DOCSLIB.ORG

LML Fortey 090422

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
LML Fortey 090422 Charles Darwin; The scientist as hero Professor Richard Fortey , Merit Researcher in Invertebrate Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum, London, presented the Lady Margaret Lecture on Wednesday 22 nd April 2009. This is a transcript of his lecture. As just about the only science writer who apparently has NOT got a book out about Darwin in the last six months I feel especially qualified to speak to you today! Over the last few months it has been instructive to observe the way Charles Darwin’s bicentenary and the sesquicentenary of the Origin of Species has been celebrated in public. I wonder sometimes whether the description of Darwin and his achievements tells us almost as much about contemporary attitudes to science and scientists as it does about the achievements of the great man himself. There are few figures that have attained quite the cultural significance of Charles Darwin, and the common characteristic of such icons is that they are re-made and recruited as a kind of imprimatur of respectability and influence. Darwin is at the moment at this kind of apogee. I believe a number of reasons can be invoked for his special status. The first emanates most particularly from scientists themselves. Scientists do have a problem with public perception; or perhaps I should say rather that scientists are neurotically worried about how they might be perceived by the public, which is not quite the same thing. Scientists want to be understood, to have the public appreciate what they actually do, and how the scientific method works. Scientists themselves worry that their image is not generally an encouraging one. First, there is a kind of hangover from the days of the boffin in the back room – the classic nerd, to use the modern term. Out of touch with anything except his computer, and unable to explain exactly what it is he (and usually he) does to anyone other than his fellows – well, scientists themselves worry whether he is a figure of derision. Then, by complete contrast, we have increasing public portraits of famous scientists who are revealed as monsters of egotism – the match of every self-regarding novelist or poet. Think of the recent biographies of Newton or the mathematician Paul Erdos in The man who loved only numbers, or John Nash portrayed in A Beautiful Mind. Who can forget the withering dismissal by the latter of many of his contemporaries as ‘one theorem minds’ with the infinity of arrogance that implies. That madness followed in Nash’s case could have seemed retribution as much as tragedy. Well – scientists want to be thought of as human – and I believe that the notion of science as ‘the disinterested pursuit of truth’ remains an ideal or heuristic that is a persistent one. This is where Darwin comes to the rescue. Here is the scientist as we (our fellow scientists) would like the creature to be portrayed: possessed of patience and generosity towards others (recall the kindly ways in which he assured all his many correspondents of his gratitude and attention at all times); the long life well conducted and creative to the end; the warm attachment to his family (and who can doubt the grief of the man at the early death of his daughter Annie?). The popularity of the portraits of Darwin as an old man – the white beard, the deep set eyes brimming with a kind of wisdom and touched with sadness – demonstrates the preference for what I might term “Saint Darwin”. It’s a paradox, of course, but the image of the aged Darwin is really not so different from the portrait of St Jerome by Caravaggio. The ‘saint’ comes with relics, particularly the notebooks, and with such sacred texts as that famous sketch postulating the notion of common descent with the wonderfully ambiguous statement “I think” at the top of the page. How much more appealing that short phrase than “I know” or “I understand” – it’s a characteristically modest approach to originality, a tentative prod towards a change in Weltanschauung. So this is the scientist as ideal, the one all scientists might – theoretically –aspire to, and fail to match up to. One is pushed to think of any other who might press all the same buttons – the only name in the same league I can think of is possibly Dorothy Hodgkin – but there is no icon for her to compare with the late Darwin. However inappropriately, Darwin rests in Westminster Abbey. You feel that he might have preferred to be interred beneath his worm stone at Down House. Darwin has a second great claim to occupy this special place in the scientists’ pantheon. His ideas are considered comprehensible to the thinking layman – which since nobody likes to be considered incapable of thought includes just about everyone. There is none of the kind of general nervousness in contemplating Darwin that Einstein or Max Planck inspires. Mathematics is genuinely beyond the comprehension of many articulate people, and mathematicians tend to inspire a kind of discombobulated awe. Having just returned from a large US campus I have seen how Einstein is ‘domesticated’ on T-shirts by combining one of his slightly bonkers photographs with a selection of his more transparent bon mots and aphorisms – but I think most people realise that this is missing his real substance, the difficult part. However, most people “get’ Darwin – or think they do – and therefore also think they have a right to an opinion on Darwinism. Thus we arrive at opinion polls with their dispiriting conclusions – Miller and colleagues in Science in 2006 report that 62% of US respondents agreed with the statement “Human beings were created by God as whole persons and did not evolve from earlier forms of life”. Even