One of the few plants still in flower this late in the year, we saw a lot of Cassinia quinquefaria (Asteraceae) on our recent walk on Mount Ainslie. It is a weak-stemmed shrub with aromatic leaves. This is about as pretty as it gets.
The blog of a systematic botanist of German origin, now working in Australia. It covers botany, phylogenetics, cladistics, science in general, freethought, and occasionally sillier issues.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Botany picture #149: Cassinia quinquefaria
One of the few plants still in flower this late in the year, we saw a lot of Cassinia quinquefaria (Asteraceae) on our recent walk on Mount Ainslie. It is a weak-stemmed shrub with aromatic leaves. This is about as pretty as it gets.
Friday, March 28, 2014
The worst fallacy
It is interesting where one can end up while surfing the internet. I don't even remember how, but a few days ago I happened on two links (one leading to the other) that discussed what fallacy or fallacious argument would be the worst.
The Australian professor James Franklin discussed the suggestion by his compatriot philosopher David Stove that the idea behind cultural relativism and postmodernism is the worst ever: We cannot know things as they really are because we only have subjective knowledge. His criteria were how bad he considered the argument to be and how widespread it was.
The Less Wrong forum member "Yvain" presented as their own choice what they called the "noncentral fallacy". It means to fallaciously invoke the emotional reaction that is appropriate for a typical (central) member of a category when faced with an atypical (noncentral) member. Yvain's first example is people making the argument that Martin Luther King was a bad person because he was a criminal, implying that his having been punished for nonviolent resistance is morally comparable to having committed burglary.
I have given the issue some thought and have, for the time being, settled on a different one. From my perspective, the Just World Fallacy is perhaps the worst.
The Australian professor James Franklin discussed the suggestion by his compatriot philosopher David Stove that the idea behind cultural relativism and postmodernism is the worst ever: We cannot know things as they really are because we only have subjective knowledge. His criteria were how bad he considered the argument to be and how widespread it was.
The Less Wrong forum member "Yvain" presented as their own choice what they called the "noncentral fallacy". It means to fallaciously invoke the emotional reaction that is appropriate for a typical (central) member of a category when faced with an atypical (noncentral) member. Yvain's first example is people making the argument that Martin Luther King was a bad person because he was a criminal, implying that his having been punished for nonviolent resistance is morally comparable to having committed burglary.
I have given the issue some thought and have, for the time being, settled on a different one. From my perspective, the Just World Fallacy is perhaps the worst.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Botany picture #148: Vittadinia muelleri
There are apparently only three species of Vittadinia (Asteraceae) on the hills around Canberra, and I am reasonably sure that this is V. muelleri. The problem is that most species of this herbaceous daisy genus are quite similar in overall appearance. The most important characters for differentiation are the surface ornamentation and hairs of the fruits.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Parsimony in phylogenetics, evolutionary biology, and biogeography
The first thing most people think of when hearing 'science' is hypothesis testing. However, many a philosopher of science will be quick to point out that there is much more to science. It would be too much to say that science has "moved beyond" falsificationism because falsifying hypotheses still plays a, and perhaps the, central role in empirical research and probably always will. But there are many others, such as modelling.
Another indispensable tool of the scientist, but one that is rarely mentioned, is the principle of parsimony, also known as Occam's Razor. It is the principle of accepting, all else being equal, the explanation that is simplest. This approach hardly needs a theoretical justification; we only have to think up a few everyday scenarios to see that it makes sense, and that everybody unconsciously uses it all the time.
Another indispensable tool of the scientist, but one that is rarely mentioned, is the principle of parsimony, also known as Occam's Razor. It is the principle of accepting, all else being equal, the explanation that is simplest. This approach hardly needs a theoretical justification; we only have to think up a few everyday scenarios to see that it makes sense, and that everybody unconsciously uses it all the time.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Mount Ainslie and surroundings
On the weekend we went for a walk on Mount Ainslie (ca. 850 m) and in the nearby Mount Majura Nature Reserve.
This is the view from the lookout on Mount Ainslie, and actually the point from which Canberra was designed to be seen. The red street in the centre is ANZAC Parade; it points across the Lake Burley Griffin towards first the old parliament house and then, behind it, the current parliament. The fountain in the lake is the Captain Cook Memorial Fountain, and further right you can see the beginning of the central business district.
What is hiding here under the scribblygum bark? A huntsman spider. Presumably it does not want to end up as the lunch of a Currawong.
Microcosmos. A deadwood 'landscape' that reminded me of a mountain range.
And finally something more or less botanical, if algae and fungi count: an otherworldly looking lichen growing on tree bark.
This is the view from the lookout on Mount Ainslie, and actually the point from which Canberra was designed to be seen. The red street in the centre is ANZAC Parade; it points across the Lake Burley Griffin towards first the old parliament house and then, behind it, the current parliament. The fountain in the lake is the Captain Cook Memorial Fountain, and further right you can see the beginning of the central business district.
What is hiding here under the scribblygum bark? A huntsman spider. Presumably it does not want to end up as the lunch of a Currawong.
Microcosmos. A deadwood 'landscape' that reminded me of a mountain range.
And finally something more or less botanical, if algae and fungi count: an otherworldly looking lichen growing on tree bark.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Scottish journal of EVERYTHING
One of the things often pointed out by Jeffrey Beall is that questionable publishers like to give their for-profit journals very wide scope. They presumably do so in the hope of being able to earn article processing fees from as many areas of research as possible.
Yesterday I received another scientific spam e-mail that takes the cake in this regard. Behold the call for papers from the Scottish Journal of Arts, Social Sciences and Scientific Studies:
Okay, the first thing one notices is the green ink. But apart from that, the funniest aspect is the ridonculously long list of areas of research that is given as the scope of the journal. It is an alphabetic list of everything they could come up with. Botany and dance; philosophy and finance. Yup, that sounds legit, where do I sign up?
The name that they invented for the supposed managing editor is also pretty interesting, by the way. Robest Pual Ashcraft. I guess they were going for Robert Paul Ashcroft but put a typo into every word? So I may be mistaken but this could be an indication of something being off; would not be surprised to learn the journal is really run out of a garage in Pakistan or Nigeria.
Yesterday I received another scientific spam e-mail that takes the cake in this regard. Behold the call for papers from the Scottish Journal of Arts, Social Sciences and Scientific Studies:
Okay, the first thing one notices is the green ink. But apart from that, the funniest aspect is the ridonculously long list of areas of research that is given as the scope of the journal. It is an alphabetic list of everything they could come up with. Botany and dance; philosophy and finance. Yup, that sounds legit, where do I sign up?
The name that they invented for the supposed managing editor is also pretty interesting, by the way. Robest Pual Ashcraft. I guess they were going for Robert Paul Ashcroft but put a typo into every word? So I may be mistaken but this could be an indication of something being off; would not be surprised to learn the journal is really run out of a garage in Pakistan or Nigeria.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Botany picture #147: Hoya kanyakumariana
Hoya kanyakumariana (Apocynaceae), Botanic Garden of Halle, Germany, 2008. Another group that I have a weakness for are the asclepiads, now treated as part of the Apocynaceae family. I guess I like them for their intricate flowers, but also for their odd pollination biology, especially in the case of the sapromyophiliac species. Hoya is a large genus (mostly?) of vines, and the botanic garden of the university where I did my first post-doc has a great collection of it.
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