Deeptime Network | James MacAllister | Activity https://dtnetwork.org/our-members/james-macallister/activity/ Activity feed for James MacAllister. Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:04:42 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v=9.1.1 en-US 30 hourly 2 41c1bc842e90edb9d5ea2507d245962e James MacAllister wrote a new post, Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium https://dtnetwork.org/?p=259284 Fri, 11 Feb 2022 02:10:22 -0500 Announcement of Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium

]]> 0 c4e5b17214471574c2445fec4ae2f01d James MacAllister wrote a new post, September 2021envevo newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=257288 Sat, 23 Oct 2021 12:03:33 -0400 The very last Environmental Evolution newsletter. Featuring a discussion of epistemology with Lynn Margulis (from recordings) and the madness that  is digital disinformation.

]]> 0 dec3311c949d6368acd74c9017a4b7ef James MacAllister wrote a new post, 2021 August Environmental Evolution newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=255408 Sat, 14 Aug 2021 23:18:21 -0400 Controversy rears its ugly head in the early days of James Lovelock’s Gaia Theory…or does it?

Scott Gilbert’s been spreading the gospel of developmental symbiosis in many
strange places–including Lithuania, […]

]]> 0 e10a220409a15f0d2ccd7b296e939e04 James MacAllister wrote a new post, 2021.May.newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=254526 Sun, 20 Jun 2021 00:51:57 -0400 Dear Margulisians,

When we were closing the Margulis Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we were told by the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and the head of the Geosciences that “Lynn’s sta […]

]]> 0 9459c58f867a2885b20640f86f4259f9 James MacAllister wrote a new post, 2021.1.envevonewsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=252001 Mon, 22 Mar 2021 21:28:04 -0400 The First Environmental Evolution Newsletter of 2021

Adriana Giannini, an Italian biographer, has written a biography of Lynn Margulis that will be in bookstores in Italy this Spring. Born Curious: 20 Girls Who […]

]]> 0 f4a3bb471e07f822c31fdc7914d3b9a2 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Gaian Systems: Lynn Margulis, Neocybernetics, and the End of the Anthropocene https://dtnetwork.org/?p=249243 Thu, 10 Dec 2020 00:53:20 -0500 From Amazon reviews

“Where William Blake found the world in a grain of sand, Gaia finds the planet in a bacterial cell. Bruce Clarke, eminent scholar of literature and science, leads us through the […]

]]> 0 7eafebd9178061841bc8f8588455cd7a James MacAllister wrote a new post, 2020.5 environmental evolution newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=249112 Mon, 30 Nov 2020 19:53:07 -0500 News with a Gaian science focus.

]]> 0 a0a41db811dfe71ff1a9b676dbb060e7 James MacAllister wrote a new post, 2020.3 Envevo Newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=246783 Fri, 10 Jul 2020 13:53:29 -0400 Another newsletter looking at things Margulisian (inspired by Lynn Margulis, that is).

]]> 0 8c4e1b0bf2e075048d0be4c673a0f03b James MacAllister wrote a new post, 2020.1 envevo news note https://dtnetwork.org/?p=246558 Mon, 15 Jun 2020 14:46:34 -0400 Discovery of Prometheoarchaeum.  Ecology vs. purity in studying the microcosmos. “Evolution, the ‘Mechanism’ of Big History – The Grande Synthesis” by John S. Torday. Scientists are slowly understanding coll […]

]]> 0 c35d01fbe502a3139b24c917acfa7f8e James MacAllister wrote a new post, 2020.2 envevo news note https://dtnetwork.org/?p=246396 Tue, 09 Jun 2020 15:23:02 -0400 A deep drive into the Virosphere

]]> 0 d26b3e2ef37863e02ffb6cddc8d6a4d0 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Last Lynn Margulis Interview with Conner Habib envevo news note https://dtnetwork.org/?p=246464 Tue, 09 Jun 2020 15:21:43 -0400 Last Lynn Margulis Interview with Conner Habib envevo news note

]]> 0 7fd96b050594456c3d22872a975908da James MacAllister posted an update: Symbiotic Earth - How Lynn Margulis Rocked the Boat and […] https://dtnetwork.org/activity/p/23969/ Thu, 22 Aug 2019 16:19:35 -0400 Symbiotic Earth – How Lynn Margulis Rocked the Boat and Started a Scientific Revolution is now available on Amazon Prime! The fifty-year career of this woman who pioneered deep time Earth Systems Science, and brought about our new understanding of evolution and its effects on our planet is explored. Prepare to be astonished.