in this country polls have revealed that some 30% of respondents don’t “believe’ in Darwinism. One simply cannot imagine a poll happening in which people would confidently assert that they don’t ‘believe’ in the Special Theory of Relativity. Indeed, belief or otherwise in the Higgs Boson or relativity is simply not an issue for democratic assessment. While the implications of Darwin and Einstein both percolate into the everyday of medicine or electronics, for example, it seems only the former has the property of being capable of being rejected in opinion polls. Such polls never ask whether those questioned believe that all medical treatments predicated on the assumption that evolution actually happened should henceforth be discontinued, which raises interesting issues about the way polls are conceived for the convenience of those asking the questions. But however one looks at it, what remains is the apparent ease of understanding of what Darwin is supposed to have said as compared with other advances in maths, chemistry and physics. And this may indeed be true – for all those that perversely grasp the wrong end of the stick. The idea of common descent is a simple one, and really did change the way we see the world; just as knowledge of genes and the genetic code really has transformed biology and medicine. But somehow, many people are able to accept the onward-rolling implications of Darwin while still feeling able to reject his ‘–ism’ so to speak. But for scientists, the comprehensibility of so much of Darwin’s research is another reason for his iconic status. Would that we could all transform the world by an idea so capable of forthright expression. At this point it is instructive to compare Darwin with that other dominating figure of the last century, Sigmund Freud. I am old enough to recall a time when Freud was regarded as seminal in an analogous way to Charles Darwin. If The origin of species was one of the sacred texts, then so was the Ego and the Id and its many fellows. The story of the dethronement of Freud as scientist is familiar enough – crucially perhaps that his mechanics of mind was capable of infinite elaboration and immune to falsification (not really science at all) as Karl Popper and his associates pointed out. Nonetheless the language of Freud endures, from id to subconscious, and his influence in literature and art –especially surrealism - is genuine enough, although perhaps having something of an historic ring to it – does anyone now really believe that Salvador Dali’s extraordinary landscapes were produced by pure psychic automatism direct from the unconscious? Equally, the idea of conducting an opinion poll asking the populace whether they believe in Freudianism, or even in the existence of the Unconscious Mind, seem rather ridiculous now. Nonetheless it is not inappropriate to compare Freud in his heyday with Darwin, if only because both produced ideas that were graspable by the many; both acquired ‘bulldogs’ to promulgate their ideas - in the case of Freud hounds of variable loyalty - and both entered common parlance. However, with the sidelining of Freud in the understanding of the mind it seems to me that the importance of Darwin to scientists increased commensurately. While Freud’s disciples, notably Carl Gustav Jung, became more mystical than mechanical, the fruits of Darwin’s ideas emerged from the trees both of science and of life itself. The language of natural selection slowly began to oust the elaborate jargon that had guaranteed the esoteric hegemony of the analysts, and help to perpetuate their fat fees. The compass of Darwin has extended to occupy what had once been Viennese territory; laboratory and statistical surveys replaced the psychiatrists plush couches. Analysis has continued largely as the prerogative of the leisured and wealthy neurotic. Nonetheless – as an aside – the compelling attraction of the case history narrative pioneered by Freud has retained its place.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Joachim 8Arrande (1819) 1799-1883 Pierre Pavot (44) Et Jean-Maurice Poutiers, Attaché Au Muséum National D'histoire Naturelle De Paris
    LIBRES PROPOS • Bicentenaire d'un ancien plus célèbre à Prague qu'à Paris, Joachim 8arrande (1819) 1799-1883 Pierre Pavot (44) et Jean-Maurice Poutiers, attaché au Muséum national d'histoire naturelle de Paris Prague honorera cet été le bicentenaire de la naissance de ce savant géologue par une exposition et un symposium international. E Il AOÛT 1799 naissait dans la région de Saugues CHaute-Loire) L un garçon qui s'intéressera très tôt à la nature, à la technique et aux machines. Grâce à la solide aisance de ses parents, le jeune Joachim peut poursuivre ses études dans un éta­ blissement renommé de Paris, le col­ lège Stanislas. Entré à l'École poly­ technique en 1819, il en sort major en 1821 puis termine sa formation aux Ponts et Chaussées en 1824. Son intérêt personnel pour les sciences naturelles le conduit à suivre des cours et conférences des plus grands naturalistes de l'époque comme Georges Cuvier, Alexandre Brongniart, Alcide d'Orbigny .. Évoluant dans la société parisienne et aussi à la cour royale, il est remar­ qué par le dauphin, le duc d'An ­ goulême, pour son intelligence excep­ tionnelle, son ardeur au travail et sa probité. À la fin des années 1820, Charles X l'appelle à être le précep- m )UIN1UILLET 1999 LA JAUNE ET LA ROUG E TRILOBITES Depuis cette époque, la Bohême est devenue un terrain classique d'études de l'ère primaire, connu de tous les géologues et naturalistes érudits. Par ses études et ses recherches, Barrande a débordé le domaine étroit de la Bohême en établissant des cor­ rélations avec les autres régions du monde grâce à une documentation considérable.
