About This Blog and Me Allow me to introduce myself. I am a retired geneticist and university administrator, with an ongoing interest in history, especially as it informs the present. Politically, I think of my self as a pragmatic liberal (yes, the l-word doesn't intimidate me). My views are my own, however they are shaped by a variety of voices that, to the greatest extent possible, come from a broad range of sane people that think and write about science, history and politics. I love to read and write, so I will be commenting on what I come across. My goal is to be constructive whenever possible, either in agreement or disagreement, with interpretations or opinions of others. And oh yes - like my scientific contemporary Jerry Coyne , I'm a devoted cat person, so expect felines to show up on a regular basis.