]]> 0 152f81e8c36d4644f518cf5849ad1224 James MacAllister wrote a new post, September_2017 Environmental Evolution newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=19371 Tue, 12 Sep 2017 23:49:28 -0400 A biospheric take on hottest topic in biotech, CRISPR/Cas9, gene editing technology already being tested on single-gene mutations in human embryos. What is the evidence that we are ready to be masters of our own genomes?

]]> 0 07a2d5e10f7135311f10721c47511f5f James MacAllister wrote a new post, Chasing Coral https://dtnetwork.org/?p=19032 Tue, 25 Jul 2017 14:53:07 -0400 A 2017 Netflix documentary on “coral bleaching” or the die off of 25% of the world’s coral reefs during one year documented with time-lapse photography. Corals are a symbiosis of a colonial animal and […]

]]> 0 f798a6910f0a93ce16c34b3528af85a3 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Chasing Ice https://dtnetwork.org/?p=19030 Tue, 25 Jul 2017 14:31:15 -0400 A 2014 documentary of the melting of the world’s glaciers, ice shelves and ice sheets using time-lapse photography. Deeply disturbing, but ice is inanimate.

]]> 1 d297d57b8a75cd03e43e99116a16d194 James MacAllister wrote a new post, June 2017 Environmental Evolution newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=18880 Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:18:23 -0400 A discussion of anthropocentrism as non-science.

]]> 0 0274fe226fbdd70f4e8b3cfa167fc0a2 James MacAllister wrote a new post, March 2017 Environmental Evolution newsletter https://dtnetwork.org/?p=18878 Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:10:14 -0400 Among the topics discussed is the absence of a statement of the Modern Synthesis at the Royal Society meeting, “New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical
and social science perspectives.”

]]> 0 4e1ca4d08c88dc88653b8f91cd42ae06 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Thin End Podcast interview with Perry Marshall https://dtnetwork.org/?p=18375 Tue, 25 Apr 2017 16:26:08 -0400 Perry Marshall, the author of the book Evolution 2.0, tells his story of being a Creationist who has been won over to the new Biological Relativity view of evolution while enhancing his own spirtuality and Christian beliefs.

]]> 0 ec0d17c53c1beba584d8bb85befc4859 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Earth-shaking paradigm shift in science: Biological Relativity https://dtnetwork.org/?p=18316 Tue, 18 Apr 2017 20:10:40 -0400 A paper presented at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA on April 9, 2017. The paper describes the differing interpretations of a science paper on the “resurrection of […]

]]> 0 490f64cd498efe20c646ea4baa2db9c2 James MacAllister wrote a new post, How Science is an Evidence-Based Way of Knowing (short version) https://dtnetwork.org/?p=18314 Tue, 18 Apr 2017 19:15:59 -0400 A brief description of physical science(s) as a knowledge discipline based in empiricism. Deep Time Journey Network would like this to serve as a guide for non-scientists about what is science-based and what is […]

]]> 0 720868c98a8df3deb8a5746fda6341dd James MacAllister wrote a new post, The Thin End Podcasts with Denis Noble http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17706 Sun, 12 Feb 2017 18:43:06 -0500 “A Dialogue with Denis Noble” – Ray Noble (Denis’s brother) interviews Denis Noble on the idea of biological relativity in evolution and “Evolution and the One-Eyed Watchmaker” – Denis and Ray Noble discuss […]

