Historically, naturalists who proposed theories of evolution, including Darwin and Wallace, did so in order to explain the apparent relationship of natural classification. This book begins by exploring the intimate historical relationship between patterns of classification and patterns of phylogeny. However, it is a circular argument to use the data for classification. Alec Panchen presents other evidence for evolution in the form of a historically based but rigorously logical argument. This is followed by a history of methods of classification and phylogeny reconstruction including current mathematical and molecular techniques. The author makes the important claim that if the hierarchical pattern of classification is a real phenomenon, then biology is unique as a science in making taxonomic statements. This conclusion is reached by way of historical reviews of theories of evolutionary mechanism and the philosophy of science as applied to biology. The book is addressed to biologists, particularly taxonomists, concerned with the history and philosophy of their subject, and to philosophers of science concerned with biology. It is also an important source book on methods of classification and the logic of evolutionary theory for students, professional biologists, and paleontologists.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the philosophical foundations and development of modern biological classification.

"Classification of plants and animals is of basic interest to biologists in all fields because correct formulation and generalization are based on sound taxonomy. This book by a world authority relates traditional taxonomic studies to developments in biochemical and other fields. It provides guidelines for the integration of modern and traditional methods and explains the underlying principles and philosophy of systematics. The problems of zoological, botanical, and paleontological classifi cation are dealt with in great detail and microbial systematics briefly."--Provided by publisher

Through simple yet engaging language and detailed images and charts, readers will explore the work of Aristotle, Linnaeus, Darwin, and other well-known, and some not so well-known, figures throughout history who tried to make sense of the natural world, as well as the breakthroughs and technologies that allow scientists to study organisms down to the genetic level. This book supports the Next Generation Science Standards on heredity and biological evolution by helping students understand how mutations lead to genetic variation, which in turn leads to natural selection. In addition, informative sidebars, a bibliography, and a Further Reading section with current books and educational websites will allow inquisitive minds to dive deeper into the evolutionary relationships among organisms.

Discussing the generally ignored issue of the classification of natural objects in the philosophy of science, this book focuses on knowledge and social relations, and offers a way to understand classification as a necessary aspect of doing science.

This book presents a revised history of early biogeography and investigates the split in taxonomic practice, between the classification of taxa and the classification of vegetation. It moves beyond the traditional belief that biogeography is born from a synthesis of Darwin and Wallace and focuses on the important pioneering work of earlier practitioners such as Zimmermann, Stromeyer, de Candolle and Humboldt. Tracing the academic history of biogeography over the decades and centuries, this book recounts the early schisms in phyto and zoogeography, the shedding of its bonds to taxonomy, its adoption of an ecological framework and its beginnings at the dawn of the 20th century. This book assesses the contributions of key figures such as Zimmermann, Humboldt and Wallace and reminds us of the forgotten influence of plant and animal geographers including Stromeyer, Prichard and de Candolle, whose early attempts at classifying animal and plant geography would inform later progress.“/p> The Origins of Biogeography is a science historiography aimed at biogeographers, who have little access to a detailed history of the practices of early plant and animal geographers. This book will also reveal how biological classification has shaped 18th and 19th century plant and animal geography and why it is relevant to the 21st bio geographer.

A readily comprehensible guide for biologists, field taxonomists and interested laymen to one of the oldest problems in biology: the species problem. Written by a geneticist with extensive experience in field taxonomy, this practical book provides the sound scientific background to the problems arising with classifying organisms according to species. It covers the main current theories of specification and gives a number of examples that cannot be explained by any single theory alone.

Collects articles that discuss what taxonomy is, and how it is important in the field of biology regarding the classification of organisms.

"The third edition of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates continues the tradition of in-depth coverage of the biology, ecology, phylogeny, and identification of freshwater invertebrates from the USA and Canada. This text serves as an authoritative single source for a broad coverage of the anatomy, physiology, ecology, and phylogeny of all major groups of invertebrates in inland waters of North America, north of Mexico." --Book Jacket.