Thesis defense: 50th anniversary

Today is the 50th anniversary of my Ph.D. oral defense. The event took place in the Department of Biochemical Sciences at Princeton University back in 1974. It began with a departmental seminar. When the seminar was over I retired with my committee to a small classroom for the oral exam.

I don't remember everyone who was on my committee. My Ph.D. supervisor (Bruce Alberts) was there, as was my second reader, Abe Worcel. I know Uli Laemmli was there and so was Arnie Levine. I'm pretty sure the external member of the committee was Nancy Nossal from NIH in Bethesda, MD (USA). It's a bit of a blur after all these years.

I remember being fairly confident about the exam. After five and a half years I was pretty sure that everyone on my committee wanted to get rid of me and the easiest way to do that was to let me pass. Bruce stood to gain $3000 per year of research money and Uli was going to get back the basement of his house where I had been living for the past month after getting kicked out of the married graduate students housing project for taking too long to complete my thesis.

The toughest questions were from Uli Laemmli, which should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows him. He has this annoying habit of expecting people to understand the basic physics and chemistry behind the biochemical sciences. Fortunately, my inability to answer most of his questions didn't deter him from voting to pass me.

My father on D-Day: 75 years ago

Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day—the day British, Canadian, and American troops landed on the beaches of Normandy.¹

For us baby boomers it always meant a day of special significance for our parents. In my case, it was my father who took part in the invasions. That's him on the right as he looked in 1944. He was an RAF pilot flying rocket-firing typhoons in close support of the ground troops. His missions were limited to quick strikes and reconnaissance during the first few days of the invasion because Normandy was at the limit of their range from southern England. During the second week of the invasion (June 14th) his squadron landed in Crepon, Normandy and things became very hectic from then on with several close support missions every day [see Hawker Hurricanes and Typhoons in World War II].

Most popular Sandwalk posts of 2018

Blogging was light last year because I was busy with other things and because the popularity of blogs is declining rapidly. The most popular post, based on the number of views, garnered only 9229 views, which is more than the most popular post of 2017 but only half as much as the most popular post of 2016. The post with the most comments (53) has almost 10X fewer comments than posts from a few years ago but that's partly because more people are commenting on Facebook and because I'm restricting blog comments in various ways.

Most popular Sandwalk posts of 2017

I was looking at some of my posts from the past few years and wondered which ones were the most popular. I had previously identified the most popular post of 2016 but not the most popular ones from 2017 so here they are.

The one with the most views (7481) is a link to a video by Michio Kaku who tells us that humans have stopped evolving [Another physicist teaches us about evolution].

The one with the most comments (259) is a post about my attempts to teach a creationist about glycolysis and evolution [Trying to educate a creationist (Otangelo Grasso)].

The post that I'm most proud of is: Historical evolution is determined by chance events

---

My DNA story

This is the latest update from Ancestry.com. Their algorithms are getting better and better. This corresponds very closely to what I know of my ancestors.

---

Who wants "A Sad Case: Owen vs Huxley" pamphlet and a possible Darwin letter?

A friend has a neighbor who's in possession of a pamphlet from 1863 on the Owen vs Huxley debate. The text of the pamphlet is here: A Report of A SAD CASE, Recently tried before the Lord Mayor, OWEN versus HUXLEY, In which will be found fully given the Merits of the great Recent BONE CASE. A photocopy of the pamphlet is shown below along with a possible letter from Charles Darwin (I have not authenticated the letter).

The owners are willing to donate the material to a worthy cause, preferably a museum if it's valuable. Does anyone know of a worthy home?

---

I'm going to a birthday party!

It's Bruce Alberts' 80th birthday party in San Francisco. There will be food, wine, cake, and (probably) dancing but first you go to the symposium on education.

Bruce Alberts’ 80th Birthday Gathering and Symposium
Saturday, April 14
Symposium on Science Education and Science Policy in Honor of Bruce Alberts’ 80th Birthday
(At the Metropolitan Club, 640 Sutter St., San Francisco 94102)

9a Guests arrive and register

10a Introduction by Master of Ceremonies Gregor Eichele

10:10a Session 1 How do we convey the importance of science to the public?
Moderator: Maureen Munn
Panelists: Janet Coffey, Will Colglazier, Janet English, Caroline Kiehle

11:40a Break

12p Buffet Lunch served in the Garden Room

1:30p Session 2 Innovations in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Moderators: Doug Kellogg and Kimberly Tanner.
Panelists: Judy Miner, Sally Pasion (one more panelist TBA)

2:30p Coffee and tea break

3p Session 3 Challenges Facing the Next Generation of Scientists
Moderators: Cynthia Fuhrmann and Bill Theurkauf.
Panelists: Marc Kirschner, Barry Selick, Nolan Sigal

4p Break

4:30p Session 4 Science Policy
Moderators: Mary Maxon and Jason Rao
Panelists: Bill Colglazier, Haile Debas, Donna Riordan, Keith Yamamoto

5:30p Elaine Bearer’s Duet for clarinet and viola: “Replication Machine”

6:15p Reception at Metropolitan Club Bar (4th Floor)

7p Buffet Dinner (Metropolitan Club Main Dining Hall — 4th Floor) Ending at 9:30p.

Sunday, April 15

10a - 2p Drop-in Brunch for all hosted at Beth Alberts’ home

---

Photo: Bruce Alberts with his first three graduate students: Glenn Herrick (right), Keith Yamamoto (left), Larry Moran (middle right), Bruce Alberts (middle left).

Happy Darwin Day 2018!

