Trends

A rocky tide pool at dusk, with green anemones and an orange starfish.

Trends

Not a news ticker. Two essays that stay useful after the headline that prompted them has been forgotten.

“Trends” here means the directions a careful reader keeps meeting: philosophical problems that experiments do not dissolve, and the working habits of people who stay in the subject.

Two essays

Natural philosophyNatural philosophyWhat we mean by alive, by purpose, by a species, and by a result that has actually been settled.

A stack of closed clothbound books and a green lamp on a library table.

Biologist’s cornerBiologist’s CornerHow to read a paper, how to size a question, and which jobs exist besides the one called professor.