Archive by category | Evolution

Crowdfunding an online tree of life

Posted by Barbara Kiser | Categories: , ,

The fully revised, reissued edition of the 2004 classic by Richard Dawkins and Yan Wong.

Putting all living things, from kingdom to species level, onto a single, easy-to-explore ‘tree of life’ is an ambitious project. But a newly formed charity has just gone a long way towards that by releasing the website www.onezoom.org. To crowdfund the new ‘OneZoom’ tree, biodiversity theorist James Rosindell and evolutionary biologist Yan Wong are asking the public to sponsor their favourite animals and plants. Here Rosindell and Wong talk about OneZoom, and why graphics from it have made their way into a fully revised edition of The Ancestor’s Tale – the 2004 classic Wong co-authored with Richard Dawkins.  Read more

Darwin Day: a poem on the Sandwalk

Posted by Barbara Kiser | Categories: ,

Charles Darwin (engraving from photo, ), Wikimedia Commons.

Charles Darwin famously built a circular path in the grounds of Down House near Orpington, Kent, soon after he moved there in 1842. It became known as the Sandwalk, a gravel-lined oval walk around the trees and bushes he planted. He called this his ‘thinking path’ and walked it morning and afternoon, often with his fox terrier Polly, observing seasonal changes, while mulling over his most difficult problems.  Read more

Menageries of the mind

Posted by Barbara Kiser | Categories: , ,

Aquatint etching from Doty and Waterston's A Swarm, A Flock, A Host

Whatever ‘being human’ means, it seems irrevocably tied to the bestial. In real life we tame, avoid or study animals (think pigs, grizzlies, lab mice). In stories, we freight them with characteristics human, mystical or approximately their own (think the White Rabbit, Moby-Dick, Mrs Tiggywinkle). Beasts are burdened indeed — by human needs, questionings, hopes, dreams, morals and fantasies.  Read more

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