Author: Matt Kristoffersen
The evolutionary biologist George Williams died on Wednesday at the age of 84. He was one of the most important evolutionary biologists of the twentieth century, although he’s not a familiar name beyond scientific circles. Gently, persistently, he reformulated how we think about natural selection and its many effects. As Richard Dawkins noted today, “He was one of the great evolutionary thinkers of my lifetime.”
Continue reading “George Williams has died: Reflections and an interview”
Just quick note that I’m about to go onto the public radio show Word of Mouth a few minutes past noon EST. We’ll be talking about my recent piece in the New York Times about inclusive fitness. You can listen live from their web site or catch up later with a podcast.
Originally published September 9, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
The National Association of Science Writers will be getting together in my backyard over in New Haven in November. The lineup is coming together nicely. I pitched in a little on organizing two sessions on books, which I think will be fantastic. (I’m on one of the panels, but it would still be fantastic if I were bound and gagged in the corner.)
One of the most fascinating things about the history of life is the way distantly related species can look alike. In some cases, the similarities are superficial, and in other cases they are signs of a common ancestry. And sometimes–as in the case of our brain and the brains of worms–it’s a little of both.
On my latest podcast, I talk to Forest Rohwer, a San Diego State University scientist, about those rain forests of the sea, coral reefs. Rohwer studies the criss-crossing partnerships that keep corals alive–the animals that build the reefs, the algae that harness sunlight for them, the bacteria that make compounds and recycle waste, the fish that scrape off parasitic algae, and on and on. When you consider the hundreds of microbe species that live in each reef, corals and our own bodies become surprisingly similar. Have a listen.
Originally published September 2, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.