Science Quotes #1

I'm going to start a new column to replace "abstract of the week", which ended up turning into "abstract of the every 2 months". I think we can all learn a lot from the history of science, and since we don't have the time to read all the papers and books of long dead scientists, it should be interesting to pick out a few quotes which are still relevant to science today. I'll try to find some obscure quotes to go along with the more well known ones.

First up is a quote that most people probably know, inspired by the fact that I use google scholar way too much:

Theologian John Salisbury (Metalogicon, 1159)--

We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours

Isaac Newton (correspondence, 1676)--

If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants

Today's quote is just reminding us that all scientific work, and indeed all acquisition of knowledge is only possible by building on what others have already done.

Young Scientist Challenge

Last year I watched the "young scientist challenge" on the Science channel, and was quite impressed by the overall production & goals of the show. They basically take a group of well deserving kids (after a long application/interview process) that are interested in science, and throw them into a series of science related challenges and group projects. After the dust settles one kid remains on top, and receives a nice U.S. savings bond. In general, the show promotes science, science careers, and allows kids to explore their interests without fear of being ridiculed for being too nerdy. Last year they took the finalists to NASA, where they worked on projects related to space shuttle repair, planetary geology, and a host of other things. They also did presentations, and were able to interact extensively with NASA scientists.

There are only a few days left to send in a video application, so if you know any kids in 5th-8th grade that might be interested, let them know.


The following is from their website (http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com):

Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is the premier national science competition for students in grades 5 through 8. The Young Scientist Challenge is designed to encourage the exploration of science and innovation among America's youth and to promote the importance of science communication. In 1999, Discovery Communications launched the competition to nurture the next generation of American scientists at a critical age when interest in science begins to decline. In 2008 3M joined forces with Discovery Education in a quest to nurture the next generation of American scientists with an innovative and interactive science program open to every middle school student in America. Over the last ten years, more than 600,000 middle school students have been nominated to participate in the competition, and winners have gone on to speak in front of members of Congress, work with the nation's top scientists, and pursue academic careers in the sciences.

In order to enter, students must be in grades 5 through 8, and must submit a video entry (see below) online at www.youngscientistchallenge.com/registrations/index.cfm between January 15, 2009 and May 20, 2009.

Cool Devonian Fossil

Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been really busy lately.  However, once my field work is done this summer I'll have plenty of time to do two things I really enjoy: research, and posting on this blog.  This is a Devonian (maybe Silurian?) fossil from NY found by one of wife's relatives. At first I thought they were very unique and was unsure of what they were (since they seemingly have two chambers), but I'm pretty sure they are just pentamerid brachiopods in various stages of cross-section.  However, it does seem that some of them are forming shapes that a brachiopod can't make. Pretty impressive specimen either way.

Virginia State Police

My experience with the state police today while trying to look at an outcrop on the side of a highway:

Cop: What are you doing? Get down from there.
I get down.
Cop: Where the hell are you parked?
Me: All the way down there. *points*
Cop: You need to get out of here, you're not allowed to be on the side of the road.
Me: I'm a geologist, doing research on these rocks, do you mind if I take a look around for a few minutes?
Cop: I don't care, you need to leave.
Me: Don't you care about science?
Cop: No, and if you open your mouth again I'm getting out of the car.
Me: *Walks back to car*

I need to make sure I ask permission from the state police next time...............

Field Work

I'm currently in Virginia, preparing for my summer field work by doing a scouting mission of the area: finding outcrops and recording them in GPS, evaluating campgrounds, getting directions and so forth. It occurred to me today that I've never mentioned what my dissertation work is about, so thats the purpose of this post. I'll try and make it short and interesting, but scientific research is never as interesting to others as it is to the person doing it!

A foreland basin is a depression that forms parallel to a mountain building event. The thickening that results from the collision of the earth's crust results in an extreme amount of mass that causes the lithosphere to bend. This forms a basin on the landward side of where the mountain building event is taking place.

