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ECCO PERCHÉ I CANI FANNO LA PIPÌ SULLE RUOTE DELLE MACCHINE L’uomo e il suo rapporto con gli altri animali e le leggi della natura
Full text linkFrom Darwin’s Origin of Species towards a theory of natural history. F1000 Prime Reports
No full textDarwin is the father of evolutionary theory because he identified evolutionary patterns and, with
Natural Selection, he ascertained the exquisitely ecological ultimate processes that lead to evolution.
The proximate processes of evolution he proposed, however, predated the discovery of genetics, the
backbone of modern evolutionary theory. The later discovery of the laws of inheritance by Mendel
and the rediscovery of Mendel in the early 20th century led to two reforms of Darwinism: Neo-
Darwinism and the Modern Synthesis (and subsequent refinements). If Darwin’s evolutionary thought
required much refinement, his ecological insight is still very modern. In the first edition of The Origin
of Species, Darwin did not use either the word “evolution” or the word “ecology”. “Ecology” was not
coined until after the publication of the Origin. Evolution, for him, was the origin of varieties, then
species, which he referred to as well-marked varieties, whereas, instead of using ecology, he used
“the economy of nature”. The Origin contains a high proportion of currently accepted ecological
principles. Darwin labelled himself a naturalist. His discipline (natural history) was a blend of ecology
and evolution in which he investigated both the patterns and the processes that determine the
organization of life. Reductionist approaches, however, often keep the two disciplines separated from
each other, undermining a full understanding of natural phenomena that might be favored by blending
ecology and evolution through the development of a modern Theory of Natural History based on
Darwin’s vision of the study of life
"The author guides the reader through the fascinating theme of anthropogenic and natural sources of..." Evaluation of: [Hildebrand JA. Anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient noise in the ocean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser. 2009; 395; doi: 10.3354/meps08353]. Faculty of 1000, 02 Mar 2010. F1000.com/2111967
No full textOpen access revolutions
Full text linkOpen Access (OA) databases and publications are revolutionizing the storage and
communication of scientific results. OA databases of physical and chemical measurements have
been available for a long time, thanks to automated procedures of data acquisition and processing,
whereas this is still not possible with marine biodiversity data. The pay-per-view policy is being
replaced by the pay-to-be-viewed policy, with authors paying the expenses of the OA to their
work. The ethical side of OA is clear: the whole world should be able to profit from new knowledge,
not only those who can afford it, especially because research is often paid with public funds.
Since funding agencies increasingly ask their beneficiaries to publish their work with OA, OA
journals with unclear quality standards are proliferating, and some are publishing unreliable
results. Private companies, with either pay-per-view (Scopus, The Web of Knowledge) or OA
(Google Scholar) policies, rate the outputs of research. Funding agencies (e.g. Wellcome) are
experimenting a further development of the OA strategy, launching OA platforms that they manage
directly, with signed peer reviews. Similar experiments are being conducted with databases
of raw data. Public funding agencies should also fully embrace this policy. OA policies are still
developing, but the route towards a more democratic fashion of making the results of scientific
research openly available is mapped out
Scientists can be free, but only once they are tenured
Full text linkThe frenzy for evaluation metrics recognizes the value of research based on the
impact factor of the journals that publish the results. Only some areas of science are conducive to
publication in the best tribunes. In biology, for instance, organismal biology, or taxonomy, are not
very fashionable, whereas molecular or global approaches are trendy. The citation system to
measure the quality of a scientist’s work is based on the acceptance of what is published: the more
the rest of the scientific community likes it, the higher the value. In this framework there is little
space for deviation from norms. Some examples are given here, within the fields of ecology and
evolutionary biology, that show how difficult it is to enforce ideas, either new or old, that do not
follow mainstream thought. In order to obtain tenure it is advisable to conform to mainstream, and
publish your results in journals with high impact factors. New things can be attempted ‘after’
tenure has been granted; but ‘after’ is very often ‘too late’
"Macroecology describes large-scale patterns, but microecology is fundamental to understand processes. In view of the..." Evaluation of: [Paine RT. Macroecology: does it ignore or can it encourage further ecological syntheses based on spatially local experimental manipulations? (American Society of Naturalists address). Am Nat. 2010 Oct; 176(4):385-93; doi: 10.1086/656273]. Faculty of 1000, 24 Sep 2010. F1000.com/5203956
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