jet foncannon
2016-09-18 02:01:59 UTC
There appeared in the September 18 edition of the New York Times
Sunday Magazine an article, "Flower Power," about the discovery of
medicines obtained from botanical specimens.
The article confirms the study of the medical uses of plants by
example: aspirin, digitalis, vincristine, artemisinin, and many other
vital therapeutic agents came from plants. (The article states that
aspirin derives from meadowsweet. Wrong, I think. It came from the
willow.) The scientist whose work was described is Cassandra Quave,
who has a PhD in ethnobotany from Florida International University.
As I continued reading the article, and noted Quave's increasing,
perhaps obsessive, association with indigenous societies, traditional
healers, and shamans, I began to get woo-woo vibes, almost as though
an astronomer slowly slipped from a rational discussion of star
formation into assertions about the influence of the constellations.
Quave stuffs specimens willy-nilly into a bag, echoing the
assertions of her current Don Juan about the miraculous uses of the
specimens, There is little indication of how the botanicals are to
be tested, and Quave obviously lacks the medical training to make
credible statements about her finds. I would like to be convinced
that a degree in "ethnobotany" has more authority than one in, say,
"Life Coaching" or "Workplace Catalysis," but I am currently
unpersuaded.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---
Sunday Magazine an article, "Flower Power," about the discovery of
medicines obtained from botanical specimens.
The article confirms the study of the medical uses of plants by
example: aspirin, digitalis, vincristine, artemisinin, and many other
vital therapeutic agents came from plants. (The article states that
aspirin derives from meadowsweet. Wrong, I think. It came from the
willow.) The scientist whose work was described is Cassandra Quave,
who has a PhD in ethnobotany from Florida International University.
As I continued reading the article, and noted Quave's increasing,
perhaps obsessive, association with indigenous societies, traditional
healers, and shamans, I began to get woo-woo vibes, almost as though
an astronomer slowly slipped from a rational discussion of star
formation into assertions about the influence of the constellations.
Quave stuffs specimens willy-nilly into a bag, echoing the
assertions of her current Don Juan about the miraculous uses of the
specimens, There is little indication of how the botanicals are to
be tested, and Quave obviously lacks the medical training to make
credible statements about her finds. I would like to be convinced
that a degree in "ethnobotany" has more authority than one in, say,
"Life Coaching" or "Workplace Catalysis," but I am currently
unpersuaded.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---