Testing Book-smarts with Observation: John Ray (1735) on the Value of Knowledge Creation

Should professors at universities actively participate in generating and testing ideas, or should they content themselves with being teachers of established knowledge? Many higher educational institutions, including the one employing me, grapple with the ongoing challenge of balancing the encouragement of knowledge creation and the dissemination of existing knowledge. To phrase it differently, am I... Continue Reading →

Thoughts on Baraminology

A month ago or so I read an interesting article that got me thinking about the young earth creationists (YEC) view of the extent of the biblical term “kind.”  I wrote up some comments which you can see below. Apparently there has been a creation study group that has actively been asking the question what... Continue Reading →

John Ray – definition of a species

What a species is has been debated for centuries but John Ray was the first person to produce a biological definition of what a species is.   In his 1686 History of plants he states: "..no surer criterion for determining species has occurred to me than the distinguishing features that perpetuate themselves in propagation from seed.... Continue Reading →

Up ↑