Monthly Archives: September 2016

Embryogenesis Explained Feedback 1

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220px-quinzy

We sent out a message to everyone of of the 1900+ scientists we referenced in our book. Some of the answers we have gotten back have been fun to read.

Dear Richard,

I can’t imagine why you might have cited my work in ecology in Embryogenesis Explained.  You’ve certainly piqued my curiosity, though. Can you give me a hint?  :o)
Congratulations on your achievement.  I look forward to hearing back from you.
All the best,
Peter

Dear Peter,

Well, I’ve lived in Canada long enough to know how to build a quinzhee. Here’s the paragraph in Chapter 12 ending with a reference to:

Marchand, P.J. (2014). Life in the Cold: An Introduction to Winter Ecology. Hanover,  University Press of New England, 4th.

In biology, the atom is generally the level at which we start our studies.

The energies involved in splitting atoms or fusing atomic nuclei releases

ionizing radiation which damages living organisms. So we think of

organisms as made up of stable atoms, and usually do not have to trouble

our thoughts with what is going on at lower, subatomic levels. Exceptions

are when we have to think about the key role of natural background

radiation in generating mutations, and thus in evolution23. This energy

also keeps the ground warm in winter (ref 24), permitting life to go on under

the snow (ref 25).

This is part of the background setting up reductionism vs holism in solving embryogenesis. The rub is that quantum mechanics is holistic, as I show. Had this checked by a friend who writes books on quantum mechanics.

While it’s not my forte, I have taught Pollution Biology, and learned some ecology in the process. There seems to be a nice overlapping field of ecoembryology waiting to be developed. I coined the word while writing a grant application:

Rudloe, J., N.K. Björklund-Gordon, R. Gordon, A. Hodges, M. Hodges, K. Lu, E.W. Cake & C. Rudloe (2013). A Vision for Sustainable Farming of Oysters Along Florida’s Forgotten Coast: A Restore Act Proposal. Panacea, Florida,  Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory.

which didn’t get funded. I suspect that oyster embryos differ in salinity tolerance depending on the salinity in which their mothers existed, and that seeding with spat would be more successful if this were understood.
So that’s the tale, and you might enjoy our book. Thanks.
Yours, -Dick Gordon

Embryogenesis Explained is printed!

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We got an email message today from someone who had preordered their copy of our book Embryogenesis Explained. His copy has arrived and he was reading it and enjoying it! How exciting is that? Our own personal copies are somewhere in transit. Hopefully they will arrive in Alonsa shortly.

We are also sending out a personal email to every single one of the over 1900 scientists whose work is cited in the book. This assumes that they are still with us, as some have gone on to that great laboratory in the sky. And it also assumes that we can find a correct email. Some of these scientists are retired and some have vanished from academia, or are students who have graduated and gone on to other careers.

We are also sending out emails inviting book reviewers. If you are a scientist or someone interested in science written at a popular level and would like do a review for publication, we can arrange for you to have a free copy for review purposes. Just contact us and we can start the ball rolling.

If you use the code WSGSML20 you will get a 20% discount. The code is good until December 31.