----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane Shevtsov" <[email protected]>
To: "Wayne Tyson" <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 9:24 PM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Advancing Theory Irony? Re: [ECOLOG-L] Advancing
theory in biology (NSF)
Hi Wayne,
For those of us who haven't read Johnson (or at least not the book
you're referring to), can you please summarize his ideas or link to an
article?
Thanks,
Jane
On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 5:26 PM, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wayne Tyson" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 5:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Advancing Theory Irony? Re: [ECOLOG-L]
> Advancing
> theory in biology (NSF)
>
>
> What is NSF's track record with respect to advancing theory in biology,
> how
> will the suggested requirements get there, and do Johnson's
> pronouncements
> with respect to how good ideas (such as advancing theory in biology)
> come
> about hold
> up compared to those which drive the NSF structure?
>
> WT
>
> PS: No straw men, please. I am not suggesting that NSF funding be cut;
> I
> am
> suggesting that (for example) an application procedure that opens up
> the
> possibilities Johnson suggests might have potential for bearing more
> QUALITATIVE fruit.
>
>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "malcolm McCallum" <[email protected]>
>> To: <[email protected]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 7:25 AM
>> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Advancing Theory Irony? Re: [ECOLOG-L]
>> Advancing
>> theory in biology (NSF)
>>
>>
>>> what exactly are you asking?
>>> Are you are suggesting in a hidden way that NSF is a waste of money?
>>> Being someone who has reviewed a few NSF grants, but having got most
>>> of
>>> my
>>> research $$ elsewhere I'ld say it is still one of, if not the most
>>> important
>>> scientific organizations in the US. Considering the pittance that is
>>> allocated to this agency, there is no room for complaint. It may be
>>> one
>>> of
>>> the few truly objective government agencies because the politicians
>>> have
>>> little to say about what they do....compared to other agencies where
>>> politicians can re-write reports for example. Further, they actually
>>> evaluate whether funding something is worthwhile....see the long
>>> humorous
>>> history of the Bradley fighting vehicle. Talk about a waste. They
>>> flooded
>>> money into a vehicle which the govt's own audit revealed was a
>>> useless
>>> vehicle. They then redesigned it again to have the thing out there
>>> today
>>> which has no resemblance to the transport originally funded. If an
>>> NSF
>>> funded researcher completely turned its project upside down and
>>> didn't
>>> follow the proposal that was originally funded, I suspect the
>>> investigator's
>>> funding would be revoked. However, the responsible parties involved
>>> with
>>> the Bradley continued to throw money at it. At one time the Bradley
>>> was
>>> a
>>> transport that was slow, tall, heavy, barely armored, and which could
>>> only
>>> transport a couple of soldiers! Now it is basically a tank. So, I
>>> ask,
>>> if
>>> NSF funded one of us to produce a transport and we used the money to
>>> make
>>> a
>>> tank.....what would happen? There is plenty of waste in the
>>> government,
>>> and
>>> usually most of it is found in those with the most funding. Those
>>> with
>>> levels like NSF have little to waste.
>>>
>>> :)
>>>
>>>
>>> Malcolm McCallum
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 10:28 PM, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> If Steven Johnson is right about Where Good Ideas Come From,
>>>> "Houston,
>>>> we
>>>> have a problem."
>>>>
>>>> If SJ is wrong, we should expect a clamor for the stimulus dough,
>>>> and a
>>>> flock of applications . . . er, proposals. The real nutcases won't
>>>> bother,
>>>> and those who harbor ill-fitting concepts will be rejected . . . or
>>>> will
>>>> reject the premise.
>>>>
>>>> In any case (or guess) the proof will be in the demonstration of the
>>>> validity of the prediction. How many revolutions hath NSF wrought?
>>>>
>>>> WT
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Inouye" <[email protected]>
>>>> To: <[email protected]>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 3:21 PM
>>>> Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Advancing theory in biology (NSF)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This is the final year of the Advancing Theory in Biology
>>>>> competition. The Directorate for Biological Sciences will continue
>>>>> to
>>>>> encourage proposals that develop new theory to account for
>>>>> independent phenomena at two or more levels of biological
>>>>> organization. These should be submitted to the appropriate core
>>>>> program(s) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences for review.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11523/nsf11523.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
>>>>>
>>>>> Dr. David W. Inouye
>>>>> Program Director
>>>>> Population and Community Ecology Cluster
>>>>> Division of Environmental Biology
>>>>> National Science Foundation
>>>>> 4201 Wilson Boulevard
>>>>> Arlington, VA 22230
>>>>>
>>>>> [email protected]
>>>>> 703-292-8570
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Malcolm L. McCallum
>>> Managing Editor,
>>> Herpetological Conservation and Biology
>>>
>>> "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" -
>>> Allan
>>> Nation
>>>
>>> 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert
>>> 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss,
>>> and pollution.
>>> 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction
>>> MAY help restore populations.
>>> 2022: Soylent Green is People!
>>>
>>> Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any
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>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
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>
--
-------------
Jane Shevtsov
Ecology Ph.D. candidate, University of Georgia
co-founder, <www.worldbeyondborders.org>
Check out my blog, <http://perceivingwholes.blogspot.com>Perceiving
Wholes
"The whole person must have both the humility to nurture the
Earth and the pride to go to Mars." --Wyn Wachhorst, The Dream
of Spaceflight
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