Foundations of Systematics and Biogeography [Paperback]

Anyone interested in comparative biology or the history of science will find this myth-busting work genuinely fascinating. It draws attention to the seminal studies and important advances that have shaped systematic and biogeographic thinking. It traces concepts in homology and classification from the 19th century to the present through the provision of a unique anthology of scientific writings from Goethe, Agassiz, Owen, Naef, Zangerl and Nelson, among others.

Introduction: Systematics, Evolution, and Classification.- Systematics as Problem-Solving.- The Archetype.- Ernst Haeckel and Systematische Phylogenie.- The German Development of Morphology: From Ernst Haeckel to Willi Hennig.- Pattern Cladistics.- Homologues and Homology.- Discovering Homologues.- Homology and Systematics.- Homology and Transformation.- Character Conflict.- The Analyses of Relationships.- Biogeographical Relationships, Evolution, and Classification.

From the reviews:

Using a historical approach, Williams (Natural History Museum, London) and Ebach (Freie Universit?t, Berlin) illuminate the differences among the competing philosophical camps of systematicists. Their work provides incisive definitions of many conceptual and interpretational aspects of systematics and biogeography. & The authors apparent intent is & to provide focus for the next phase of debate on the practice and philosophy of phylogenetics. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty. (S. R. Fegley, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (9), 2008)

This is a book worth pondering. & Williams and Ebach have produced a book from which almost all of us can learn things we did not know about the history and practice of our field. It should be especially useful for students, who may even discover that there is more to systematics than just choosing a model, running some software, and varying its parameters until the results seem at least vaguely pallÓ+