ring any bells with anyone? Is the particular
term "Iter <something>" known as a distinctive label for this genre? I will
welcome any suggestions.
Bob O'Hara, Darwin-L list owner
Robert J. O'Hara (darwin@iris.uncg.edu) |
Cornelia Strong College, 100 Foust Building | http://rjohara.uncg.edu
University of North Carolina at Greensboro | http://strong.uncg.edu
Greensboro, North Carolina 27412 U.S.A. |
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:28>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Sun Mar 16 16:40:20 1997
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 17:23:34 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: March 16 -- Today in the Historical Sciences
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
MARCH 16 -- TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES
1794: AMI BOUE is born at Hamburg, Germany. The son of a shipbuilder, Boue
will be orphaned at the age of eleven and will be raised by relatives in
France and Switzerland. After receiving an inheritance at the age of twenty,
he will emigrate to Scotland where he will study medicine at the University of
Edinburgh. Under the influence of Robert Jamieson, Boue's interests will turn
to botany and especially geology, and after returning to the Continent he will
travel extensively making geological observations. His _Essai geologique sur
l'Ecosse_ will appear in 1820, and his _Geognotisches Gemalde von Deutschland_
will follow several years later. In 1830 he will join with a group of French
geologists to found the Societe Geologique de France, and Boue will serve as
president of that society in 1835. His comprehensive _Essai de carte
geologique du globe terrestre_ will appear in 1845, and he will retire
to Austria, where he will die, at Voslau, in 1881.
Today in the Historical Sciences is a feature of Darwin-L, an international
network discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.
Send the message INFO DARWIN-L to listserv@raven.cc.ukans.edu or connect to
the Darwin-L Web Server <http://rjohara.uncg.edu> for more information.
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:29>From PRSDRHS@UCHIMVS1.UCHICAGO.EDU Sun Mar 16 19:31:56 1997
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 97 19:17 CST
To: darwin-l@RAVEN.CC.UKANS.EDU
From: Dick Schmitt 708-848-4932 <PRSDRHS@UCHIMVS1.UCHICAGO.EDU>
Subject: Re: "Iter <something>" -- "Journey to where we are"
Perhaps the author of your article meant something more by this Latinate
terminology, but the OED admits "iter" as a word in English meaning
"journey, way, road," equivalent to "itinera" -- neither of which is
part of my daily vocabulary.
In any case, doesn't this convey the notion that history is "just one
damned thing after another," meaning a sequence. This certainly
describes one mode of narrative, indeed one that we encounter daily.
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:30>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu Mon Mar 17 22:19:56 1997
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 23:19:44 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: CFP: "Casualties of History" (fwd)
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro
--begin forwarded message--------------
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The Department of History and the Program in the History of Science
Princeton University
Graduate Student Conference
_CASUALTIES OF HISTORY: LOSERS, THE LOST, AND THE PROBLEM OF DEFEAT_
October 4-5, 1997
Keynote Speakers:
Joan Wallach Scott,
Author of _Gender and the Politics of History_, (1988)
and
Gerald L. Geison,
Author of _The Private Science of Louis Pasteur_, (1995)
All graduate students are invited to submit abstracts for papers.
Proposals are welcome from all fields of historical inquiry. Papers will
be arranged into panel discussions with commentators.
Possible topics for papers might include, but are not limited to:
-lost arts and discoveries
-historiographical sympathies
-memory, forgetting and the unconscious
-political, economic, and military defeat
-people on the margins
-victims of progress
-hidden transcripts
-wrong turns, missed opportunities, failed gods
-dissenting opinions
-silences, secrets, and interstices
Please send abstracts of 1-2 pages no later than 1 May 1997 to:
Graduate Conference
Dept of History
207 Dickinson Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544.
Direct e-mail inquiries to: ghaconf@Princeton.EDU
--end forwarded message----------------
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:31>From Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com Sat Mar 29 09:44:51 1997
From: "Izzy (Israel) Cohen" <Izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com>
To: DARWIN-L list <DARWIN-L@RAVEN.CC.UKANS.EDU>,
owner-nostratic <owner-nostratic@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu>
Subject: Re: Is Basque Nostratic?
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 97 18:44:00 PST
Excerpt from NOSTRATIC posting:
> In fact you might be talking to a half-Neanderthal here :)I'm curious,
> with the new techniques of replication and all that, has any genetic
> Neanderthal material ever been recovered from Neanderthal remains?
> studied? compared with the genetics of various modern populations?
Coexistence of multiple "human" species and
DNA comparisons between ancient and modern
man are hot topics on the following "popular science"
web site.
http://www.dealsonline.com/origins/
I don't recommend this site for professional
anthropologists or linguists, but if you want to
see what the man-in-the-street is reading on these
topics, you can visit this site.