    [Show full text]
  • George P. Merrill Collection, Circa 1800-1930 and Undated
    George P. Merrill Collection, circa 1800-1930 and undated Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Institution Archives Washington, D.C. Contact us at [email protected] Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Historical Note.................................................................................................................. 1 Descriptive Entry.............................................................................................................. 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 3 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 4 Series 1: PHOTOGRAPHS, CORRESPONDENCE AND RELATED MATERIAL CONCERNING INDIVIDUAL GEOLOGISTS AND SCIENTISTS, CIRCA 1800-1920................................................................................................................. 4 Series 2: PHOTOGRAPHS OF GROUPS OF GEOLOGISTS, SCIENTISTS AND SMITHSONIAN STAFF, CIRCA 1860-1930........................................................... 30 Series 3: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES (HAYDEN SURVEYS), CIRCA 1871-1877..............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • List of the Geological Society of London
    m LIST OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. November 1st, 1875. LIST THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP LONDON. November 1st, 1875. PEIXTED BT TAYLOR AND PEAXCIS, KED LION COUKT, FLEET STIiEET. OFFICERS AND COUNCIL.—1875. President. * John Evans, Esq., Y.P.E.S. Vice-Presidents. Prof! P. Martin Duncan, M.B., E.R.S. Sir P. de M. G. Egerton, Bart., M.P., F.E.S. Eobert Etheridge, Esq., E.R.S. Prof. A. C. Ramsay, LL.D., E.R.S. Secretaries. David Eorbes, Esq., E.R.S. Rev. T. AVUtshire, M.A. Foreign Secretary. Warington W. Smyth, Esq., M.A., E.R.S. Treasurer. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, LL.D., E.R.S. CounciL H. Bancrman, Esq. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, LL.D., E.R.S. W. Carruthers, Esq., E.R.S. C. J. A. Meyer, Esq. Frederic Drew, Esq. J. Carrick Moore, Esq., M.A., E.R.S. Prof. P. Martin Duncan, M.B., E.R.S. Prof. A. C. Ramsay, LL.D., E.R.S. Sir P.dc M. G. Egerton, Bart., M.P., Samuel Sharp, Esq., E.S.A. E.R.S. Warington W. Smyth, Esq., M.A., R. Etheridge, Esq., E.R.S. E.R.S. John Evans, Esq., Y.P.R.S., E.S.A. H. C. Sorby, Esq., E.R.S. David Eorbes, Esq., E.R.S. Prof. J. Tennaut, E.C.S. R. A. C. Godwin-Austen, Esq., E.R.S. W. Whitaker, Esq., B.A. Henry Hicks, Esq. Rev. T. Wiltshire, M.A., E.L.S. Prof T. McKenny Hughes, M.A. Henry Woodward, Esq., E.R.S.
