E. O. Wilson: The Biophilic Sublime

Sitting in the same rain forest where Darwin penned these words more than a century earlier, E. O. Wilson shares the identical “cathedral feeling,” the identical sense of the biological sublime evoked by the diversity of the biosphere: “Hold[ing] still for long intervals to study a few centimeters of tree trunk or ground, [and] finding some new organism at each shift in focus.” It is a feeling for his fellow creatures exhibited in every aspect of E. O. Wilson’s life: his efforts to understand ant society, his discovery of sociobiology as means of understanding all societies, and, finally, his efforts to preserve the diversity of the biosphere in which all societies must find their place. For Wilson, environmental ethics flows naturally from the cathedral feeling he shares with Darwin, their sense of the biological sublime. It is 1969 and there is a knock on Wilson’s office door. It signals the arrival a talented German entomologist, Bert Hölldobler, invited to Harvard for an extended stay. The two hit it off almost immediately; eventually, Hölldobler returns to Harvard as a full professor. While his command of English improves, his German accent never entirely disappears, an accent, Wilson feels, that lends weight to his lectures: his is the authentic voice of German science. Friends and collaborators, the two produce a stream of science that culminates in the publication of The Ants. The award of the Pulitzer for this book is Wilson’s opportunity simultaneously to signal and make light of his achievements. The book “weighed 7.5 pounds, fulfilling my criterion of a magnum opus—a book when dropped from a three-story building is big enough to kill a man.” The award is also an opportunity to express his gratitude to the institution that continued to nurture his talent. At the monthly college meeting, he recalls, “I stood and basked in the applause of the Harvard faculty. Bless my soul, the Harvard faculty. Where could I go from here but down.” By this time, however, his co-author has left Harvard. The daily drudgery of turning out grant proposals has taken its toll.

Analysis of Plastic Zone at a Crack Tip for I, II and III Mode Fracture with MY Criterion

The plastic zones for I, II, III mode crack under small scale yielding are analyzed by MY criterion, and the analytical solutions of the sizes of the plastic zones for plain stress and plain strain states are first obtained. The solutions for I and II mode crack show that the two solutions are functions of the yield stress, stress strength factor and polar angle, while the solution for III mode crack just depends on the yield stress and stress strength factor. Comparison of the plastic zone with those based on Tresca and Mises criteria shows that Tresca criterion predicts the maximum, the result by MY yield criterion lies between them, and is very close to that by Mises criterion. Besides, the relationship of plastic zone between plain stress and plain strain are also discussed.

Limit Analysis of Defect-Free Pipe Elbow under Internal Pressure with MY Criterion

With MY (mean yield) criterion, the limit load of defect-free pipe elbow under inner pressure is analyzed, and an analytical solution is first obtained. The solution shows that the limit load is a function of wall thicknesst, average radiusr, yield strength as well as curvature radiusR0. The limit load increases with the increase of the curvature radiusR0and will get the same value with the burst pressure of straight pipe ifR0→∞. The limit load calculated by the solution is compared with those based on Tresca, Mises, as well as TSS yield criteria. It is also concluded that Tresca criterion predicts a lower bound to the limit load, while TSS criterion predicts an upper bound one. However, the limit load based on the MY criterion lies just between the TSS and Tresca solutions, most notably, the MY criterion almost has the same prediction precision with Mises solution.

A Plastic Zone Equation Based on Mean Yield Criterion

Based on mean yield criterion, an analytical solution for the mode I crack tip plastic zone (CTPZ) under small scale yielding was derived. The results reveal that the size of CTPZ determined by MY criterion is between those by Mises’ yield criterion the smallest, and by Tresca’s criterion the largest; while the zone is almost coincide with that by Mises’ one. The size of CTPZ is related to the ratio of fracture toughness to yield strength; with increasing of the ratio, the size of the zone increases, meaning the better of fracture toughness.

The Criterion of Greek Language and its Context: A Further Response

This essay responds to Michael Bird's critique of my criterion of Greek language and its context, put forward especially in my The Criteria for Authenticity in Historical-Jesus Research: Previous Discussion and New Proposals(JSNTSup, 191; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), pp. 126-80. I clarify the nature of the criterion by noting that Bird several times seems not to clearly understand that it tries to establish probability criteria for proposing that Jesus may have spoken Greek on particular occasions.