As I don’t have time tonight to finish an entire entry, let me briefly introduce myself to the reader and give her a flavor for what I will be writing about on the MP Blog. Currently I am a first-year graduate student at Indiana University studying evolutionary biology. For MP, I am working as an editor of scientific issues.
The blogosphere, and the Internet in general, can both for and against quality science. The Internet provides a platform for the rapid dissemination of information both among scientists and between scientists and the public. The Public Library of Science is, in my opinion, a wonderful example. PLoS is an entirely open access set of peer-reviewed journals publishing top-notch research along with commentaries and author’s summaries that (hopefully) are improving accessibility. Science bloggers also act as a rapid response team to the latest news, often distilling the reality better than the journalists. The Internet is also a haven for ideological groups posing as reliable sources of information. While there is a place for criticism of the faux- and anti-scientific crowd, the best response is philosophically positive. Therefore, I will use this forum to highlight current research, (mostly evolutionary biology since I am most familiar with it), informs and/or deepens humanity’s understanding of the natural world. New research often touches upon issues directly relevant to people’s live, (which is great), but I will also discuss basic science that is valuable simply upon intellectual merit.
A more recent interest of mine concordant with the multi-disciplinary nature of MP is the history and philosophy of biology and the broader intellectual contributions biologists. For example, many are aware of Darwin’s manifold influence on everything from biology to politics, but far fewer are aware of Stephen J. Gould’s biological arguments against discrimination in Mismeasure of Man or sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson’s book Consilience, which argued for the inclusion of biology in every discipline.
I hope this post has given you a taste for things to come and that you check back regularly to see the latest commentaries on everything cultural, historical, philosophical, scientific, and so forth.