    [Show full text]
  • HSNS4801 03 Sepkoski 56..109
    DAVID SEPKOSKI* AND MARCO TAMBORINI§ ‘‘An Image of Science’’: Cameralism, Statistics, Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/hsns/article-pdf/48/1/56/377855/hsns_2018_48_1_56.pdf by Max Planck Institute for the History of Science user on 15 June 2021 and the Visual Language of Natural History in the Nineteenth Century ABSTRACT This paper traces the emergence of a new visual language for statistical paleontology in the early nineteenth century as part of a broader project to uncover a deep genealogy of modern practices in data visualization. In the first decades of the nineteenth century, natural historians had amassed large quantities of taxonomic data, but lacked quantitative and visual methods to produce and communicate knowledge derived from their data collections. As our ‘‘main witness’’ (in Ian Hacking’s sense), we call on the German paleontologist H. G. Bronn—one of the earliest pro- ponents of a ‘‘data-driven’’ approach to statistical natural history—to highlight two unexpected sources of a transformative visual idiom introduced at the time: so-called spindle diagrams representing historical patterns in taxonomic diversity. The first source—which informed Bronn’s general statistical approach to fossil data—was the bureaucratic science of cameralism, in which Bronn was steeped as a student and professor at the University of Heidelberg. The second was an earlier tradition of historical visualization popularized by Joseph Priestley and others, which represented time—or the ‘‘timeline’’—as measured graphical space on the horizontal axis of a chart. In combining the tabular statistical approach of Heidelberg cameralism and the historical timeline, Bronn contributed to the emergence of a powerful new visual language for producing and communicating aggregative statistical generalizations.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nineteenth Century Engagement Between Geological and Adventist Thought and Its Bearing on the Twentieth Century Flood Geology Movement
    Avondale College ResearchOnline@Avondale Theses PhD Theses 12-2016 The Nineteenth Century Engagement Between Geological and Adventist Thought and its Bearing on the Twentieth Century Flood Geology Movement Cornelis Siebe Bootsman Avondale College of Higher Education, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://research.avondale.edu.au/theses_phd Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Bootsman, C. S. (2016). The nineteenth century engagement between geological and Adventist thought and its bearing on the twentieth century flood geology movement (Doctoral dissertation, Avondale College of Higher Education, Cooranbong, Australia). Retrieved from https://research.avondale.edu.au/ theses_phd/7 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at ResearchOnline@Avondale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses PhD by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@Avondale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Nineteenth Century Engagement Between Geological and Adventist Thought and its Bearing on the Twentieth Century Flood Geology Movement Cornelis Siebe Bootsman BSc, MSc (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), PhD (Witwatersrand) Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Discipline of Science and Mathematics Avondale College of Higher Education September 2016 Statement of Original Authorship I declare that the work contained in this thesis has not been submitted previously for a degree or diploma at this institution, an Australian or overseas university or any other institution of higher education. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.
    [Show full text]
  • Charles Lapworth's "The Moffat Series", 1878
    194 Classic Paper Classic Paper in the History of Geology Charles Lapworth's "The Moffat Series", 1878 The investigation of the geol- quent repetition of beds. By working in the same meticulous way as ogy of the Southern Uplands, he had done in the south, and applying what he had read of discover- which form the border region ies in the Alps, he worked out the succession and structures, and between Scotland and Eng- again stimulated the Survey and others to re-map the area and revise land, has played an important their thinking. role in the history of geological research, from the time of Hut- ton, through the nineteenth century, and to the present. The problems in the geology of the The 1878 paper, the 'Moffat Series' by Charles Lapworth Southern Uplands (see Figure 1) was a major part in the development of the According to William Watts, writing an appreciation of Charles Lap- understanding of the geology worth in 1921, the problems in the understanding of the Lower Pal- of the area. Dealing with a aeozoic of the Southern Uplands was similar to those of the Lower region of complex deforma- Palaeozoic elsewhere. Trilobites and brachiopods had been used for tion, he worked out the bio- correlation, but had led to contradictions and inconsistencies. There stratigraphy and structure, was little or no confidence in graptolites as a stratigraphic tool. The using a hitherto largely main body of the Southern Uplands were considered to be virtually neglected fossil group, the barren and to have a total thickness of greywackes, with shale bands, Figure 1 Charles Lapworth.
    [Show full text]
  • The Presently Best-Preserved Specimen Of
    The presently best-preserved specimen of Lower Devonian Dalmanitid Trilobite of the Prague Basin (Czech Republic), with articulated hypostome Petr Budil, Catherine Crônier, Oldřich Fatka, Jessie Cuvelier To cite this version: Petr Budil, Catherine Crônier, Oldřich Fatka, Jessie Cuvelier. The presently best-preserved specimen of Lower Devonian Dalmanitid Trilobite of the Prague Basin (Czech Republic), with articulated hypos- tome. Annales de la Société Géologique du Nord, 2012, 19 (2ème série), pp.137 - 143. hal-02403133 HAL Id: hal-02403133 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02403133 Submitted on 18 Feb 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Ann. Soc. Géol. du Nord. T.19 (2ème série), p. 137-143, Octobre 2012. THE PRESENTLY BEST-PRESERVED SPECIMEN OF LOWER DEVONIAN DALMANITID TRILOBITE OF THE PRAGUE BASIN (CZECH REPUBLIC), WITH ARTICULATED HYPOSTOME Le spécimen actuellement le mieux préservé, avec son hypostome articulé, de trilobite dalmanitide du Dévonien inférieur du Bassin de Prague (République Tchèque) by Petr BUDIL (*), Catherine CRÔNIER (**), Oldřich FATKA (***) and Jessie CUVELIER (**) (Planche IX) Abstract. — A rare, complete specimen of Zlichovaspis (Zlichovaspis) rugosa rugosa (Hawle & Corda, 1847) with in situ articulated hypostome is described from the locality Tetín Hill near Beroun (Bohemia).
