Download or read book Species written by John S. Wilkins and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this comprehensive work, John S. Wilkins traces the history of the idea of "species" from antiquity to today, providing a new perspective on the relationship between philosophical and biological approaches.--[book cover].
Download or read book The Pangenome written by Hervé Tettelin and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-04-30 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book offers the first comprehensive account of the pan-genome concept and its manifold implications. The realization that the genetic repertoire of a biological species always encompasses more than the genome of each individual is one of the earliest examples of big data in biology that opened biology to the unbounded. The study of genetic variation observed within a species challenges existing views and has profound consequences for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underpinning bacterial biology and evolution. The underlying rationale extends well beyond the initial prokaryotic focus to all kingdoms of life and evolves into similar concepts for metagenomes, phenomes and epigenomes. The book’s respective chapters address a range of topics, from the serendipitous emergence of the pan-genome concept and its impacts on the fields of microbiology, vaccinology and antimicrobial resistance, to the study of microbial communities, bioinformatic applications and mathematical models that tie in with complex systems and economic theory. Given its scope, the book will appeal to a broad readership interested in population dynamics, evolutionary biology and genomics.
Download or read book Species written by John S. Wilkins and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2009-09-08 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The complex idea of "species" has evolved over time, yet its meaning is far from resolved. This comprehensive work takes a fresh look at an idea central to the field of biology by tracing its history from antiquity to today. John S. Wilkins explores the essentialist view, a staple of logic from Plato and Aristotle through the Middle Ages to fairly recent times, and considers the idea of species in natural history—a concept often connected to reproduction. Tracing "generative conceptions" of species back through Darwin to Epicurus, Wilkins provides a new perspective on the relationship between philosophical and biological approaches to this concept. He also reviews the array of current definitions. Species is a benchmark exploration and clarification of a concept fundamental to the past, present, and future of the natural sciences.
Download or read book Defining Species written by John S. Wilkins and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2009 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was listed as a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title in 2011. Defining Species: A Sourcebook from Antiquity to Today provides excerpts and commentary on the definition of «species» from source material ranging from the Greeks, through the middle ages, to the modern era. It demonstrates that the logical meaning of species is in direct contrast to the use of kind terms and concepts in natural history and biology, and that the myth that biologists or natural historians were ever essentialists about kinds is mistaken.
Download or read book Code International de Nomenclature Zoologique written by International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1985 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Species Problem written by Richard A. Richards and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is long-standing disagreement among systematists about how to divide biodiversity into species. Over twenty different species concepts are used to group organisms, according to criteria as diverse as morphological or molecular similarity, interbreeding and genealogical relationships. This, combined with the implications of evolutionary biology, raises the worry that either there is no single kind of species, or that species are not real. This book surveys the history of thinking about species from Aristotle to modern systematics in order to understand the origin of the problem, and advocates a solution based on the idea of the division of conceptual labor, whereby species concepts function in different ways - theoretically and operationally. It also considers related topics such as individuality and the metaphysics of evolution, and how scientific terms get their meaning. This important addition to the current debate will be essential for philosophers and historians of science, and for biologists.
Download or read book Species Concepts in Biology written by Frank E. Zachos and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-05 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frank E. Zachos offers a comprehensive review of one of today’s most important and contentious issues in biology: the species problem. After setting the stage with key background information on the topic, the book provides a brief history of species concepts from antiquity to the Modern Synthesis, followed by a discussion of the ontological status of species with a focus on the individuality thesis and potential means of reconciling it with other philosophical approaches. More than 30 different species concepts found in the literature are presented in an annotated list, and the most important ones, including the Biological, Genetic, Evolutionary and different versions of the Phylogenetic Species Concept, are discussed in more detail. Specific questions addressed include the problem of asexual and prokaryotic species, intraspecific categories like subspecies and Evolutionarily Significant Units, and a potential solution to the species problem based on a hierarchical approach that distinguishes between ontological and operational species concepts. A full chapter is dedicated to the challenge of delimiting species by means of a discrete taxonomy in a continuous world of inherently fuzzy boundaries. Further, the book outlines the practical ramifications for ecology and evolutionary biology of how we define the species category, highlighting the danger of an apples and oranges problem if what we subsume under the same name (“species”) is in actuality a variety of different entities. A succinct summary chapter, glossary and annotated list of references round out the coverage, making the book essential reading for all biologists looking for an accessible introduction to the historical, philosophical and practical dimensions of the species problem.
Download or read book Principles of Biology written by Lisa Bartee and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Principles of Biology sequence (BI 211, 212 and 213) introduces biology as a scientific discipline for students planning to major in biology and other science disciplines. Laboratories and classroom activities introduce techniques used to study biological processes and provide opportunities for students to develop their ability to conduct research.
Download or read book Plant Taxonomy and Biosystematics written by Clive A. Stace and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise, up-to-date and fully-integrated discussion of present-day plant taxonomy.
Download or read book Concepts of Biology written by Samantha Fowler and published by . This book was released on 2018-01-07 with total page 618 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concepts of Biology is designed for the single-semester introduction to biology course for non-science majors, which for many students is their only college-level science course. As such, this course represents an important opportunity for students to develop the necessary knowledge, tools, and skills to make informed decisions as they continue with their lives. Rather than being mired down with facts and vocabulary, the typical non-science major student needs information presented in a way that is easy to read and understand. Even more importantly, the content should be meaningful. Students do much better when they understand why biology is relevant to their everyday lives. For these reasons, Concepts of Biology is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand.We also strive to show the interconnectedness of topics within this extremely broad discipline. In order to meet the needs of today's instructors and students, we maintain the overall organization and coverage found in most syllabi for this course. A strength of Concepts of Biology is that instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Concepts of Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand--and apply--key concepts.
