German Palaeontology Poetry

Eduard Morike (1804-1875) is described by the Chambers Biographical Dictionary as "weak, hypochrondrical, unhappily married and lazy." Still, he was to make a fossil collection of about 500 specimens, and at a time when professionalism and avocational was still somewhat blurred, without formal education he still wanted a post in the natural sciences. He did make a small mark, however, in the literary arena. Carolin Duttlinger (2007, Oxford German Studies, vol. 36) examines two of his works, Der Petrefaktensammler and Gottliche Reminiscenz in Moricke's Fossils: The Poetics of Palaeontology.

Unfortunately, neither are translated in this review [Furtrher, I lack any ability to comment on matters poetic. Yet, it is quite interesting to examine from strictly historical perspectives the intertwine of science and literature, especially in the 19th century.], but Duttlinger expresses that "Fossils played a dual role" for Morike, "while they underlined the fleetingness of transience of human life, they also embodied a reassuring sense of permanence and stability in their ability to preserve the past and transcend historical change."

After his Vicar service, the intellectual pursuits led him to science, particularly palaeontology, which provided for a brief time a "therapeutic function" in retirement. Morike's poetry in conjunction was able to include scientific terminology, the blend of the aesthetic and the scientific, forming imagery that was quite unique. Further, as in Gottliche Reminiscenz, the blending of Christian thought into the mix was threatening, some "arguing that the motif of Jesus holding a fossil entails a confrontation between theology and palaeontology."

His poems reflect "on the visual art, its capacities and shortcomings, both in relation to literature and against the wider backdrop of a world whose rapid expansion of knowledge is reflected in changing conceptions of time and history."

Another one of those interesting characters who experimented with literature and science, or the oddly conceived aesthetics of scientific objects.

Prairie Atheneum - EDGE

Our local weekly, the Eastend Edge, at times offers me space to write pretty much what I want. Here is an example from February 7th issue.

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Prairie Atheneums
The cultural makeup of any given prairie town is far more diverse than most people think. When we see the dotted towns along the highway we don’t think of what they may contain. We know there is a rink, perhaps a curling rink as well. There will be at least one bank, restaurant (support for at least one male-dominated ‘coffee row’), and one grocery store, all fronted by a discontinuous line of pick-up trucks. And that’s it. That is our perception of a typical prairie town. But this would be a lie. Hidden in the recesses of coffee row, or in the living room of some nightly venture, a gathering of sorts occurs. An atheneum of thoughts are on the table.
An atheneum is a place of discourse and knowledge. We could in fact re-name libraries, if they were used beyond the myopic sources for lending books, as an Atheneum. Maybe, by this action, a library wouldn’t be so pejorative to many a young mind. “Atheneum” resonates as something higher, or at least more than a “library”. Atheneum is an activity of intelligent discourse as well as a physical store house. Atheneum is something that each town should aspire to. Atheneum is an ideal.
In an atheneum, the formality, like a book club of sorts, would only be loosely structured for discussion. The source for topics would be endless, thanks to the flooding of information through the internet. For example, in the January 14th issue of Science, the leading scientific publication in the world next to Nature, a multi-authored report on identified trends in human thought over the last 200 years. For the first time these trends are measurable and go beyond the subjective, anecdotal or suggestive. This is thanks to the internet search-engine giant Google’s digitization of over 5 million books, representing only about 4% of books ever published (there are over 5 billion words in these books). We now know that in 1900 there were 544,000 words in the English language; 597,000 in 1950, and 1,022,000 in 2000. Also, by examining the trends in the English language we are now able, for the first time, to ask questions with tangible answers like the evolution of grammar. Or, in the same issue of Science, another study showed that by simply writing down one’s worries about a high pressure test, moments before writing a test, actually improved ones test score.
The discussion points of any loosely constructed atheneum can broaden ones expression of knowledge, beyond the simple trivia collecting. And, within the small communities that which are prevalent on the prairies, the influence of expanding perceptions and thoughts will certainly manifest itself in how the community operates and its perception of itself in the world. For, rather than fitting the stereotype or the community’s history into the mass culture of a group, even a small community can create its own period of Enlightenment.
The reason why I dilly-dally down this road of discussion is that my previously held assumptions are no more. I had thought that the idea of an atheneum was only to be seen as a big city phenomena. An atheneum-like structure of skeletonized pillars, supporting the foreboding book-lined walls of a cavernous room, instantly reducing a visitor to a bowed moment of humility. But no. For the past five years there has been an Atheneum Society in our own neighboring metropolis of Medicine Hat. As I am told, it is a casual affair: “On a quarterly basis, we meet for a very nice meal, and a guest speaker”, pulling from the professional resources in the area. It can be a simple as that.
Whether in an idea form, or a physical structure, atheneum’s have existed for centuries. The exchange and discourse that occurs has led to some of the greatest advancements of thought, whether in the form of material and technology, or in the expressions, through art and literature. A vehicle to which we can consider what it means to be human in this period of time and in this little dot on the map.