]]> 1 050b91bff93a1af67f4c015e1b3c9321 James MacAllister posted an update: Here is the poster for the […] https://dtnetwork.org/activity/p/11312/ Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:32:59 -0500 Here is the poster for the documentary.
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]]> 0 b6dbe7d33f9a5618739f3e7441d0f154 James MacAllister posted an update: I am the volunteer archivist for the Lynn Margulis archive […] https://dtnetwork.org/activity/p/11311/ Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:28:22 -0500 I am the volunteer archivist for the Lynn Margulis archive at ScholarWorks, a program of the Libraries of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I have been a contributor to a new documentary by John Feldman of Hummingbird Films, Symbiotic Earth: How Lynn Margulis rocked the boat and started a scientific revolution. The documentary is in its…[Read more]

]]> 1 de4e8a99a51fb3a51d9a628bd2b46d53 James MacAllister wrote a new post, New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical and social science perspectives http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17652 Wed, 01 Feb 2017 14:22:18 -0500 “New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical and social science perspectives ” is a joint meeting of the Royal Society and the British Academy of Science to discuss the new paradigm of […]

]]> 0 99291e358539e31a189ae05c4e38b52a James MacAllister wrote a new post, Gaia and her microbiome http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17650 Wed, 01 Feb 2017 14:02:23 -0500 “The Gaia hypothesis, proposed 50 years ago, posits that the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere interact as a cybernetic system, maintaining the long-term habitability of the planet. The […]

]]> 0 65b0f84d21965be12aed8e10789fadda James MacAllister wrote a new post, Scientists March on Washington http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17605 Wed, 25 Jan 2017 13:59:31 -0500 The Scientists’ March on Washington is working to schedule a March for Science on DC and across the United States. A date has not been decided upon yet but the aim is to do so as quickly as possible.

Quoting […]

]]> 1 b05afa7278f9ef1024d6bb8c4f59c3a1 James MacAllister replied to the topic in the forum http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/forums/topic/is-deep-time-in-danger-of-becoming-a-fad-in-a-post-fact-world/#post-17502 Mon, 09 Jan 2017 19:18:06 -0500 This is a test.

]]> 0 220ae457be5cc7e1a7131851b0dbca57 James MacAllister wrote a new post, January 2017 Environmental Evolution newsletter http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17467 Wed, 04 Jan 2017 16:40:22 -0500 This newsletter discusses the need for a new theory of evolution in evolutionary biology that incorporates biological relativity and the research featured at the Royal Society meeting, New Trends in Evolution: […]

]]> 0 d3b1ff8f0ecdcac151fc3479c47bf454 James MacAllister replied to the topic Is the universe a "living system"? in the forum Deeptime Network Forum http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/forums/topic/is-the-universe-a-living-system/page/28/#post-17322 Mon, 19 Dec 2016 15:55:53 -0500 I offered my best argument long ago in this forum, but return because I think that Prof. Denis Noble’s new book, “Dance to the Tune of Life: Biological Relativity”, which argues for a new viewpoint from which to view evolution and biology is a must-read. For anyone who has been interested in this forum topic in whole or part: those who were…[Read more]

]]> 0 403a663e13e552c45011b0dd097cbef6 James MacAllister posted an update: With apologies to Denis Noble, I got the name of his most […] https://dtnetwork.org/activity/p/10738/ Sun, 18 Dec 2016 15:02:41 -0500 With apologies to Denis Noble, I got the name of his most recent book and lecture incorrect. His first book is “The Music of Life: Biology Beyond Genes” and I conflated it with his new book “Dance to the Tune of Life: Biological Relativity.” For those who followed the discussion of the question “Is the Universe a Living System?”, this book sets…[Read more]

]]> 0 de5d0489bae9cbf9f5505405f24c7170 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Dance to the Tune of Life: Biological Relativity http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17310 Sun, 18 Dec 2016 14:51:19 -0500 Publisher description – “In this thought-provoking book, Denis Noble formulates the theory of biological relativity, emphasising that living organisms operate at multiple levels of complexity and must therefore […]

]]> 0 bda4fa0858edcf131a1a8a4b5ecee936 James MacAllister posted an update: I notice that the Deep Time Journey Network has a new tag […] https://dtnetwork.org/activity/p/10720/ Wed, 14 Dec 2016 22:35:59 -0500 I notice that the Deep Time Journey Network has a new tag line, “Empowering Emergence”. One of the mysteries of deep time is where and how life (a process of cellular metabolism) was empowered to emerge. Another puzzle is how life and the Earth have shaped one another over the past 3200+ million years. There has been one theory of how cellular…[Read more]