Israel Cohen
izzy@telaviv.ndsoft.com
* * * * *
Human Origins Enews * Sign Guestbook
Welcome to the Origins of Humankind Web Site!
The Origins of Humankind is a comprehensive internet resource
for the human evolution community. This site gives you a one
stop place to efficiently locate, research, interact, and share
information.
March 8, 1997
DNA links teacher to
9,000-year-old skeleton
February 1997
New Encyclopedia Covers the
History of Physical
Anthropology
January 1997
Earliest Chinese Hominid
Mandible Is An Ape
Oldest Stone Tools Found
No "Homo erectus" at Ngandong
December 1996
Missing Link to First Writing
May Lie in Stones
Primitive and Modern Humans
May have been Neighbors
Mary Leakey Dies at Age 83
New French Neanderthal Finds
New E-Mail Address: origins@pro-am.com
New Web Sites:
Physical Anthropology Newsletter
Human Prehistory: An Exhibition
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:32>From YTL@vms.huji.ac.il Sun Mar 30 22:46:08 1997
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 97 7:44 +0300
From: <YTL@vms.huji.ac.il>
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Neanderthal Music
I have just read an interesting story in the April issue of *Discover*. (As a
medievalist, I must rely on magazines such as Discover and Scientific American
in my effort to keep informed.) The story relates the discovery by a German
paleontologist, Oscar Todkopf, of a mastodon tusk with carefully aligned
holes, leading him to conclude that it served as a musical instrument. Other
instruments were also found, as well as a cave painting which is said to
depict Neanderthal musicians and even display what may be musical notation.
The story reports as well that a pre-human flute has recently been found in
SLovenia as well.
My intuitive reaction is that this must somehow impinge on notions of
evolution, especially the evolution of language. Is musical expression a
language? What are the implications of the possibility that proto-humans
developed musical expression and even notation before humans developed a
written language? This story has stimulated some of my irrepressible
Pythagorean tendencies.
Tzvi Langermann
ytl@vms.huji.ac.il
_______________________________________________________________________________
<43:33>From GBRansom@aol.com Mon Mar 31 23:13:51 1997
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 00:13:47 -0500 (EST)
From: GBRansom@aol.com
To: darwin-l@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: ANNOUNCING -- A New E-List on the Writing of Friedrich A. Hayek
ANNOUNCING -- Hayek-L on listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu
HAYEK-L@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU is an international network for the
discussion of the ideas of Friedrich A. Hayek. Hayek-L is
intended as a resource for scholars and others doing research
connected to the contributions of Friedrich Hayek. Hayek's
work on the problems of the relations between theory and history
in the social sciences is among the most frequently cited on
this topic in this century. Hayek is also well known for producing
some of the most reliable and sophisticated interdisciplinary
writings in the literature on the difficult problems of the relations
of neuroscience to social theory, and on the history of evolutionary
thinking in the social sciences. Hayek's own controversial work
on the historical nature of social institutions and the selective
elements which shape their evolution has in recent years become
the topic of an extensive debate in social science circles. Among
Hayek's well know works on these topics are his _Law, Legislation,
and Liberty_, and his _The Counter-Revolution of Science_, along
with a number of the essays collected in his _Individualism and
Economic Order_, and in his _Studies in Philosophy (etc.) and his
_New Studied in Philosophy (etc).
The basic purpose of the list is to serve as a forum for scholarly
discussions and as a clearing house the distribution of
information on academic conferences, publication opportunities,
fellowship information, academic grants, and job openings of
interest to Hayek scholars. Subscribers are encouraged to post
questions, comments, or announcements of interest to individuals
working on topics related to Hayek's writings. Appropriate
postings might pertain to work currently in progress, the
development of course materials, bibliographical material of
interest to Hayek scholars, useful internet resources, etc.
The list is for scholars and others interested the ideas of
Friedrich A. Hayek without restriction according to interest or
professional affiliation. Hayek-L is not devoted to any particular
niche within the scope of Hayek's oeurvre, but instead welcomes
contributions on any aspect of the full range of Hayek's
contribution to contemporary scholarship. Discussions of the
scholarly contributions of other important thinkers who have
developed or criticized aspects of Hayek's work are also welcomed.
E.g. discussions of the work of Gerald Edelman, Karl Popper,
Israel Kirzner, Ronald Dworkin, Walter Weimer, Robert Nozick and
others related to the work of Friedrich Hayek are also welcome.
To subscribe to Hayek-L, send mail to
listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu with the message (body):
SUBSCRIBE HAYEK-L your full name
For example: SUBSCRIBE HAYEK-L Max Doe
Owner: Greg Ransom <Gregransom@aol.com>
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HAYEK-L list coordinators
See also the Hayek Scholars Page at:
http://members.aol.com/gregransom/hayekpage.htm
_______________________________________________________________________________
Darwin-L Message Log 43: 1-33 -- March 1997 End
