Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
by Greg Mayer Much of the time while Jerry was in Hawaii, I was traveling in New York and New England, including attending Evolution 2019 in Providence, RI, the annual joint meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, the American Society of Naturalists, and the Society of Systematic Biology. The opening night is … Continue reading Live Long and Evolve
It’s Caturday again, and I hope ailurophiles, who must surely comprise many readers, look at this weekly feature. Today we have a special Simon’s Cat cartoon, showing when Simon’s cat was first adopted. Unsatisfied with making model ships, and remembering his own childhood cat, Simon goes to the adoption center to find a moggie. He … Continue reading Caturday felid trifecta: Simon’s cat at adoption; violin practice with kitten; Maine Coon cat joins Star Trek
Like every other evolution, behavior, and ecology society, the American Society of Naturalists (ASN) is going woke—engaging in performative acts that do nothing to deal with inequality but sure do a lot to flaunt virtue. This time, however, they’re getting ahead of the curve, for they’ve decided that all their annual awards—and there are six … Continue reading A woke and fearful scientific society removes the names of famous scientists from all its awards
I have to brag a bit in the title because if you say a paper is an “oldie,” you have to also say “it’s a goodie”. But I think this one is—it’s the first of two papers I wrote with my then-grad-student Allen Orr on the time course of speciation in Drosophila. And it’s one … Continue reading Revisiting an old paper, but a good one
Good morning on Thursday, July 29, 2021: National Lasagna Day (culturally appropriated). It’s also National Chicken Wing Day, National Chili Dog Day (two American comfort foods), National Lipstick Day, and International Tiger Day. News of the Day: There might be hope yet for Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Yesterday the Senate voted 67 to 32 … Continue reading Thursday: Hili dialogue
Here are some miscellaneous pictures from CoyneFest this weekend. There will be at least one more installment. Photos were contributed by Andrew Berry, Mohamed Noor and me (first two). Reader Su Gould and artist Tubby Fleck designed awesome “I can haz retirement” buttons for the attendees and speakers, available for a small donation to Doctors … Continue reading Moar CoyneFest
Today is October 15, 2016, the last day of Coynefest, which will repair after lunch to a big cabin in the Indiana woods for PARTY TIME! Here’s a photo from yesterday’s festivities, which reminds me a bit of the Crucifixion panel in the Isenheim Altarpiece. Front left: Bruce Grant, my undergraduate mentor at William & Mary, … Continue reading Saturday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)
A while back I announced that there would be a symposium at the University of Chicago to celebrate—if that’s the right word—my retirement. The time and place, announced before, are the same: Friday, October 14, 2016 – 9:00 am until 5:00 pm Saturday, October 15, 2016 – 9:30 am until 11:00 am Location: Gordon Center … Continue reading CoyneFest schedule, October 14-15
We all hear that traditional college lectures are on the way out. I don’t know the facts, but I’m told that they’re not nearly as “educational” as “active learning” experiences, in which students use computers or teach each other, or as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), in which a professor lectures online and the students take … Continue reading Molly Worthen defends the traditional college lecture
I’m happy to see that my second Ph.D student, Dr. Mohamed Noor (now chair of biology at Duke) is again offering his immensely popular “Introduction to Genetics and Evolution” course online, as a MOOC (I hate that word!). The course will start on January 2 of next year and extend until March 23, and I’ve … Continue reading Duke again offers free Coursera course: “Introduction to genetics and evolution”
