Comments for

Comment on Medicinal Plant Use and Health Sovereignty: Findings from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs by Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:53:39 +0000

The benefits of medicinal plants are so clear and this video is evidence of that. Great post. I’ve just invested in a permaculture course to grow medicinal plants more sustainably!

Comment on Rupert Barneby: A Tribute by Dwight Ripley: From the New York School to Gilia ripleyi Barneby (and many more) «

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:35:34 +0000

[...] had written previously about Rupert Barneby and his lifelong partner, Dwight Ripley. The article I was drawing on for that post was the [...]

Comment on Current Issues Roundup by xylem_up

xylem_up — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:45:50 +0000

Well, thank you! And I don’t think your questions were simplistic at all. I, for one, was very surprised when I learned that full paragraphs of Latin description are part of the process! My guess would be that most people don’t realize this unless they have some sort of insider knowledge about botany.

And like you, I wonder about the cost of using English. I’ve no idea how prevalent it is among scientists worldwide, but I can’t imagine that *everyone* can read/write it. I’ll be interested to see how this affects work in the field.

Comment on Current Issues Roundup by Michael Gallagher

Michael Gallagher — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:48:51 +0000

Hello and many thanks for answering these questions. You mentioned that you weren’t an expert, but my questions should go far in establishing me as being the farthest thing from one! Thanks for taking the time to post.

Good to know that it was indeed only the descriptions that have changed (color, shape, arrangement, etc.) as that was perplexing me a bit. Sorry for my simplistic question there!

English would presumably have a few disadvantages, for sure. Although more common and in more circulation than Latin, there are scientists who do not speak English so that is indeed a disadvantage. Ultimately, I suspect it will be more accessible overall, but there is a cost.

Like I said, terribly kind of you to answer my simple questions coming from a decidedly non-scientific point of view. It is always good to learn more as I go along. All my best and please do continue writing your blog. We enjoy it!

Comment on Plants for the Chinese New Year: Linnaeus, lilies, bamboos, and ancient Egyptian cemeteries by Nibbles: Rice breeding, West African agriculture, Asian AnGR, Wheat breeding, Chinese semiotics, Neglected plant at NordGen, Fledermaus, PPB

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:50:26 +0000

[...] food and plant semiotics. Can’t wait for LanguageLog to get to grips with [...]

Comment on Current Issues Roundup by xylem_up

xylem_up — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:11:38 +0000

No problem, and thanks for reblogging! As for your discussion questions, I’m not sure what you mean by the first one. The naming conventions have not changed — they are still required to be binomials given in Latin. Is this hypothetical? If not, I should maybe explain it better! What changed was descriptions. Before, when a person discovered a new plant, she’d have to talk about what color various parts are, what shape and arrangement the leaves and flower parts have, any distinctive textures, etc. — all completely in Latin. So the main advantage is that someone discovering a new species doesn’t have to figure out Latin grammar, syntax and vocabulary just to log the new organism.

And I am no expert, but I do wonder about the disadvantages. The whole idea behind scientific names is to give researchers from different places and cultures a common reference point from which to discuss and research things. I suppose that English descriptions will help jumpstart the conservation process, but only as long as natural resource professionals working in the habitat of the new organism also speak English.

I’m also curious about your third question. I could see there being a problem with hypothetical English naming conventions, but don’t see descriptions as being too difficult to incorporate into the body of existing science. If you hear from an expert, though, please let me know… I’d love to hear the answer, too!

Comment on Poison ivy, Captain John Smith, and Carbon Dioxide by Michael Gallagher

Michael Gallagher — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:07:15 +0000

Good question, Doris! I think this sounds like a good research question for a followup post to this one! Many thanks for the feedback.

Comment on Poison ivy, Captain John Smith, and Carbon Dioxide by Doris

Doris — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:08:09 +0000

What happened to the poison ivy brought to England? I read it was brought there but everyone British says it does not exist there.

Comment on When Biologists Get Bombed: How to survive conservation science and field calamities by xylem_up

xylem_up — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:51 +0000

What an interesting article!

Comment on Tales of Discovery, Voluntary Battles, and Grim Academic Articles by When Biologists Get Bombed: How to survive conservation science and field calamities «

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:37:58 +0000

[...] As we know from some of these posts, the business of collecting and conservation can be a dangerous one. Ralph R. Stewart’s “How did they die?” is one of the best (as in most graphic) accounts of the various downfalls of botanists in the field and I have mentioned it before in a post. [...]