Title: Signs of Life
This just in.
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Signs of Life: the Role of Paleobiology
in the History of Evolutionary Theory and our Attempts to Understand
the Changing Nature of the Biosphere
A proposal will shortly be submitted to the Geological Society of
America to include a topical session on this theme in the
program for its Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington. This
meeting will be held from Sunday to Wednesday, November 2-5,
2003. The session will be sponsored by the History of
Geology Division of GSA. Other divisions and affiliated
societies with interests in this field will be invited to co-sponsor
the session.
Short description:
Fossils are static, inanimate objects. The purpose of this
session is to explore the ways in which they have been brought to
life. Studies of earlier work, not characterized as paleobiology
when it was done, will set the stage for a critical assessment of the
accomplishments of 20th Century paleobiology.
If you are interested in participating in this session, if you
would like more information, or if you would like to suggest a topic
or speaker to be included in the session, please contact Roger Thomas
(roger.thomas@fandm.edu) immediately.
Here is a somewhat longer rationale:
First and foremost, fossils are records of ancient life,
notwithstanding the fact that they are also important stratigraphic
and paleoenvironmental indicators. The interpretation of fossils
as once-living organisms, members of biological communities, and
evidence of patterns of evolutionary change has advanced dramatically
in recent decades. This is a consequence of new discoveries, the
application of new techniques and modes of analysis, and lively
interaction between paleontologists and biologists. The purpose
of this topical session is to develop scholarly interest in the
history of paleobiology, focusing on the 20th Century in particular.
Much excellent scholarly work has already been done on earlier
developments in this field, extending back to the Renaissance and even
the Classical world. Papers on aspects of this earlier history
will be included in the session, in order to give it a broader scope
and a proper context. Paleobiological research has a long and
rich tradition, extending back far beyond the relatively recent
recognition of paleobiology as a distinctive discipline.
The main object of this session is to stimulate new historical
research and analysis, so reports of work in progress are as
appropriate as accounts of completed projects. Consequently, we
do not currently have plans to publish the papers presented in this
session, as such. However, we do anticipate that this enterprise
will lead in due course to the production of one or more books.
The Geological Society of America permits us to include up to four
invited papers in sessions of this kind. The session can extend
over a half or a full day, depending on the number of contributed
papers we receive. A formal call for papers will be sent out
over Paleonet and subsequently by GSA as soon as the session has been
approved.
Here are some potential topics. This list focuses on the history
of ideas. However, please do not assume that we are uninterested
in the roles of professional institutions, field and laboratory
practice, sources of support for research, or the social, political
and philosophical contexts that have influenced the history of this
field.
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Renaissance images of relics of former
worlds, variously construed
William Buckland's paleobiological actualism
Darwin's use of the fossil record, reconsidered
Dinosaur physiology and behavior: Mantell, Owen, Leidy and Huxley
Late 19th Century neolamarckism
Ernst Haeckel, idealistic morphology and the biogenetic law and
"recapitulation"
The roles of competition and cooperation (Russian school) in
evolutionary change
The Paläobiologie of Dacque, Abel and Richter
Paleobiology and the "New Synthesis"
Discovery that the Archaean was not Azoic: zeroing in on the origin of
life?
Punctuated evolution and gradualism
Extinction and evolutionary innovation
Quantitative analysis of macroevolutionary trends: distinguishing
facts from artifacts
Paleobiology and the "Idea of Progress"
Molecular clocks and the timing of phyletic divergence: who guards the
guardians?
Paleobiology and the evolution of developmental patterns
Patterns of discovery of fossil hominids and their influence on
evolutionary theory
Changes in the audience(s) for paleobiology and their influence on the
discipline
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If you got to this point in the message, thanks for your interest!
Kind regards, Roger Thomas
--
Roger D. K. Thomas
John Williamson Nevin Professor of Geosciences
Editor, "Historical Biology"
Department of Geosciences
Franklin & Marshall College
Lancaster
Pennsylvania 17604-3003
FAX: 717-291-4186
Office telephone: 717-291-4135
Home telephone: 717-560-0486
http://www.fandm.edu/Departments/Geosciences/facultyandstaff/r_thomas/index.html
--
___________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Norman MacLeod
Keeper of Palaeontology
The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD
(0)20-7942-5204 (Office)
(0)20-7942-5546 (Fax)
N.MacLeod@nhm.ac.uk (e-mail)
Web Page: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/a&ss/nm/nm.html
NHM Palaeo. Dept. BURP Update:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/burp.html
___________________________________________________________________________