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Opinion Article

Model scientists

Randy Wayne and Mark Staves

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There is an increasing trend for the focus of biology to be determined more by administrators who have short-term pecuniary interests in science rather than by individuals who are "doing science" to further the fundamental human desire to understand ourselves, the natural environment, and our place in the world, though questioning. We feel that this ceding of the scope of science from the questioners to the administrators is at variance with the traditions of science, which heretofore have resulted in the remarkable advancements made in the field of biology. In contrast to the plethora of day-to-day conversations on how to fit into the administrators' directives, this essay provides a historical context, particularly though its extensive bibliography, to encourage today's biologists to question authority and question nature.

Authors

Randy Wayne

Cornell University

Mark Staves

Grand Valley State University

This is an open-access article

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If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.