Key Vocabulary: Homology

           Homology is the study of sameness -- usually sameness in structure.  In 1843, Richard Owen defined homology as "the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function"

           We rely on this original definition (following the path tread by Stephen J. Gould) and are NOT making use of the Darwinian twist to the word (which has been perverted to imply "from a common ancestor")

           The word homology, coined in about 1656, derives from the Greek homologos, where homo = agreeing, equivalent, same + logos = relation.

           In biology, two things are homologous if they bear the same relationship to one another, such as a certain bone in various forms of the "hand."

           In our usage, homologies are models of similar structures which allow for context dependence (i.e. two contexts have some portions which can each be described via the same model).