Charles Darwin, the greatest scientist who ever lived, was born on this day in 1809 [Darwin still spurs tributes, debates] [Happy Darwin Day!] [Darwin Day 2017]. Darwin is mostly famous for two things: (1) he described and documented the evidence for evolution and common descent and (2) he provided a plausible scientific explanation of evolution—the theory of natural selection. He put all this in a book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published in 1859—a book that spurred a revolution in our understanding of the natural world.

Modern evolutionary theory has advanced well beyond Darwin's theory but he still deserves to be honored for being the first to explain evolution and promote it in a way that convinced others. Here's one passage from the introduction to Origin of Species.

Although much remains obscure, and will long remain obscure, I can entertain no doubt, after the most deliberate and dispassionate study of which I am capable, that the view which most naturalists entertain, and which I formerly entertained—namely, that each species has been independently created—is erroneous. I am fully convinced that species are not immutable; but that those belonging to what are called the same genera are lineal descendants of some other and generally extinct species, in the same manner as the acknowledged varieties of any one species are the descendants of that species. Furthermore, I am convinced that Natural Selection has been the main but not exclusive means of modification.

---

What's in Your Genome?: Chapter 4: Pervasive Transcription (revised)

I'm working (slowly) on a book called What's in Your Genome?: 90% of your genome is junk! The first chapter is an introduction to genomes and DNA [What's in Your Genome? Chapter 1: Introducing Genomes ]. Chapter 2 is an overview of the human genome. It's a summary of known functional sequences and known junk DNA [What's in Your Genome? Chapter 2: The Big Picture]. Chapter 3 defines "genes" and describes protein-coding genes and alternative splicing [What's in Your Genome? Chapter 3: What Is a Gene?].

Chapter 4 is all about pervasive transcription and genes for functional noncoding RNAs. I've finally got a respectable draft of this chapter. This is an updated summary—the first version is at: What's in Your Genome? Chapter 4: Pervasive Transcription.

Winter is coming ... I want this for Xmas (or whenever)

---

To toss or not to toss?

Now that I'm officially retired I've been cleaning out my office at the university and transferring all the important stuff to my home office. I'm taking advantage of this opportunity to throw out everything that I don't want any more. Eventually I'll have to vacate my university office because it's due to be renovated and transferred to another department.

Some stuff is easy to toss out and some stuff is easy to keep. It's the other stuff that causes a problem. Here's an example ....

These are the manuals that came with my very first PC back in 1981. I know I'll never use them but I'm kinda attached to them. Are they antiques yet?

---

talk.origins evolves

The newsgroup talk.origins was created more than 30 years ago. It's been a moderated newsgroup for the past twenty years. The moderator is David Greig and the server, named "Darwin," has been sitting in my office for most of that time. I retired on June 30th and my office is scheduled for renovation so Darwin had to move. Another complication is that the moderator is moving from Toronto to Copenhagen, Denmark.

So talk.origins evolves and the server is moving elsewhere. Goodby Darwin.

---

Bastille Day 2017

Today is the Fête Nationale in France known also as "le quatorze juillet" or Bastille Day.

This is the day in 1789 when French citizens stormed and captured the Bastille—a Royalist fortress in Paris. It marks the symbolic beginning of the French revolution although the real beginning is when the Third Estate transformed itself into the National Assembly on June 17, 1789 [Tennis Court Oath].

Ms. Sandwalk and I visited the site of the Bastille (Place de la Bastille) when we were in Paris in 2008. There's nothing left of the former castle but the site still resonates with meaning and history.

One of my wife's ancestors is William Playfair, the inventor of pie charts and bar graphs [Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, and Darwin]. His work attracted the attention of the French King so he moved to Paris in 1787 to set up an engineering business. He is said to have participated in the storming of the Bastille but he has a history of exaggeration and untruths so it's more likely that he just witnessed the event. He definitely lived nearby and was in Paris on the day in question. (His son, my wife's ancestor, was born in Paris in 1790.)

In honor of the French national day I invite you to sing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise. An English translation is provided so you can see that La Marseillaise is truly a revolutionary call to arms. (A much better translation can be found here.)¹

---

1. I wonder if President Trump sang La Marseillaise while he was at the ceremonies today?

Check out Uncertain Principles for another version of La Marseillaise—this is the famous scene in Casablanca.

Reposted and modified from 2016.

Some of my former students

Some of my former students were able to come to my retirement reception yesterday: Sean Blaine (left), Anna Gagliardi, Marc Perry.

---

Hot slash buns

I love hot "cross" buns but now we buy the atheist version.

---

I retired after 39 years and they gave me an old used book

... but it was a rather special book ...

---

I coulda been an astronomer

A long time ago I used to belong to the Royal Astronomical Society (amateur astronomers) in Ottawa (Canada). That's me on the right with some of my friends. We were testing our sun filters and getting ready to see Venus when the sun went down.

In spite of this promising beginning, I decided to go into biology because it was harder and more interesting.

---

June 6, 1944

Today is anniversary of D-Day—the day British, Canadian, and American troops landed on the beaches of Normandy.¹

For baby boomers it means a day of special significance for our parents. In my case, it was my father who took part in the invasions. That's him on the right as he looked in 1944. He was an RAF pilot flying rocket firing typhoons in close support of the ground troops. During the initial days his missions were limited to quick strikes and reconnaissance since Normandy was at the limit of their range from southern England. During the second week of the invasion (June 14th) his squadron landed in Crepon, Normandy and things became very hectic from then on with several close support missions every day.

Cafe Scientific Mississauga

We had a great time last night discussing Can You Tell Real Science News from Fake News?

---

We are scientists

You can tell we are scientists because we're all wearing lab coats.

Left to right: David Isenman, Larry Moran, Marc Perry, Kim Ellison, Trevor Moraes, Mike Ellison.

The photo was taken in the biochemistry department labs at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada).

---