Cynic’s Guide to Academic Departments

I missed this, but last week Taner Edis posted a brilliant summary of academic disciplines last week. About biology, he said:

Biology: The science that explores the wonders and beauty of life itself, seeking understanding of plants and animals in their intricate complexity. Biologists mostly investigate life by looking at dead things under microscopes, and performing excruciatingly dull biochemical experiments with bits and pieces that are too small to see under microscopes.

When I read that, I thought “exactly why I became a field biologist”. Then I remembered all the time I spent looking at dead things under microscopes while trying to ID plant specimens.

Florida Science Standards

Mike O’Risal of Hyphoid Logic has a great post on the upcoming decision by the Florida Board of Education regarding the state’s science standards.  He really puts things in perspective, especially with regards to how a lack of science education affects not only the undergrads he teaches, but also the people arguing against the inclusion of the word “evolution” (or the word evolution sans “theory of”).