History, Philosophy, & Theory of Biology • Assistant Professor @GeorgeMasonU
Joined March 2018
- Tweets 1,028
- Following 638
- Followers 2,320
- Likes 3,849
64 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
10 Oct 2025
My little book on Schrödinger's famous classic 'What Is Life?' is out today! It offers the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of the book's origins, reception, impact, and legacy. Please share; it is free to download for the next 2 weeks! cambridge.org/core/elements/…
21
153
490
59,644
Here's another fun deep dive on 'What Is Life? Revisited'.
Surely there's nothing more to be said about Schrödinger's famous book?
Think again!
Join us as we travel from quantum mechanics to genetics & molecular biology via statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, & cybernetics
Feb 24
In this interview, Dan Nicholson discusses his book, "What Is Life? Revisited". How does order come from disorder? Are organisms mechanistic and deterministic? How did Schrödinger’s book impact biology, for better or worse? Check it out! youtu.be/8mVxHx_yhGQ
1
8
1,106
Daniel J. Nicholson retweeted
Jan 30
🎉 We are excited to announce that Dr. Daniel Nicholson (George Mason University), will deliver a talk in Session 1 Evolutionary Biology at IOCBI2026
🧠Population Thinking, Variation, and Uniqueness
📢 Free registration: shorturl.at/XUXXi
#iocbi2026 #evolutionarybiology
1
6
326
12 Nov 2025
I had SO much fun talking to Paul for almost 2 hours about my new book on Schrödinger & molecular biology. Easily one of the most enjoyable podcasts I've ever done. Check it out!
P.S. CUP has made the PDF of my book free to download for two more weeks. Link is in my pinned post
5 Nov 2025
What Is Life? A misleading title for Schrödinger's book.
What is Life? Revisited. A spot-on title for Dan's @NicholsonHPBio book, which happens to be a gem.
After reading and discussing it, I can only picture Schrödinger as a cartoon villain now.
braininspired.co/podcast/224…
3
19
1,859
23 Oct 2025
Last chance to download my book for free! It's still available until tomorrow.
10 Oct 2025
My little book on Schrödinger's famous classic 'What Is Life?' is out today! It offers the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of the book's origins, reception, impact, and legacy. Please share; it is free to download for the next 2 weeks! cambridge.org/core/elements/…
5
10
51
11,647
23 Oct 2025
Note for purists: the original published version had a typo at the bottom of the first page which rendered the last sentence nonsensical. This has now been corrected in the online and PDF versions. The printed version coming out next month will also be the corrected one.
1
4
460
16 Jun 2025
Every biological entity is unique; no two are exactly alike. Is this a trivial observation, or a profound metaphysical claim about the living world? Read my new paper & find out! It examines Mayr's famous (yet oft-misunderstood) idea of Population Thinking link.springer.com/article/10…
2
20
75
3,959
24 Sep 2023
One of my intellectual idols passed away yesterday. Nobody has managed to integrate the history and philosophy of biology as effectively and as elegantly as Evelyn Fox Keller. Her work from the 90s/00s is unrivalled and has long served as a model and inspiration for my own. RIP.
4
143
711
127,984
Daniel J. Nicholson retweeted
13 Sep 2023
An exciting group of fellows @Center4PhilSci this term!
1
6
2,187
11 Sep 2023
Excited to be spending the Fall semester as Visiting Fellow at @Center4PhilSci 📚🤓
1
2
67
7,150
19 Aug 2023
Some of the responses to this are hilarious 😂
18 Aug 2023
Can someone explain what happened during the Enlightenment to me, preferably only by using gifs?
7
1,816
26 Jul 2023
The wonderful Hasok Chang (@CambridgeHPS) showing a letter sent to him by Kuhn shortly before he died where he denies that one can simultaneously be a good historian of science and a good philosopher of science. One can certainly be both, just not at the same time (!) #clmpst2023
2
25
119
10,530
20 Jul 2023
Same.
20 Jul 2023
I couldn’t live a meaningful life without my library. My private library is my home and the books are my children. 📚📚📚
2
2
10
1,789
Daniel J. Nicholson retweeted
14 Jul 2023
I had a lovely time presenting in Michael Ruse’s session on “the new biology” today — great discussion with great co-panelists @NicholsonHPBio @GregoryRupik and Paul Thompson. @ISHPSSB #ISHPSSB2023
2
6
23
2,149
Daniel J. Nicholson retweeted
14 Jul 2023
In Michael Ruse's session on his book The New Biology: A Battle between Mechanism and Organism, I threw in my lot with the Organicists and argued why we might want to go Back to Goethe! Amazing co-panelists! @UofT_IHPST @ISHPSSB #ISHPSSB2023 @1stphilosophy @NicholsonHPBio
1
4
21
1,602
8 Jul 2023
Fantastic thread! Great summer reading 👍🏼
8 Jul 2023
🧬 30 Days of Great Biology Papers.
From the origins of the genetic code to pioneering work on circadian rhythms...these are my favorite snapshots from the history of biology.
All the papers — and explanations — in a single thread: 🧵
1
5
1,484
Daniel J. Nicholson retweeted
7 Jul 2023
As much as I detest the impact factor, I admit that seeing @HPLSjournal making such a jump as I approach the end of my & Giovanni Boniolo’s editorship is impressive… huge thanks to our associate editors, board, fantastic authors & most of all our amazing referees 🙏🙌
Do journal metrics tell us anything very meaningful about journals? No. Will that stop us celebrating our new impact factor? Also no.
#philsci
ALT JOURNAL IMPACT FACTOR 2022. (1) British Journal for the Philosophy of Science - 3.4. (2) Biology & Philosophy - 2.5. (3) History & Philosophy of the Life Sciences - 2.0. (4) Philosophy of Science - 1.7. (5) Social Epistemology - 1.7. (6) European Journal for Philosophy of Science - 1.5. (7) Synthese - 1.5. (8) Journal for General Philosophy of Science - 1.0. (9) Studies in the History & Philosophy of Science - 1.0. (10) Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences - 0.9.
1
3
19
2,797
10 May 2023
One of the most original & incisive thinkers of the past 50 years has died. A master of weaving the history & philosophy of science, he had the unique ability to make any subject he wrote about look irresistible to his readers. What a giant. We shall not look upon his like again.
10 May 2023
RIP Ian Hacking.
Feb 18 1936 - May 10 2023
A very bright light has gone out.
5
23
2,548