Project Geobiota proposed in 1980

[Curtis Clark]

At 06:42 PM 5/3/99 -0700, Ken Kinman wrote:
> How much of
>the world's biota I could have computer catalogued in the last 19 years
>would have depended on available funding, but unfortunately it was never
>funded at all, and now we will have to play a more expensive game of
>catch-up I guess.

Actually, it should be cheaper now, for two unrelated reasons. First, the
cost of computing "time" has decreased markedly (and the cost of data entry
in constant dollars is about the same). Second, the number of species that
are available to be cataloged is constantly decreasing through extinction.
It reminds me of the old saying, "I've been doing more with less for so
long that now I can do everything with nothing."

----------------------------------------------------------------
Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
Biological Sciences Department             Voice: (909) 869-4062
California State Polytechnic University      FAX: (909) 869-4078
Pomona CA 91768-4032  USA                  jcclark at csupomona.edu