RE: Philidor: No Class

["Williams, Tim" <TiJaWi@agron.iastate.edu>]

Steve Brusatte wrote:

> Nah.  I doubt Jefferson was drunk of high, Tim, although he did have a
> particular fondness for French wine. :-)

I like him already!


> However, Jefferson, like Cuvier, was a follower of Linne and his
> system-really, the only "good" system known at the time.  So, Jefferson
> wasn't drunk on his French wine when discussing his views on "stamp
> collection" classifications.  

I'm not disputing Jefferson's expertise in identifying or classifying
fossils.  However, my point was that he actually got off his horse to do so.
I'm sure those fossil scallop shells weren't too easy to discern from
horseback.   :-)

I agree that we all constrained by our times - I don't fault Jefferson (or
Cuvier or Marsh or Romer or Darwin or Linne...) for the classificatory
system they used.  God forbid.  But I think powerful arguments could be (and
have been) marshalled against the Linnaean System, especially its use of
loaded terms such as "Class".



Tim