The formation of a foreland basin has a lot of paleoenvironmental effects: water deepening as the basin subsides, change in circulation patterns and water temperature, increase in sediment influx to the basin as the mountain chain erodes. My research is based on studying how trilobite faunas were effected by these changes during the Middle Ordovician at the onset of the Taconic orogeny.

Did extinction rates increase as these changes developed? Did trilobites migrate out of the region? Did certain trilobite species become competitively dominant as water depth and circulation patterns changed? These are the types of questions my dissertation work addresses. These are important questions! So important that I've sacrificed my spring break to start answering them. To tell if the trilobite response to the teconic event is regional; we need a "control" to help tease out patterns unique to the foreland basin. For that reason, my study is comparative. I'll be doing all of the same type of work on Mid-Ordovician trilobites from Oklahoma. Oklahoma at the time was similarly underwater along a carbonate ramp, but was teconically inactive. So the trilobites that were living there at the time provide a good control to compare how those within the foreland basin were effected.

Some Middle Ordovician trilobites for your viewing pleasure:
(all courtesy of fossilmuseum.net)

Comment on Dawkins Q&A

I have a quick comment on an issue that was raised during the Dawkins Q&A here in Oklahoma on Friday. The talk itself is the discussion of many posts on other science blogs (here & here) so I won't address it. What I want to mention is Dr. Dawkin's complete dismissal of any selection processes operating above the gene/individual level. In fact, at one point he mentions that "only amateur biologist, and maybe a couple of professional biologists" think selection acts on levels higher than the individual. The concept of group level selection (ie. allele frequency changes based on benefits they provide to groups, rather than individuals) is debated among biologists, paleontologists, and anthropologists alike, but it is woefully inaccurate to say that primarily "amateurs" believe in its relevancy. The fact remains that more evidence is needed before we make any claims of certainty, but many scientists think a multi-level theory of selection has much support. There exists MANY research studies which provide support for Kin selection, species selection on emergent properties like geographic range, and so on. Dr. Dawkins is quite frankly wrong in his characterization of the scientific community. It's almost as if he wants to put a final nail in Stephen J. Gould's coffin, 6 years after his death.

Richard Dawkins strict adherence to genes as the primary unit of selection actually lead to his complete inability to answer one of the questions by an audience member. The question was-- "Without God, where do we get a sense of morality"? The easier answer is we get our sense of morality from cooperating among a group. Following the morals of a group allows us to become part of that group, accordingly receiving all of the fitness benefits included therein. If we don't follow the morals of a group, we're on our own (or in jail), we don't get to propagate our genes, and our relative overall fitness decreases. Dr. Dawkins responded to the question by basically speculating that perhaps our moral ability is innate, and adjusts over time to match the current morality of "modern times". This was an incredibly weak answer, and if he had only thought about the evolution of morality in terms of group level fitness, it would have made a lot more sense.

Richard Dawkins in Oklahoma

I had the luxury of participating in a round table discussion with Richard Dawkins today, held at the Zoology department of the University of Oklahoma. A group of around ~20 graduate students in zoology, geology, botany, microbiology, and ecology participated, each telling Richard a little bit about their research. He was extremely friendly, and asked everybody questions about their research. He was also amazingly able to follow the conversation as it jumped from lamprey genetics, trilobites, conservation ecology, zebrafish to religious studies and other topics of graduate research, all the while asking pertinent and intelligent questions. After the introductions to our research, we talked a little bit about christian fundamentalism in Oklahoma, and the sort of thinking that leads one to openly reject clear lines of evidence. Dr. Dawkins also joked about how the Oklahoma legislature is trying to pass a resolution condemning him. He actually seemed delighted in the prospect of the state legislature passing an anti-Richard Dawkins resolution. If you haven't heard about that, you can read about it here.

I'll be attending his lecture tonight, and may have more things to say then.