    [Show full text]
  • Plant Diversity of the Mid Silurian (Lower Wenlock, Sheinwoodian) Terrestrial Vegetation Preserved in Marine Sediments from the Barrandian Area, the Czech Republic
    FOSSIL IMPRINT • vol. 74 • 2018 • no. 3–4 • pp. 327–333 (formerly ACTA MUSEI NATIONALIS PRAGAE, Series B – Historia Naturalis) PLANT DIVERSITY OF THE MID SILURIAN (LOWER WENLOCK, SHEINWOODIAN) TERRESTRIAL VEGETATION PRESERVED IN MARINE SEDIMENTS FROM THE BARRANDIAN AREA, THE CZECH REPUBLIC MILAN LIBERTÍN 1, JIŘÍ KVAČEK1,*, JIŘÍ BEK2, PETR ŠTORCH2 1 Department of Palaeontology, National Museum, Prague, Václavské náměstí 68, 110 00 Prague 1, the Czech Republic; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]. 2 Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, v.v.i., Rozvojová 269, 165 00 Prague 6, the Czech Republic; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]. * corresponding author Libertín, M., Kvaček, J., Bek, J., Štorch, P. (2018): Plant diversity of the mid Silurian (lower Wenlock, Sheinwoodian) terrestrial vegetation preserved in marine sediments from the Barrandian area, the Czech Republic. – Fossil Imprint, 74(3-4): 327–333, Praha. ISSN 2533-4050 (print), ISSN 2533-4069 (on-line). Abstract: Plant mega- and microfossils are described from the middle Sheinwoodian of the Barrandian area. The material comes from the Loděnice locality and the same horizon as the earliest unequivocal land plant, Cooksonia barrandei LIBERTÍN, J.KVAČEK, BEK, ŽÁRSKÝ et ŠTORCH. Its age (432 Myr) is inferred from the associated graptolite fauna, including the zonal index graptolite Monograptus belophorus. Megafossils have clear similarity with Cooksonia, due to their dichotomised axes with slightly widened subtending axes bearing putative sporangia. They document some of the plant diversity that was in place when the fi rst proven representative of the genus Cooksonia appeared, and together with dispersed spores they provide strong and important evidence that a diversifi ed terrestrial ecosystem had developed on the Barrandian volcanic archipelago in the peri-Gondwanan realm by the end of the Sheinwoodian Stage of the Silurian Period.
    [Show full text]
  • International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences
    International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences INHIGEO ANNUAL RECORD No. 50 Covering Activities generally in 2017 Issued in 2018 INHIGEO is A Commission of the International Union of Geological Sciences & An affiliate of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Compiled and Edited by William R. Brice INHIGEO Editor Printed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, on request Available at www.inhigeo.com ISSN 1028-1533 1 2 CONTENTS INHIGEO Annual Record No. 50 (Published in August 2018 and covering events generally in 2017) INHIGEO BOARD………………………………………………………………………..…………..…..6 MESSAGES TO MEMBERS President’s Message: Barry Cooper..……………………………………………………….…….7 Secretary-General’s Report: Marianne Klemun...……………………………………………......8 Editor’s Message: William R. Brice…………………………………………………………….10 INHIGEO CONFERENCE REPORT INHIGEO Conference, Yerevan, Armenia 12 to 18 September 2017……………………………………………….…………….….12 "Personalities of the INHIGEO: From Madrid (2010) To Cape Town (2016)" By L. Kolbantsey and Z. Bessudnova…………………………………...……………....29 INHIGEO CONFERENCES 43rd Symposium – Mexico City, 12-21 November 2018………………………………………...35 Future Scheduled conferences………….…………………………………..……………………36 44th INHIGEO Symposium, Varese and Como (Italy), 2-12 September 2019………….36 45th INHIGEO Symposium – New Delhi, India, 2020……………...…………………..37 46th INHIGEO Symposium – Poland, 2021……………………………………………..37 OTHER CONFERENCES Symposium on the Birth of Geology in Argentinean Universities………...………………….…37 Austrian Working Group
    [Show full text]
  • Geological Society of London
