Classification, Evolution, and the Nature of Biology
Panchen, Alec L.
ISBN 10: 0521315786 ISBN 13: 9780521315784
Published by Cambridge University Press, 1992
Used
Soft cover
From
Bay State Book Company, North Smithfield, RI, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
AbeBooks Seller since January 23, 2023
This specific item is no longer available.
About this Item
Description:
The book is complete and readable, with all pages and cover intact. Dust jacket, shrink wrap, or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may have light notes, highlighting, or minor water exposure, but nothing that affects readability. May be an ex-library copy and could include library markings or stickers. Seller Inventory # BSM.17I3X
Synopsis:
Historically, naturalists who propose theories of evolution, including Darwin and Wallace, have done 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. It is a circular argument, however, to use the data for classification and the concept of homology as evidence for evolution, when evolution is the theory explaining the phenomenon of natural classification. Alec Panchen presents other evidence for evolution in the form of a historically-based but rigorously logical argument. This is then 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.
Book Description: After exploring the relationship between patterns of classification and phylogeny, this text concludes that if the hierarchical pattern of classification is a real phenomenon, then the taxonomic statements of biology are unique.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Bibliographic Details
Title: Classification, Evolution, and the Nature of...
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 1992
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: acceptable