The Undermining of Science

"The data reveal a pervasive reluctance of teachers to forthrightly explain evolutionary biology" the authors Berkman and Plutzer reveal. "The data further expose a cycle of ignorance in which community antievolution attitudes are perpetuated by teaching that reinforces local community sentiment" Rhetoric? No. Just the results of a recent study in Science (2011, vol. 331, p. 404-405) where biology teachers wherewithal's come under scrutiny. As one would expect, in a survey of the practices of biology teachers, there are the extreme ends of what biology teachers teach. It is no surprise that 28% of those surveyed follow consistently the (U.S.) National Science Education Standards, where evolution not only is taught, but "unabashedly" so. And in this era of blatant, hard right fundamentalism, that 13% surveyed "explicitly advocate creationism or intelligent design" in their biology classroom. But the focus of the authors wonderment is the group in the middle: the nearly 60% who really don't care one way or another, or, who are unable, and untrained to deal with the impending questions that evolution brings to the classroom.
These teachers deal with the issue in three ways; some teach evolution as only applicable to molecular biology (in absence of macroevolution of species), or as a necessary evil in teaching, or, and is more often the case, they teach "all positions - scientific or not." Remember, this is a biology classroom, not after school religious club meeting. Because of this lack of gumption and authority "The cautious 60%" the authors maintain "may play a far more important role in hindering scientific literacy in the United States than the smaller number of explicit creationists."
Its really no surprise that those teachers who have taken evolutionary biology classes are more likely, statistically, to favor teaching the subject. Those who haven't had the classes are more apt to be in the fence-straddling 60% group. "Many nonresearch institutions lack the resources to offer a stand-alone evolution course regularly, however, and such institutions educate many high school science teachers [emphasis added]." By improving the requirements for the teachers, like evolution, is essential to improving high school biology. Though the teaching of the potential teacher is not the be-all, end-all either. In the U.S., there are several national science organizations that provide resources to teachers on issues like evolution. Making a stronger connection between the teacher and the recent advances in evolutionary studies is imperative.
But maybe we should just let the kids decide, our 15-17 year old. They can explore on the Internet, have the skill set and maturity to sift through the good, the bad, and the really ugly science. They should have some say on whats being taught. Oh, wait. They are students, not teachers.

Feeding a Rex: Dead or Alive

A scavenging T. rex may diminish the real and cultural ferocity of this extinct dinosaur but that was a reasonable assumption in recent years. Would a T. rex pass up a free meal; or would he prefer the chase? A new study led by Chris Carbone, Intra-guild competition and its implication for one of the biggest terrestrial predators, Tyrannosaurus rex (also see http://www.livescience.com/animals/t-rex-hunted-prey-110125.html ) suggest that the food supply favors a hunting rex, restoring the king to its esteemed position, rather than the dumpster-diving reptile. Based on an estimate of body-size of herbivorous dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous, nearly half were in the small kg range where small theropod dinosaurs would be in direct competition with T. rex. Avoiding the challenges of competition, "T. rex and other extremely large carnivorous dinosaurs...would have primarily hunted large vertebrate prey, similar to many large mammalian carnivores in modern-day ecosystems."

A book token is worth a thousand words (or more)

From the Guardian website, the favor of books instead of toys is supported by the long history of 'book tokens'. "Book tokens are like money, but better - you can't be distracted by spontaneous non-book purchases that you'll only regret later..." writer David Barnett glee's. And, quite aptly notes, that "Buying a book "cold"," - buying one as a gift for someone who is only modestly biblio inclined - "is like buying underwear as a present - you either completely ace it or get it spectacularly, shame-inducing wrong." Book tokens to the rescue.

Closing the Books

"Up to 800 - a fifth of the total - [librairies in the UK] could close as local authorities look for savings," according to the Guardian.

Ammonite Food Viewed by X-ray Eyes

Authors Kruta et al (2011, the Role of Ammonites in the Mesozoic Marine Food Web Revealed by Jaw Preservation, Science, vol. 331, p. 70-72; also see Tanabe, 2011, The Feeding Habits of Ammonites, Science, vol. 331, p. 37-38) utilize synchrotron x-ray microtomography, the newest wonder-tool of palaeontology - to examine the innards of a small handful of Baculites, a squid-like creature with an external shell, extremely common in Late Cretaceous deposits of North America but with a much earlier origin. What they find is the buccal mass - the upper and lower jaw, and radula - which is considerably less preserved. Within one, they "document a larval shell of a gastropod and three fragments of crustaceans." Based on jaw morphology (which is often related to diet) they are able to determine that "are incompatible with biting and tearing large prey". The "buccal apparatus in Baculites" they contend "is an adaptation for capturing and eating small organisms in the water column" rather than the more aggressive snagging and consuming large prey. Favoring small organisms may have been their downfall at the end of the Cretaceous Period with "the marked ... decline in several groups of plankton."
It will be interesting to see if 1) synchrotron x-ray microtomography has the same capabilities across a wider spectrum of ammonoid species, and 2) if the feeding strategy remains the same. Whatever, this new 'paleo-toy' has great potential.