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The Panda's Thumb (blog)

The Panda's Thumb (blog) is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Panda's Thumb (blog) rather than just read about it. In short: The Panda's Thumb is a blog on issues of creationism and evolution from a mainstream scientific perspective. In 2006, Nature listed it as one of the top five science blogs, and Mark Pallen has called it "the definitive blog on the evolution versus creationism debate".

Key takeaways

  • The Panda's Thumb (blog) belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect The Panda's Thumb (blog) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of The Panda's Thumb (blog) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Panda's Thumb is a blog on issues of creationism and evolution from a mainstream scientific perspective. In 2006, Nature listed it as one of the top five science blogs, and Mark Pallen has called it "the definitive blog on the evolution versus creationism debate". It is written by multiple contributors, including Wesley R. Elsberry, Joe Felsenstein, Paul R. Gross, Nick Matzke, and Mark Perakh, many of whom used to have complementary blogs at ScienceBlogs before it went defunct. The blog takes its name from The Panda's Thumb, the pub of the virtual University of Ediacara, which is named after the book of the same name by Stephen Jay Gould, which in turn takes its title from the essay "The Panda's Peculiar Thumb", which discusses the Panda's sesamoid bone, an example of convergent evolution.

See also Rejection of evolution by religious groups

References

External links Official website Status page

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Panda's Thumb (blog)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Panda's Thumb (blog) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Panda's Thumb (blog) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Panda's Thumb (blog) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Panda's Thumb (blog)

In research
The Panda's Thumb (blog) appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses The Panda's Thumb (blog) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
The Panda's Thumb (blog) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Criticism of creationism, Evolutionary biology literature, Science blogs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for The Panda's Thumb (blog) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study The Panda's Thumb (blog) in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what The Panda's Thumb (blog) means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain The Panda's Thumb (blog) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Panda's Thumb (blog) in simple terms?

The Panda's Thumb is a blog on issues of creationism and evolution from a mainstream scientific perspective. In 2006, Nature listed it as one of the top five science blogs, and Mark Pallen has called it "the definitive blog on the evolution versus creationism debate".

Why does The Panda's Thumb (blog) matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Panda's Thumb (blog)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Panda's Thumb (blog).

Tags

  • Criticism of creationism
  • Evolutionary biology literature
  • Science blogs

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