[Cz-biology] FW: Major misconception in "Biology" article

[Larry Sanger]

Dr. Rasmussen,
 
Well, why despair?  It's a wiki, which means that you can and are encouraged
to edit the article appropriately.  If you are worried that you might be
stepping on someone's toes, remember above all that the article does not
have any one single assigned article; you can take as much responsibility
for it as anyone.  That's one main reason why one of the mottos of the
project is "be bold": http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Be_Bold
 
And just because the article is in the Biology Workgroup does not mean that
only biologists are permitted to work on it.  Since the bit in question is
in the history of biology, clearly you are among the most qualified people
we have on board to advise us and indeed make the necessary changes to the
article.
 
--Larry
 

-----Original Message-----
From: cz-biology-bounces at mail.citizendium.org
[mailto:cz-biology-bounces at mail.citizendium.org] On Behalf Of Nicolas
Rasmussen
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 3:22 PM
To: Biology Workgroup List
Cc: cz-biology at citizendium.org; bhager at mac.com
Subject: Re: [Cz-biology] FW: Major misconception in "Biology" article


I am afraid the complaint is justified. Preformationists like Hartsoeker
were illustrating their THEORY with homunculus drawings -- what they said
you MIGHT be able to see if you had a better microscope. 

There are other such problems in the site, but I have despaired about
changing any them. If you want historical accuracy, history of biology has
to be regarded as a separate area of expertise beyond that of the biologists
writing these pieces.

NR

------------------------------------------------
Nicolas Rasmussen, MA (Philosophy), MPhil (HPS), PhD (Biology)
Associate Professor
School of History and Philosophy
University of New South Wales
Sydney NSW 2052
AUSTRALIA


On 03/01/2008, at 5:04 AM, Larry Sanger wrote:


All, please look into this complaint!

--Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: Benedikt Hager [mailto:bhager at mac.com] 
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2007 10:51 AM
To: sanger at citizendium.org
Subject: Major misconception in "Biology" article


Hello!

I'm sorry for writing directly to you, but I didn't find a way to contact
any other editor without registering an account before.

This paper by KA Hill reports quite the contrary about Hartsoeker's
Homunculus of what the Citizendium article "biology" says:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=3889137&cmd=showdeta
ilview&indexed=google> &uid=3889137&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google

As far as I can tell, the CZ article seems to prolong a common, but
nontheless incorrect interpretation of what Hartsoeker and Leeuwenhoek
stated.

Regards,
Benedikt Hager
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