The author makes a claim: “it is impossible to predict how a given species will respond to environmental change.”
This claim has been shown false. The first thing that comes to mind is the bajillion fruit fly studies.
It’s basically equivalent to the claim that experiments in evolution are not repeatable. Partly true, but mostly false. The E. Coli in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment evolved the ability to live on citrate, after all. They didn’t grow wings and fly. In fact, I think one of the papers that’s come out of that experiment was an analysis showing that the rate of beneficial mutations was roughly constant.
He also displays a number of bad traits, such as appeal to authority rather than giving evidence, that sort of thing.
The author makes a claim: “it is impossible to predict how a given species will respond to environmental change.”
This claim has been shown false. The first thing that comes to mind is the bajillion fruit fly studies.
It’s basically equivalent to the claim that experiments in evolution are not repeatable. Partly true, but mostly false. The E. Coli in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment evolved the ability to live on citrate, after all. They didn’t grow wings and fly. In fact, I think one of the papers that’s come out of that experiment was an analysis showing that the rate of beneficial mutations was roughly constant.
He also displays a number of bad traits, such as appeal to authority rather than giving evidence, that sort of thing.