In the second part of a three-part “Problematica,” Max examines why the development of punctuated equilibria did so little to upset Gould’s early adaptationist and progressivist ideas about evolution—at least at first
Read MoreHow to Change Your Life Using Punctuated Equilibria
In the first part of a three-part installment of “Problematica,” Max examines what Stephen Jay Gould was up to on the eve of “Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism” (1972), and introduces an interpretive puzzle
Read MoreStray Thoughts on Contingency Following the MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar
In which Max reflects on the recent MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar on historical contingency in biology
Read MoreHistory, Kindness, and the Great Evolutionary Faunas
In which Max considers a recent account of historical natural kinds, and force-feeds it the example of the “great evolutionary faunas”
Read MoreThe Once and Future Earth
In which Max examines two attempts to use Mars to better understand the past and future of Earth, respectively
Read MoreLords of Marble and the Spear
In which Max asks what an argument for repatriating a fossil might look like in the absence of demonstrable illegality in the acquisition of that fossil
Read More