Classification,Evolution,andtheNatureofBiology

Historically,naturalistswhoproposedtheoriesofevolution,includingDarwinandWallace,didsoinordertoexplaintheapparentrelationshipofnaturalclassification.Thisbookbeginsbyexploringtheintimatehistoricalrelationshipbetweenpatternsofclassificationandpatternsofphylogeny.However,itisacircularargumenttousethedataforclassification.AlecPanchenpresentsotherevidenceforevolutionintheformofahistoricallybasedbutrigorouslylogicalargument.Thisisfollowedbyahistoryofmethodsofclassificationandphylogenyreconstructionincludingcurrentmathematicalandmoleculartechniques.Theauthormakestheimportantclaimthatifthehierarchicalpatternofclassificationisarealphenomenon,thenbiologyisuniqueasascienceinmakingtaxonomicstatements.Thisconclusionisreachedbywayofhistoricalreviewsoftheoriesofevolutionarymechanismandthephilosophyofscienceasappliedtobiology.Thebookisaddressedtobiologists,particularlytaxonomists,concernedwiththehistoryandphilosophyoftheirsubject,andtophilosophersofscienceconcernedwithbiology.Itisalsoanimportantsourcebookonmethodsofclassificationandthelogicofevolutionarytheoryforstudents,professionalbiologists,andpaleontologists.