]]> 0 90568dc57779e25cde022e662c09d5e9 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Dance to the Tune of Life Lecture by Prof. Denis Noble http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17281 Wed, 14 Dec 2016 21:34:46 -0500 Biological Relativity

Lecture given by Prof Denis Noble from the University of Oxford on his latest book, Dance to the Tune of Life, which features some of the new understanding of evolution that has replaced […]

]]> 0 e03742331b0c3ef0ec398832cb8f6a46 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Royal Society’s “New Trends in Biological Evolution” – A Bloodless Revolution http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=17150 Sat, 03 Dec 2016 18:33:21 -0500 In London from 7-9 November 2016, …a groundbreaking summit at the British Royal Society. of 300 scientists from around the world gathered to evaluate a sea change in evolutionary theory. … This was the crux […]

]]> 0 9bc56f22921817cdc9d766ead37df3c0 James MacAllister posted an update: In November 2016 there will be a Royal Society meeting, […] https://dtnetwork.org/activity/p/8023/ Wed, 21 Sep 2016 21:08:31 -0400 In November 2016 there will be a Royal Society meeting, “New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical and social science perspectives” on the subject of all of the new discoveries in evolution, biology and medicine that are overturning the so-called Modern Synthesis (neo-Darwinism) that has been the mainstream view for the past 70…[Read more]

]]> 0 604b20d3e3d6cc10ff0aa28e4d5be2d4 James MacAllister wrote a new post, September 2016 Environmental Evolution newsletter http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=16415 Wed, 21 Sep 2016 12:31:23 -0400 Discussion of the history and philosophy of systems thinking from Alexander von Humboldt to Lynn Margulis. An

]]> 0 8cc7e584a74e269abd8dd9c53b1c357d James MacAllister wrote a new post, Developmental Biology Film Series http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=14134 Sun, 10 Jul 2016 15:34:07 -0400 The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s official channel devoted to the National Science Foundation Developmental Biology Film Series created in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the leading expert biologists on […]

]]> 0 f40cca56858741a040b848cda1878e70 James MacAllister wrote a new post, Holism and Evolution http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=14095 Sat, 09 Jul 2016 15:17:27 -0400 J. C. Smuts coined the term “holism” ( from holo-‘whole’ + -ism) in the 1920s to designate the tendency in nature to produce organized “wholes” (bodies or organisms) from the ordered grouping of units. Holism […]

]]> 1 9f83e2e745e726a75a2ea1708cc83891 James MacAllister wrote a new post, June 2016 Environmental Evolution newsletter http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=13814 Sun, 26 Jun 2016 02:01:55 -0400 Newsletter reviews Symbiogenetics, the 4th edition of Lynn Margulis’s magnum opus (Symbiosis in Cell Evolution) as it bears on the November meeting of the Royal Society on New Trends in Evolution

]]> 0 04122713c35e968abcc16e732f95a16d James MacAllister wrote a new post, Deep Time Walk http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=12445 Tue, 05 Apr 2016 00:28:10 -0400 The Deep Time Walk is a 4.6km walking audio history of life. This unfolding takes you from 4.6bn years ago to the present day, with each metre representing one million years. As you walk you begin to recognise […]

]]> 4 0a0952b94abf944bc421ef53f9d4e48d James MacAllister wrote a new post, March 2016 Environmental Evolution newsletter http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=9350 Sun, 13 Mar 2016 18:25:06 -0400 Various news articles and links. A discussion of the context and background for Lynn Magulis’s conservative skepticism of CDC statements about antibiotics being effective to cure Lyme disease and syphilis, and […]

]]> 0 978cc1b54a1d4467d2a881b4c65b8e58 James MacAllister wrote a new post, The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology https://dtnetwork.org/?p=7131 Fri, 27 Nov 2015 14:29:52 -0500 From the publisher: “The Living Universe is a comprehensive, historically nuanced study of the formation of the new scientific discipline of exobiology and its transformation into astrobiology. The authors explain […]

