New Taxonomy : A Science Reimagined

Today molecular data is part of many biological studies, including taxonomic works. Such data is embraced by taxonomists for good reasons. When combined with comparative morphology, palaeontology, and embryology, it creates a rich, integrated overview of the history of life. This book is intended as a clear articulation of the mission, goals, and needs of fundamental taxonomists and a planetary-scale inventory of species by revisiting the idea of taxonomy as a fusion of the traditional questions asked by taxonomists and the latest technologies. It is a clear roadmap to a taxonomic renaissance and world species inventory.

Key Features:

• Establishes the role and responsibilities of natural history museums to baseline taxonomic studies
• Emphasizes the potential of ‘descriptive’ taxonomy
• Proposes a cyberinfrastructure specifically designed to meet the needs of taxonomists to do taxonomy
• Provides a clear statement of taxonomy’s mission, goals, and prospects
• Reviews taxonomic philosophies and codes of nomenclature from an historical perspective

David M. Williams is a diatom systematist–taxonomist. His research is divided between empirical studies on the systematics and biogeography of diatoms and theoretical studies related to advances in systematic theory, especially as it relates to cladistics. In addition to his work on diatom phylogeny, systematics, and biogeography, he has focused on the role fossils have in determining evolutionary relationships in diatoms.

Quentin D. Wheeler is an insect taxonomist, author, columnist, and podcaster. He was professor of entomology in Cornell University, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Arizona State University, Keeper and Head of Entomology at the Natural History Museum in London, Director of the Division of Environmental Biology of the U.S. National Science Foundation, and President of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.