Book review: Darwin Deleted
Check out my review of Peter Bowler’s 2013 book, Darwin Deleted: Imagining a World Without Darwin, at BooksandIdeas.net!
The Sons of Scientists
I once interviewed a prominent ecologist for my doctoral research, whose partner told me, “You know, these [prominent ecologists], they all have really strong mothers, influential women that encouraged them to explore nature.” I liked this theory, though I didn’t Continue Reading …
Making the scientist, making the place for science
Kew’s exhibition, “Joseph Dalton Hooker: Botanical Trailblazer,” highlights handsome illustrations and provides a personal and professional cross-section of the making of a Victorian scientific career. But tantalizing morsels hint at tensions between public needs and professional goals in the life of a scientist and in the operations of a scientific institution like Kew, leaving the visitor wanting more. Continue Reading …
Darwin's finches – and Darwin's humans
Darwin gets a lot of credit in biology. And rightly so, given the sheer quantity of persuasive proofs and fascinating conundrums that he put forth during his career. This is a man who saw a foot-long nectary on an orchid Continue Reading …
When identical genes just aren’t enough
For the last decade, everyone has been excited about the medical possibilities of stem cells. Need a new liver? What if we could grow one for you in essentially the same way that you grew your first liver when Continue Reading …
The Rilkean Imperative
In the early years of the 20th century, a 19-year-old student began a correspondence with the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, seeking advice on his own poetic efforts. Rilke’s responses, compiled in one of my favorite books of all time, Continue Reading …
A day in the life of a field mycologist.
My husband is always pestering me, “Hey, you’re a historian of science—why don’t you study the history of mycology?” Or, “You want to write about science, right? The study of mushrooms is pretty cool, why don’t you write about mushrooms?” Continue Reading …
Making tracks in the wilderness
In the sparkling new visitor’s center here at Gunung Mulu National Park in Borneo, an introductory film runs all day long, describing the unique limestone formations of the park, a million bats leaving the Deer Cave each night, the forest Continue Reading …
Holding nature at bay in the tourists’ 10%
For the past week, my husband and one-year-old son have been on the island of Borneo, exploring Gunung Mulu National Park. “Gunung” means “mountain” in Malay, thus the park is anchored by Mount Mulu. Mulu’s presence above us is felt more than it is seen; it’s no volcanic Mount Hood or Rainier. Instead, it’s a low, forested shrug of sandstone, a holdout in the midst of the softer limestone, which has acquiesced around it, surrendering to the persuasions of rain and air and sunlight (and then more rain) in the millennia since the seafloor was elevated, forming Borneo. Continue Reading …
What's sexier than sex and warfare? Taking the "arms race" one turn too far.
Talk about sexy science. How could any science be any sexier than sexual selection? Then combine sexual selection with “nature’s arms race,” and what do you get? Science so titillating that even a seasoned science journalist might get a little…carried Continue Reading …