]]> 0 d3e96197e1f0a947db26fc9277076a74 James MacAllister wrote a new post, The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=5131 Fri, 27 Nov 2015 14:29:52 -0500 From the publisher: “The Living Universe is a comprehensive, historically nuanced study of the formation of the new scientific discipline of exobiology and its transformation into astrobiology. The authors explain […]

]]> 1 63de606f6621e8b3ac6ff650db6cfffe James MacAllister wrote a new post, Bacteria to Biosphere - Gaia is symbiosis seen from space http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=4898 Mon, 12 Oct 2015 11:58:38 -0400 A presentation to the European Society for Literature,Science and the Arts (SLSAeu) at their 2015 meeting on “Scale” in Malta. The presentation discusses the new paradigms in biology and evolution that have […]

]]> 2 d97677aec0142f854ff7a7414dc7092f James MacAllister wrote a new post, Is the idea that the Universe is a living system scientifically valid? http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=4875 Fri, 09 Oct 2015 21:14:28 -0400 An scientific analysis of the statement “The Universe is a living system.” There are very specific criteria for the statement of a scientific hypothesis, which are outlined. There is also a method by which […]

]]> 0 46a24d826651b0184b6191b7f9902497 James MacAllister replied to the topic Is the universe a "living system"? in the forum Deeptime Network Forum http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/forums/topic/is-the-universe-a-living-system/page/24/#post-4709 Wed, 09 Sep 2015 05:40:18 -0400 Ursula,I have a friend who is a Pagan priestess. In Pagan circles there is a fellow who has a “Gaia Theory” so I think it is safe to say that there are more Gaia theories than that of James Lovelock with collaboration from Lynn Margulis. My comments will be specific to Lovelock’s Gaia Theory.  Lovelock has on occasion spoken of the Earth System…[Read more]

]]> 0 577d560e041ec19cf53ec6a43886b5fd James MacAllister replied to the topic Is the universe a "living system"? in the forum Deeptime Network Forum http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/forums/topic/is-the-universe-a-living-system/page/24/#post-4703 Mon, 07 Sep 2015 21:23:41 -0400 Duane,

It is true that there is no complete and agreed upon definition for life, but I think your statement that there is no commonly agreed to criteria for defining life is not correct. You began this discussion with a very poor definition of life according to David Christian, a Big Historian. There are certainly criteria for cellular life that…[Read more]

]]> 0 217abd6d58cb53bb4ab6375053d20f85 James MacAllister replied to the topic Is the universe a "living system"? in the forum Deeptime Network Forum http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/forums/topic/is-the-universe-a-living-system/page/24/#post-4697 Sat, 05 Sep 2015 01:40:21 -0400 Duane,

You are asking for my definition of “woo-woo”. What I meant was those things that are not observable, measureable, reproducible or require forces that are supernatural. Science is the study of nature and natural forces. I don’t mean to denigrate things that are not science there are many good things that are not science. It is useful…[Read more]

]]> 0 5c7805eccb1a806374addf32e51495db James MacAllister replied to the topic Is the universe a "living system"? in the forum Deeptime Network Forum http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/forums/topic/is-the-universe-a-living-system/page/23/#post-4692 Wed, 02 Sep 2015 20:39:44 -0400 I have loved reading and listening to Alan Watts since I was 18 (I’m now 67). Lynn Margulis was a great proponent of humility in the face of all we do not know. That said, discussions require definitions of terms. This discussion is based on the definitions of David Christian and they are very poor definitions indeed. He is an anthropocentric Big…[Read more]

]]> 0 86b6238d1037592d9174cbfcc422ac57 James MacAllister wrote a new post, The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth http://wptaverncommunity.wefoster-platform.co/?p=4614 Wed, 29 Jul 2015 11:35:28 -0400 Lovelock first sketched out his theory in his bestseller, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. People all over the world embraced the theory, and in less than ten years it moved from the margins of scientific […]

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