Evolution Resources

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  1. Articles.
  2. Reviews of books and other media.

Articles

I write a regular column for Evolution: Education and Outreach, “Evolution Resources.” Each issue, I write about materials and strategies for researching evolution. I am collecting the articles that have appeared in the column here.

Evolution: Education and Outreach will begin depositing its contents in PubMed Central, where access to them will be free of charge. Until then, some of these papers may not be available without a subscription to the journal; and, due to the PubMed Central’s archiving policies, some of the papers published in the earlier volumes of the journal will only be available free on a rotating  basis, by way of the Springerlink online publication platform—at times, volume 1 contents will be available free, at times, volume 2 but not volume 1, and so on.

Please contact me for a reprint if you cannot access the paper you are interested in online at SpringerLink or PubMed Central. I will be happy to send you one.

Complete Bibliography of Eugenie C. Scott. Volume 3, issue 3. Forthcoming. Glenn Branch (second author) and I compile a complete bibliography of Eugenie C. Scott, scientist and activist on behalf evolution education, and executive director of the National Center for Science Education. Issue 3 of volume 3, the issue in which this bibliography appears, is a special issue devoted to Scott’s work.

The Origin Manuscripts at the “The Darwin Manuscripts Project.” Volume 3, issue 2, pp. 121–7. I announce the launch of the Darwin Manuscripts Project (http://darwin.amnh.org) and describe its importance as a source of professional-grade manuscripts by Charles Darwin. Some of its importance is due to the transcription of manuscripts, which records all information about the changes Darwin made as he wrote. A guide to understanding how to read a manuscript transcription is presented. This is intended to be the first in a series of papers which, together, will constitute a user’s guide to the site. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-010-0206-4.

Print Reference Sources about Evolution. Volume 2, issue 4,  pp. 700–7. I explain some of the benefits of print resources, in contrast with those of Internet resources, and I offer a list of reference sources about evolutionary biology drawn from the reference collection at the American Museum of Natural History’s Research Library. The list is organized by topic.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-009-0182-8.

Blogging evolution. Volume 2, issue 3, pp. 548–59. A weblog (“blog”) is a publication on the World Wide Web in which brief entries are displayed in date order, much like a diary or journal. I describe the general characteristics of blogs, contrasting blogs with other WWW formats for self-publishing. I describe four categories for blogs about evolutionary biology: “professional,” “€œamateur,” “apostolic,” and “imaginative.” I also discuss blog networks. I identify paradigms of each category. Throughout, I aim to illuminate blogs about evolutionary biology from the point of view of a user looking for information about the topic. I conclude that blogs are not the best type of source for systematic and authoritative information about evolution, and that they are best used by the information-seeker as a way of identifying what issues are of interest in the community of evolutionists and for generating research leads or fresh insights on one’s own work. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-009-0149-9.

Charles Darwin’s manuscripts and publications on the World Wide Web. Volume 2, issue 1, pp. 122–35. This paper describes three Internet resources that publish manuscripts and published works by Charles Darwin. The authority, content, and design of each is outlined, and each site is assessed according to how effectively its design and organization of the material promotes exploration of Darwin’s works and ideas. The presentations of the materials are compared with the traditional presentation of text materials in books. It is concluded that, while these three sites offer a large amount of important work by Darwin, access to it is sharply limited because, particularly in the case of two of the sites, the material is not presented in a structured manner that might direct users to particular ideas or texts, especially if those ideas or texts are not well-known to the user. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-008-0113-0.

Evolution by Example. Volume 1, issue 2, pp. 165–71. I describe a genre of works about evolutionary biology which share a common characteristic: their central explanatory device is an example. In this sense, they differ from works of theory, and  popular works whose main aim is to explain an idea or general concept. I describe exemplary works in the genre.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-008-0045-8.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful and Most Wonderful. Volume 1, issue 2, pp. 104–6. A short editorial introducing the second issue of EE&O to be published, which I guest-edited. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-008-0041-z.

Reviews of books & other information resources

Richard Owen’s “Most interesting department of natural history . . . its very soul. ” Volume 3, issue 3. Forthcoming. Review of Richard Owen’s On the Nature of Limbs: A Discourse, edited by Ron Amundson, with a preface by Brian K. Hall, and introductory essays by Amundson, Kevin Padian, Mary P. Winsor, and Jennifer Coggon. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Pp. cii + 119. S/b $20.00. Richard Owen’s On the Nature of Limbs has not been reprinted since its initial publication in 1849; and the 1849 edition is held in few libraries around the world. Owen argues that there exists what he terms “general homology,” a structure for the vertebrate limb, common to all. He also outlines the better-known concept of “special homology.” Especially intriguing is his argument that the structure of the vertebrate limb suggests that the vertebrate skeleton has a general structure not well-suited for any particular function. This strategy is used by Darwin, and is still used today, as an argument against divine design of organisms, replacing history for general homology.

Milner’s Encyclopedic Un-Encyclopedia. Volume 2, issue 4, pp. 740–1. Review of  Richard Milner’s Darwin’s Universe: Evolution from A to Z. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. Pp. 487. H/b $39.95. I review Richard Milner’s Darwin’s Universe: Evolution from A to Z. Milner’s book exploits the reader’s expectation of what an encyclopedia should contain to create an especially rich account of evolutionary science and its cultural and historical context. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-009-0178-4.

The Charms of Nature: Darwin on Meaning and Value. Volume 2, issue 2, pp. 326–33. Review of George Levine’s Darwin Loves You: Natural Selection and the Re-enchantment of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006. pp. xxiii + 304. S/b $18.95. In his provocative and highly original book Darwin Loves You. Levine, whose “home discipline” is English Literature, offers a compelling interpretation of Darwin’s works, evaluating their content and Darwin’s prose style to identify a distinctly Darwinian attitude toward nature as a source of meaning and value. Levine believes that Darwin exemplifies the capacity to feel “enchantment” about the natural world, suggesting that, if Darwin’s example were followed, a “Darwinian re-enchantment of the world” would be brought about. This would offer a secular, non-supernatural basis for purpose, meaning, and value. I conclude with a few critical remarks about the scope and cogency of Levine’s proposal. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12052-009-0131-6.