I'd like to post a BIG thanks to David for moderating this list. As the character, "Matt Dillon" used to say (about being a the US Marshal in frontier Dodge City) at the beginning of the old radio show, "Gunsmoke," "It's a chancey job, and a little lonely." Well, being a moderator is a largely thankless job, but it gives a center for a lot of people around the world a chance to integrate. And if ecology isn't about integration, what is, no?
The unfortunate irony of an interesting subject is that the moderator gets swamped. How he keeps up with this list and his other duties is some kind of miracle. The large volume generated by the crucial subject of the nature of scientific inquiry, especially with respect to the study of ecosystems (not to mention systems in general), might or might not have been predicted, but provided at least some reassurance that true intellectual inquiry is not yet dead. Perhaps those interested in further inquiry along this line should develop an email tree off-list? WT When complimented on one of his great tomes, Johann Goethe once remarked, "I didn't have time to write a shorter one." Perhaps we should try to take the time to lighten David's load? "Brevity is the soul of [the Inter-] net." --Anon
