The Resources, Powers, and Limits of Science

The powers and limits of science have been identified consistently as an essential aspect of science education by the National Research Council of the National Academies, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and National Science Foundation. Their mainstream position is balanced and sensible, but it has not yet been supported with reasons. A reasoned account of science’s powers and limits must explain and secure the resources needed to support conclusions about physical objects and events. The required three resources are appropriate presuppositions, empirical evidence, and standard logic. Mainstream science faces competitors that either diminish or else aggrandize science. Consequently, the scientific merit and future prospects of the mainstream position on the powers and limits of science could be improved by defending it with reasons based on science’s resources

USING INTERACTION IN TWO-WAY DATA TABLES

Agronomists and breeders frequently collect yield data for a number of genotypes in a number of environments (site-years), resulting in a two-way data table. The Additive Main effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) model combines regular analysis of variance (ANOVA) for additive main effects with principal components analysis (PCA) for multiplicative structure within the interaction (that is, within the residual from ANOVA). AMMI is effective for (1) understanding genotype-environment interaction, (2) improving the accuracy of yield estimates, (3) increasing the probability of successfully selecting genotypes with the highest yields, (4) imputing missing data, and (5) increasing the flexibility and efficiency of experimental designs. Ultimately these advantages imply larger selection gains in breeding research and more reliable recommendations in agronomy research. AMMI is ordinarily the statistical method of choice when main effects and interaction are both important

The Resources, Powers, and Limits of Science

The powers and limits of science have been identified consistently as an essential aspect of science education by the National Research Council of the National Academies, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and National Science Foundation. Their mainstream position is balanced and sensible, but it has not yet been supported with reasons. A reasoned account of science’s powers and limits must explain and secure the resources needed to support conclusions about physical objects and events. The required three resources are appropriate presuppositions, empirical evidence, and standard logic. Mainstream science faces competitors that either diminish or else aggrandize science. Consequently, the scientific merit and future prospects of the mainstream position on the powers and limits of science could be improved by defending it with reasons based on science’s resources

T-REX: software for the processing and analysis of T-RFLP data

Softwar

Simple sequence repeats in Neurospora crassa: distribution, polymorphism and evolutionary inference

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have been successfully used for various genetic and evolutionary studies in eukaryotic systems. The eukaryotic model organism <it>Neurospora crassa </it>is an excellent system to study evolution and biological function of SSRs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified and characterized 2749 SSRs of 963 SSR types in the genome of <it>N. crassa</it>. The distribution of tri-nucleotide (nt) SSRs, the most common SSRs in <it>N. crassa</it>, was significantly biased in exons. We further characterized the distribution of 19 abundant SSR types (AST), which account for 71% of total SSRs in the <it>N. crassa </it>genome, using a Poisson log-linear model. We also characterized the size variation of SSRs among natural accessions using Polymorphic Index Content (PIC) and ANOVA analyses and found that there are genome-wide, chromosome-dependent and local-specific variations. Using polymorphic SSRs, we have built linkage maps from three line-cross populations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Taking our computational, statistical and experimental data together, we conclude that 1) the distributions of the SSRs in the sequenced N. crassa genome differ systematically between chromosomes as well as between SSR types, 2) the size variation of tri-nt SSRs in exons might be an important mechanism in generating functional variation of proteins in <it>N. crassa</it>, 3) there are different levels of evolutionary forces in variation of amino acid repeats, and 4) SSRs are stable molecular markers for genetic studies in <it>N. crassa</it>.</p

Scientific method in practice /

Includes bibliographical references (p. 410-429) and index.Brysbaert, Mar

The Presuppositions and Rationality of Science

The presuppositions of science are unprovable assumptions about the physical world and ourselves that have several vital roles. Without a basic understanding of science’s presuppositions, no accounts can be given of how science achieves full disclosure, legitimates its presuppositions, has admissible evidence, justifies any conclusions, and specifies its referents. At stake is the competence of scientists to explain science as a rational activity

Letter dated 23 January 1970 from Hugh G. Gauch to Lorenzo A. Richards

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK 20742 COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY January 23, 1970 Dr. Lorenzo A, Richards 1&55 Fifth Street Riverside, Calif 92501 Dear Ren: Thank you so very much for your real nice letter of January 20, for sending me the picture of the pressure-membrane apparatus, and for the "notable events of I969." Martha will be so interested in your letter and notable events when I get home this evening. I surely do remember Percy Skaling-despite my advance in years and in senility. Naturally, I had long since lost track of him and I was, therefore, very surprised to learn that he is President of Soilmoisture Equipment Corporation. Good for him, by golly! Susie has been married several years, works as a secretary on campus, and her husband will get out of the array in February. He will return to his job with our Computer Science Center. At the moment, Butch is working for an ecologist at Cornell University, and is thinking of getting his Ph.D. in plant ecology. After that, he and some others (in the future) plan to establish a Graduate School of Theology. Mart works part-time in Animal Science here, doing primarily computer-type work. We do send you and the family our very best wishes. Sincerely, 7f