|
|
Article: Describe Toward a Revival of Bio-Portraiture.
- Article from:
- Whole Earth
- Article date:
- September 22, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Point Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
This mini-section focuses on describing life-forms in order to name them by today's scientific standards. The art of description, like any craft, relies on tools (page 40), analytic powers (page 45), the roles handed down by history (in this case the rules of nomenclature, page 47). Luckily this dry and serious business also includes moments of whimsy, such as choosing new species names (pages 42 and 46).
Description starts when the eye hones in on detail, distinctions, and bio-portraiture of the discovered life-form. There's no exact moment when discovery changes to description. When my friends, striding quickly past a city pigeon, say "trash bird," they are ...