Wanderings of a Naturalist

Was Spinoza a Naturalist?

In this article I dispute the claim, made by several contemporary scholars, that Spinoza was a naturalist. ‘Naturalism’ here refers to two distinct but related positions in contemporary philosophy. The first, ontological naturalism, is the view that everything that exists possesses a certain character (variously defined) permitting it to be defined as natural and prohibiting it from being defin...

1 Naturalist A

The naturalist in a world of genomics.

Functional genomics provides new opportunities to address issues of fundamental interest in evolutionary biology and suggests many new research directions that are ripe for evolutionary investigation. New types of data, and the ability to study biological processes from a whole genome perspective, are likely to have a profound impact on evolutionary biology and ecology. To illustrate, we discus...

Richard Owen: Victorian naturalist

Among the visitors who throng the British Museum of Natural History, to stand in awe before its spectacular displays, or marvel at its architecture, few give a thought to Richard Owen, the man who inspired the establishment of the greatest Victorian "cathedral of science". Some will notice Owen's statue and perhaps wonder what it is doing there. For surely this noble building must have been a t...

The American Midland Naturalist

—Ascertaining the functions bird song requires information about when and where a song or, for males with multisong repertoires, songs are used. Because the need for and type of communication with mates and conspecifics changes with breeding stage and social context, detailed observations may reveal differential use of song or of different song types. Our objective was to examine the use, and d...