Download or read book Endless Forms written by Daniel J. Howard and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1998 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Speciation is one of the great themes of evolutionary biology. It is the process through which new species are born and diversity generated. Yet for many years our understanding of the process consisted of little more than a perception that if populations are isolated geographically, they will diverge genetically and may come to form new species. This situation began to change in the 1960s as an increasing number of biologists challenged the exclusivity of allopatric speciation and began to probe more deeply into the actual process by which divergence occurs and reproductive isolation is acquired. This focus on process led to many new insights, but numerous questions remain and speciation is now one of the most dynamic areas of research in modern evolutionary biology. This volume presents the newest research findings on speciation bringing readers up to day on species concepts, modes of speciation, and the nature of reproductive barriers. It also discusses the forces that drive divergence of populations, the genetic control of reproductive isolation, and the role played by hybrid zones and hybridization in speciation.
Download or read book Systematics and the Origin of Species written by National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-09-28 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In December 2004, the National Academy of Sciences sponsored a colloquium on "Systematics and the Origin of Species" to celebrate Ernst Mayr's 100th anniversary and to explore current knowledge concerning the origin of species. In 1942, Ernst Mayr, one of the twentieth century's greatest scientists, published Systematics and the Origin of Species, a seminal book of the modern theory of evolution, where he advanced the significance of population variation in the understanding of evolutionary process and the origin of new species. Mayr formulated the transition from Linnaeus's static species concept to the dynamic species concept of the modern theory of evolution and emphasized the species as a community of populations, the role of reproductive isolation, and the ecological interactions between species. In addition to a preceding essay by Edward O. Wilson, this book includes the 16 papers presented by distinguished evolutionists at the colloquium. The papers are organized into sections covering the origins of species barriers, the processes of species divergence, the nature of species, the meaning of "species," and genomic approaches for understanding diversity and speciation.
Download or read book Structure and Dynamics of Fungal Populations written by J. Worrall and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fungi are among the most versatile and diverse groups of organisms in their morphology, life cycles, and ecology. This has provided endless fasci nation and intrigue to those who have studied fungi, but it has also made it difficult to understand fungal biology from the perspective of the broader fields of evolution, ecology, genetics, and population biology. That is changing. Details of fungal biology have been elucidated at an exciting pace, increasingly allowing us to understand fungi on the bases of general biological principles. Moreover, many who study fungi have lately emulated some of the great mycologists and plant pathologists of the early years in applying an insight born of broad perspective. This change has been particularly apparent in fungal population biology. In this book, many of those at the forefront of that change summarize, integrate and comment on recent developments and ideas on populations of fungi. By taking a broad perspective, they show how new information on fungi may contribute to concepts and ideas of biology as a whole. Just as important, they contribute to further invigoration of fungal population research by illuminating mycology with new ideas and concepts, derived in part from other biological fields.
Download or read book Species written by John S. Wilkins and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-01-29 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over time the complex idea of "species" has evolved, yet its meaning is far from resolved. This comprehensive work is a fresh look at an idea central to the field of biology by tracing its history from antiquity to today. Species is a benchmark exploration and clarification of a concept fundamental to the past, present, and future of the natural sciences. In this edition, a section is added on the debate over species since the time of the New Synthesis, and brings the book up to date. A section on recent philosophical debates over species has also been added. This edition is better suited non-specialists in philosophy, so that it will be of greater use for scientists wishing to understand how the notion came to be that living organisms form species. Key Selling Features: Covers the philosophical and historical development of the concept of "species" Documents that variation was recognized by pre-Darwinian scholars Includes a section on the debates since the time of the New Synthesis Better suited to non-philosophers
Download or read book Science and the Endangered Species Act written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1995-10-13 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a far-reaching law that has sparked intense controversies over the use of public lands, the rights of property owners, and economic versus environmental benefits. In this volume a distinguished committee focuses on the science underlying the ESA and offers recommendations for making the act more effective. The committee provides an overview of what scientists know about extinctionâ€"and what this understanding means to implementation of the ESA. Habitatâ€"its destruction, conservation, and fundamental importance to the ESAâ€"is explored in detail. The book analyzes: Concepts of speciesâ€"how the term "species" arose and how it has been interpreted for purposes of the ESA. Conflicts between species when individual species are identified for protection, including several case studies. Assessment of extinction risk and decisions under the ESAâ€"how these decisions can be made more effectively. The book concludes with a look beyond the Endangered Species Act and suggests additional means of biological conservation and ways to reduce conflicts. It will be useful to policymakers, regulators, scientists, natural-resource managers, industry and environmental organizations, and those interested in biological conservation.
Download or read book From Assessing to Conserving Biodiversity written by Elena Casetta and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-17 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book features essays written by philosophers, biologists, ecologists and conservation scientists facing the current biodiversity crisis. Despite increasing communication, accelerating policy and management responses, and notwithstanding improving ecosystem assessment and endangered species knowledge, conserving biodiversity continues to be more a concern than an accomplished task. Why is it so?The overexploitation of natural resources by our species is a frequently recognised factor, while the short-term economic interests of governments and stakeholders typically clash with the burdens that implementing conservation actions imply. But this is not the whole story. This book develops a different perspective on the problem by exploring the conceptual challenges and practical defiance posed by conserving biodiversity, namely: on the one hand, the difficulties in defining what biodiversity is and characterizing that “thing” to which the word ‘biodiversity’ refers to; on the other hand, the reasons why assessing biodiversity and putting in place effective conservation actions is arduous.
Download or read book The Growth of Biological Thought written by Ernst Mayr and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1982 with total page 996 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the development of the ideas of evolutionary biology, particularly as affected by the increasing understanding of genetics and of the chemical basis of inheritance.
