Facts do not 'speak for themselves'; they are read in the light of theory.

The Darwinian revolution is about essence. The Darwinian revolution is about who we are, it's what we're made of, it's what our life means insofar as science can answer that question.

Forelimbs of people, porpoises, bats and horses provide the classic example of homology in most textbooks. They look different, and do different things, but are built of the same bones. No engineer, starting from scratch each time, would have built such disparate structures from the same parts.

All evolutionary biologists know that variation itself is nature's only irreducible essence... I had to place myself amidst the variation.

I don't think academic writing ever was wonderful. However, science used to be much less specialized.

So much of science proceeds by telling stories.

Science is all those things which are confirmed to such a degree that it would be unreasonable to withhold one's provisional consent.