My research moves between the areas of history and philosophy of science. As a historian, I do intellectual history of the sort that card-carrying historians used to do, but for the most part no longer do. As a philosopher, I examine problems emerging from a deep scrutiny of scientific norms and practices, without worrying too much about how these relate to the classic questions and models developed by analytic philosophers of science.
I work on anything that interests me, for as long as it interests me; but I have a special affinity for the history of American geology between about 1840 and 1930, and for epistemic problems arising out of the practice of the historical sciences, especially paleontology. I also have interests in the history of philosophy of science ("HOPOS"), mostly concerning the history of the "practice-turn" in philosophy of science, and in the history and philosophy of conservation biology.
In addition to all this, I have a serious interest in writing, and think that technical scholarship should be engaging and approachable even for non-specialists. (Please read my "Problematica" series!)
"Time, Life and Environment: Practices of Geohistory at the Intersection of the Earth and Life Sciences." (Submitted July 5, 2021). University of Minnesota. (pdf)
"How the Cambrian Exploded: Contingency in the History of Science and Life." Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.08.008
"Punctuated Equilibria in the 1970s: Stephen Jay Gould between Biological Improvement and Irreducible Hierarchy." Paleobiology. (Forthcoming)
"William Whewell and the Palætiological Sciences." In William Whewell: Victorian Polymath, ed. L.M. Verburgt. University of Pittsburgh Press. (pdf, penultimate version)
"Integrated History and Philosophy of Science." In Debating Contemporary Approaches to the History of Science, ed. L.M. Verburgt. London: Bloomsbury.
"Response to Hasok Chang." In Debating Contemporary Approaches to the History of Science, ed. L.M. Verburgt. London: Bloomsbury.
Review of The Age of Mammals: Nature, Development, and Paleontology in the Long Nineteenth Century, by Chris Manias. The Quarterly Review of Biology. 99:4.
"Biased, Spasmodic and Ridiculously Incomplete: Sequence Stratigraphy and the Emergence of a New Approach to Stratigraphic Complexity in Paleobiology, 1973–1995." Journal of the History of Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-023-09720-0
"Teleonomy: Revisiting a Proposed Conceptual Replacement for Teleology." With Alan C. Love. Biological Theory, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-022-00424-y.
“Actualism and Uniformitarianism: From Abstract Commitments to Forms of Practice.” Philosophy of Science, https://doi.org/10.1017/psa.2022.101
"Deep Time: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives." In Time and Science, ed. P. Harris and R. Lestienne. World Scientific Publishing Co. (pdf, penultimate version)
"How Fossils Become Specimens." Review of Preparing Dinosaurs: The Work Behind the Science, by Caitlin Wylie. Metascience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11016-023-00842-z.
Review of Endlings: Fables for the Anthropocene, by Lydia Pyne. The Quarterly Review of Biology.
"Uniformitarianism Re-examined, or the Present is the Key to the Past, Except When it Isn't (and Even Then it Kind of is)," Perspectives on Science, https://doi.org/10.1162/posc_a_00573.
"The Interdisciplinary Entanglement of Characterization and Explanation." With Alan C. Love. The British Journal for Philosophy of Science, https://doi.org/10.1086/720414.
"Organizing Interdisciplinary Research on Purpose." With Alan C. Love. BioScience, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab128.
"Measuring Time with Fossils: A Start-Up Problem in Scientific Practice," Philosophy of Science, https://doi.org/10.1086/714855.
"Explaining the Apocalypse: The End-Permian Mass Extinction and the Dynamics of Explanation in Geohistory," Synthese, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-021-03254-w.
“Tales from the Extinction Imaginary.” Review of Catastrophic Thinking: Extinction and the Value of Diversity from Darwin to the Anthropocene, by David Sepkoski. Metascience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11016-021-00676-7.
Review of The Biological Universe: Life in the Milky Way and Beyond, by Wallace Arthur. The Quarterly Review of Biology, https://doi.org/10.1086/714468.
"History and Philosophy of Science After the Practice-Turn: From Inherent Tension to Local Integration," Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Part A, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2020.01.001.
"Re-Forming Morphology: Two Attempts to Rehabilitate the Problem of Form in the First Half of the Twentieth Century," Journal of the History of Biology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-020-09603-8.
"Models in Ecology: Ubiquitous, Idealized, Useful." Review of Ecological Models, by Jay Odenbaugh. With Daniel Stanton. Metascience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11016-020-00554-8.
"The World View of a Biologist." Review of The Selfish Ape: Human Nature and Our Path to Extinction, by Nicholas Money. Metascience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11016-020-00498-z.
"Gould's Laws: A Second Perspective," Biology & Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-019-9698-7.
"Macroevolution Evolving: Punctuated Equilibria and the Roots of Stephen Jay Gould’s Second Macroevolutionary Synthesis," Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Science, Part C, 75: 15–23.
“Rehabilitating the Historical Sciences.” Review of Rock, Bone and Ruin: An Optimist’s Guide to the Historical Sciences, by Adrian Currie. Metascience, 28: 143–146.
Review of Natural Kinds and Classification in Scientific Practice, edited by Catherine Kendig. With Alan C. Love. HOPOS, 8: 217–222.
“Community Ecology Made Easy.” Review of The Theory of Ecological Communities, by Mark Vellend. With Jake J. Grossman. Metascience, 27: 283–286.
"Before Hierarchy: The Rise and Fall of Stephen Jay Gould’s First Macroevolutionary Synthesis,” History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 39: 1–30.
“Luck Versus Cunning.” Review of Organisms, Agency and Evolution, by Denis M. Walsh. Metascience, 27: 79–82.
Review of The Life Organic: The Theoretical Biology Club and the Roots of Epigenetics, by Erik L. Peterson. Journal of the History of Biology, 50: 273–275.