Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose
In order to plan for the future, we must understand the past. This paper investigates the manner in which both naturalists and the wider community view one of the most intriguing of all questions: what makes a species special? Consideration is given to the essentialist view—a rigid perspective and a...
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Molecular Diversity Preservation International
2012
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/h1030145 |
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2076-0787/1/3/145/ 2023-08-20T04:05:32+02:00 Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose John Buckeridge Rob Watts 2012-10-15 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/h1030145 EN eng Molecular Diversity Preservation International https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/h1030145 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Humanities; Volume 1; Issue 3; Pages: 145-165 species concept organic evolution history of biology goose barnacles barnacle geese Aristotle Charles Darwin Linnaeus Text 2012 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/h1030145 2023-07-31T20:30:16Z In order to plan for the future, we must understand the past. This paper investigates the manner in which both naturalists and the wider community view one of the most intriguing of all questions: what makes a species special? Consideration is given to the essentialist view—a rigid perspective and ancient, Aristotelian perspective—that all organisms are fixed in form and nature. In the middle of the 19th century, Charles Darwin changed this by showing that species are indeed mutable, even humans. Advances in genetics have reinforced the unbroken continuum between taxa, a feature long understood by palaeontologists; but irrespective of this, we have persisted in utilizing the ‘species concept’—a mechanism employed primarily to understand and to manipulate the world around us. The vehicles used to illustrate this journey in perception are the barnacle goose (a bird), and the goose barnacle (a crustacean). The journey of these two has been entwined since antiquity—in folklore, religion, diet and even science. Text Barnacle goose MDPI Open Access Publishing Humanities 1 3 145 165 |
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species concept organic evolution history of biology goose barnacles barnacle geese Aristotle Charles Darwin Linnaeus |
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species concept organic evolution history of biology goose barnacles barnacle geese Aristotle Charles Darwin Linnaeus John Buckeridge Rob Watts Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose |
topic_facet |
species concept organic evolution history of biology goose barnacles barnacle geese Aristotle Charles Darwin Linnaeus |
description |
In order to plan for the future, we must understand the past. This paper investigates the manner in which both naturalists and the wider community view one of the most intriguing of all questions: what makes a species special? Consideration is given to the essentialist view—a rigid perspective and ancient, Aristotelian perspective—that all organisms are fixed in form and nature. In the middle of the 19th century, Charles Darwin changed this by showing that species are indeed mutable, even humans. Advances in genetics have reinforced the unbroken continuum between taxa, a feature long understood by palaeontologists; but irrespective of this, we have persisted in utilizing the ‘species concept’—a mechanism employed primarily to understand and to manipulate the world around us. The vehicles used to illustrate this journey in perception are the barnacle goose (a bird), and the goose barnacle (a crustacean). The journey of these two has been entwined since antiquity—in folklore, religion, diet and even science. |
format |
Text |
author |
John Buckeridge Rob Watts |
author_facet |
John Buckeridge Rob Watts |
author_sort |
John Buckeridge |
title |
Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose |
title_short |
Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose |
title_full |
Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose |
title_fullStr |
Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose |
title_full_unstemmed |
Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose |
title_sort |
illuminating our world: an essay on the unraveling of the species problem, with assistance from a barnacle and a goose |
publisher |
Molecular Diversity Preservation International |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/h1030145 |
genre |
Barnacle goose |
genre_facet |
Barnacle goose |
op_source |
Humanities; Volume 1; Issue 3; Pages: 145-165 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/h1030145 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/h1030145 |
container_title |
Humanities |
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1 |
container_issue |
3 |
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145 |
op_container_end_page |
165 |
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1774716067493445632 |