Monday, August 8, 2022

A short sentence from Linnaeus

 Linnaeus said: “There is no such thing as a new species.” 

Our conception of biology is barely imaginable without Linnaeus. Nevertheless that sentence is in my notebook. I turn to it as a reminder that even a genius can be confident about beliefs that are simply wrong. Or confident about concepts that turn out to be muddles.

at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Another thing a writer might learn

 In 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a letter to his friend and editor in London, telling him about a slender gentleman who sauntered out ...

  • When Willa Cather's life began
     Willa Cather had a maxim: “Life began for me when I ceased to admire and began to remember.” She liked what the Greeks called  anamnesis , ...
  • Anthony Griffin: 'The Water Cries'
     Anthony Griffin set out to answer a couple of simple research questions: How many auction houses sold enslaved people in Galveston, Texas? ...
  • After the election
      People who are disappointed by elections ought to be careful about what they say — not out of fear of tyrants but out of concern for sprea...