Candle wax shells, morphodynamics and the Cambrian explosion

What I miss most with Antoni Hoffman is the ideal discussant for trying out new and often controversial ideas: very sharp and critical, yet warmhearted enough not to become polemic. The last time we met, I told him about our candlewax shells and their implications for the emergence of new bauplans (Seilacher & Klug 1993). ~ur~risin~l~ he reacted unlike the editors of a leading science journal who had just rejected my note without asking a referee. Instead he encouraged me by saying this was the deepest thought he had ever heard from me. Thank you, Toni! So here is the story again, hopefully in a more ordered form.