[Cz-biology] Please advise: Can we do this (see msg)

Tue Jul 17 19:46:14 CDT 2007

Nick,

Reasonable points.  Suggest two things:

One: Make more explicit that the essay reflects the opinion of the author,
who, after all, has the credentials of an 'expert'.  We cannot certify
experts as 'infallible'.

Two: Your points, and the responses of others, could go on the article's
Talk page (Discussion tab), and lead to a broader dialogue.  If one
biologist wants to assert opinion, well-argued, as to the remaining
'fundamental questions in biology', perhaps others, those in the Biology
Workgroup might want to express their considered opinion, on the Talk page
(Discussion tab).  Some may think they relate to physics, others to
biological emergences.  Perhaps the list neverends.

My response to your points, on the Talk page, would remind us that, like the
author of the essay, many biologists continue to adhere to the precepts of
the "'Architects'" of the Modern Synthesis.  Other biologists call them
'ultra-darwinists'.  

Personally, I think too many biologists over-select 'selection' in their
explanations of the evolution of novelty and complexity.  Natural selection
certainly selects novelty and complexity when competition exists and when
the novelty and complexity contribute to reproductive fitness, but it
doesn't 'generate' the novelty or complexity.  Generation of novelty and
complexity belongs to a great degree in 'natural experiment', whereupon
natural selection may or may not serve to preserve them.  Evolution occurs
even without competition, due to the power of 'emergence'.

If you haven't already discovered it, consider:  Reid RGB. (2007) Biological
Emergences: Evolution by Natural Experiment. A Bradford Book, Cambridge.
ISBN 10: 0-262-18257-2.  A review, TOC, and sample chapter at:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11165>
&tid=11165

I would love to hear your thoughts about the book, or those of anybody in
Biology-Workgroup.

Anthony

From: Nicolas Rasmussen [mailto:N.Rasmussen at unsw.edu.au] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 4:56 PM
To: Anthony Sebastian
Cc: CZ Biology Workgroup; Larry Sanger
Subject: Re: [Cz-biology] Please advise: Can we do this (see msg)

As an essay, maybe.   But it is not good history.  For instance, the idea
that all Biology is or was "integrated"  and "firmly resting on Darwinian
principles" was the grand dream and PR claim of the 'Architects' of the
neo-Darwinian synthesis in the 1930s (Mayr, Huxley, Dobzhansky et al), never
a fair description of an actual state of affairs.  At the time the old
fields of natural history -- systematics, ecology/economy of nature -- were
poor cousins to the independent and flourishing plant and animal physiology
fields.  These, together with biochemistry and other experimental fields,
have their own separate history that extends back to the 1820s or so.
Genetics is a branch off them, not natural history.  

Nick

------------------------------------------

Nicolas Rasmussen, MA, MPhil, PhD

History & Philosophy of Science

University of New South Wales

Sydney NSW 2052

AUSTRALIA

On 18/07/2007, at 9:20 AM, Anthony Sebastian wrote:

As an experiment, I created the following page.  Acceptable? 

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Biology/Fundamental_Questions_in_Biology_%E2%
80%94_A_2006_PLoS_Editorial_by_Simon_A._Levin

More properly belongs as "Essays" subpage in Biology article.

Anthony.Sebastian

-------------------------
Anthony Sebastian, MD
UCSF Professor of Medicine
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Anthony_Sebastian at msn.com [preferred email address]
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University of California, San Francisco
sebastia at gcrc.ucsf.edu

Faculty Webpage:
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View/Download Selected Publications:
http://groups.msn.com/Anthony-Sebastian

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