    Downloaded from http://jgslegacy.lyellcollection.org/ at University of California-San Diego on July 5, 2016 PROCEEDINGS OF TKE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. SESSION 1893-9r November 8th, 1893. W. H. HU~)LESTON, Esq., ~[.A., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. Louis Henry Cooke, :Esq., Assoc.R.S.M., Assistant to the Pro- fessor of Mining at the Royal College of Science, Loddington, Ket- tering, and Richard A. S. Redmayne, Esq., Harewood, Gateshead- on-Tyne, were elected Fellows ; and Monsieur Ed. Rigaux, Boulogne- sur-Mer, was elected a Foreign Correspondent of the Society. The List of Donations to the Library was read. Prof. J. W. Jura) made a few remarks in explanation of the specimen exhibited by him. The following communications were read :-- 1. ' The Geology of Bathurst, New South Wales.' By W. J. Clunies Ross, Esq., B.Sc., F.G.S. 2. ' The Geology of Matte Grosso (particularly of the Region drained by the Upper Paraguay).' By J. W. Evans, D.Sc., LL.B., F.G.S. 3. ' Notes on the Occurrence of Mammoth-remains in the Yukon District of Canada and in Alaska.' By George M. Dawson, C.M.G., LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. The following specimens were exhibited :- Sections and rock-specimens from the District of Bathurst, ~ew South Wales, exhibited by J. T. Day, Esq., F.G.S., in illustration of Mr. W. J. Clunies Ross's paper. Sections and rock-specimens from Matte Grosso, exhibited by J. W. Evans, D.Sc., LL.B., F.G.S., in illustration of his paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Distribution of the Cephalopoda in Silurian Countries. by Joachim
    486 Reviews—Barrande's Silurian Cephaloppda. BBVIE"WS. DISTRIBUTION OF THE CEPHALOPODA IN SILUBIAN COUNTRIES. By JOACHIM BARRANDE. (Extrait du Syst. Silur. du Centre de la Boh^me. Vol. II. 4me serie, pi. 351-460.) Prague, 1870. 8vo. pp. 480. TTTE hare already directed the attention of our readers to M. T V Barrande's great work on the Cephalopoda of Bohemia. (See GEOL. MAG. 1866, Vol. HI., p. 32, and 1867, Vol. IV, p. 322.) In the present volume M. Barrande has prepared, with the most laborious care, a summary of the whole of the vast array of facts and details relating to the geographical and geological range of the Cephalopoda in Silurian countries, and presents us with his de- ductions therefrom. M. Barrande excuses himself for the space which he has occupied in the consideration of the Cephalopoda, by showing how vast was their geographical range in Silurian times, and also because they re- presented (if we except the scanty remains of fishes in the older palaeozoic rocks) almost the highest class of living organisms. In the earlier Silurian stages (Fauna II. of Barrande), the Cephalopoda were certainly the dominant class, and it was only towards the close of that great series of deposits that their reign was disputed by the earliest Fishes and the great larval-like Crustaceans of the genera Pterygotus and JSu/rypterus. Upon the question of the comparative strength of the two classes, the Mollusca and Crustacea, when tested by the relative fecundity of the two groups, M. Barrande seems disposed to divide the palm between the Cephalopoda and the Trilobita, which appear to have been equally innumerable.
    [Show full text]
  • The Constitution of Paleobiological Data
    The Constitution of Paleobiological Data Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Heidelberg vorgelegt von: Marco Tamborini Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Peter McLaughlin Zweitgutachter: Dr. David Sepkoski Datum: 21.01.2015 For my parents Acknowledgements First and foremost I want to thank my supervisors Peter McLaughlin and David Sepkoski. A great of people supported, assisted, and advised me over these three years: Renato Pettoello, Gianni Barlassina, Derek Turner, Michael Benton, Michele Cardani, Roberta and Giulia Migliorini, Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, Fausto Carcassi, Anannya Chakraborty, Daniela Pensotti, Edoardo Fertitta, Paolo Garavaglia, and Gabriele Ricotta. Moreover, I thank Lorraine Daston and the members of her department. A special recognition goes out to my family (my father Daniele, my mother Maria Pia, and my brother Paolo) and Verena Rith. Contact Marco Tamborini: [email protected] 3 4 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 8 Why is data so central? .................................................................................................................. 10 Is there something important in paleontological data? Nomothetic, idiographic and the dark abyss of deep time. ...................................................................................................................... 13 Paleontological sciences in German-speaking area during the 19th century
    [Show full text]