Category Archives: natural history

November 30, 2016

Release Party: The Science of Sympathy, by Rob Boddice

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The new UIP book The Science of Sympathy takes readers back to the Victorian Era and into the arguments over sympathy’s place in Darwinist reconsiderations of science and humanity. Charles Darwin placed sympathy at the crux of morality in a … Continue reading →

November 8, 2016

200 Years of Illinois: The other black gold

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in Illinois / regional, natural history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on 200 Years of Illinois: The other black gold

On November 8, 1810, the first recorded load of Illinois coal reached the market in New Orleans. The event may sound ordinary, but it represented a significant pivot in state history. Coal would go on to become an important business, … Continue reading →

October 12, 2016

200 Years of Illinois: White Squirrel Roundup

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This weekend, citizens in Olney will begin the annual census of the town’s famous albino squirrel population, to see just how the white varmints have fared over the past year. White squirrels have a presence in Olney. They appear on … Continue reading →

June 13, 2016

Ghost Stories for Darwin awarded Fleck Prize

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in authors, awards, gender studies, natural history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Ghost Stories for Darwin awarded Fleck Prize

Banu Subramaniam is the winner of the 2016 Ludwik Fleck prize for her book Ghost Stories for Darwin: The Science of Variation and the Politics of Diversity. The Fleck Prize is the oldest 4S book prize awarded to an outstanding book … Continue reading →

April 21, 2016

Throwbacklist Thursday: Call of the Mild

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in Illinois / regional, natural history, photography | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Throwbacklist Thursday: Call of the Mild

Until climate change renders snowball fights the exclusive preserve of those able to climb K2, May will remain the most welcome of months, for have mercy, it is spring. Natural history, now observable without misery, returns to the forefront of our … Continue reading →

May 26, 2014

Volvariella bombycina, a silky haired and stately mushroom

Posted by sfast
in Illinois / regional, Mushroom Monday, natural history, new books, photography | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Volvariella bombycina, a silky haired and stately mushroom

Volvariella bombycina (Schaeffer) Singer [The cap is] oval at first, becoming bell-shaped to broadly complex or nearly flat; whitish or tinged yellowing to brownish in age; the margin not lined; dry; covered with silky hairs. Volvariella bombycina sounds like a nickname … Continue reading →

May 5, 2014

Mushroom season! Get up, get into it, get your Morganella pyriformis

Posted by sfast
in Illinois / regional, natural history, photography | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Mushroom season! Get up, get into it, get your Morganella pyriformis

Morganella pyriformis (Schaeffer) Kreisel & D. Kruger The habitat on wood and the abundant white rhizomorphs make this puffball easy to identify. Morganella versus Lycoperdon. It’s the mycologist’s version of pepperoni or sausage, Godzilla or Mechagodzilla, Tastes Great or Less Filling. A … Continue reading →