Among the many obligations keeping me away from the blog is the nearly-completed overhaul of my web site, carlzimmer.com. Along with information on my books and talks, the site also has an archive of the past few years of my articles. I’ve made my way back to 2001, and I am continuing to push back further. It’s a strange experience to look back over many dozens of stories that all seemed rather cutting-edge at the time. In some cases, they’ve been outstripped so starkly by later research that they seem almost like time capsules now. In other cases, further research hasn’t really pushed the boundary of knowledge much more.
Here is a selection of pieces, one a year back to 2001, that you may find enjoyable:
Jurassic Genome, Science, March 9, 2007
“A Fin Is A Limb Is A Wing,” National Geographic, November 2006
“Children Learn by Monkey See, Monkey Do. Chimps Don’t,” New York Times, December 13, 2005
“Faith-Boosting Genes,” Scientific American, October 2004
“What If Something Is Going On In There?” New York Times Magazine, September 28, 2003
Crystal Balls, Natural History, April 2002
“The Fine Art of Waddling,” Natural History, March 2001
As always, feel free to shoot any typos you catch my way.
Originally published April 26, 2007. Copyright 2007 Carl Zimmer.