Re: [asa] Kettlewell had design problems

> You may rightly accuse some of falsely accusing Kettlewell of
> fraud, but you are equally wrong in putting too much stock in his
> experiment. Do read a little of background on his work. See http://
> bsgran.people.wm.edu/melanism.pdf in the peer reviewed journals.
> There were some strong design flaws and I suspect his pictures
> should have indicated clearer that they were of pinned moths. His
> point was to show how they blended in with the bark and that was
> valid but as I understand they were not labeled as pinned moths on
> the bark. [however this is not my area and I will not go more into
> it unless I first read the article and talk to an entomology friend.
>
> Unless we actually read the article or look or know something about
> the professional opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of his
> work, we end up being critical or defensive of his work because we
> like or hate ID and some in that camp that have highlighted this as
> deceptive.

I have read the primary literature that Wells cites, particularly the
work by Majerus. Wells not only misrepresents Kettlewell's original
work but also, and most importantly, Majerus' critique of
Kettlewell's work and the thorough work done on melanism since.
Please read Majerus work if you wish to make any public comment on
the issue.

Keith

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Received on Mon Dec 17 09:45:54 2007