This book is a comprehensive introduction to the philosophical foundations and development of modern biological classification.

Through simple yet engaging language and detailed images and charts, readers will explore the work of Aristotle, Linnaeus, Darwin, and other well-known, and some not so well-known, figures throughout history who tried to make sense of the natural world, as well as the breakthroughs and technologies that allow scientists to study organisms down to the genetic level. This book supports the Next Generation Science Standards on heredity and biological evolution by helping students understand how mutations lead to genetic variation, which in turn leads to natural selection. In addition, informative sidebars, a bibliography, and a Further Reading section with current books and educational websites will allow inquisitive minds to dive deeper into the evolutionary relationships among organisms.

Living things are classified into domains and kingdoms. But because life on Earth is too varied and complex, these two classifications are further broken down into more specific subcategories dubbed as family, genus and species. This science book will cover the process of life classification. It will also touch on dichotomous keys, which allow students to classify organisms based on their physical characteristics.

This new edition of a foundational text presents a contemporary review of cladistics, as applied to biological classification. It provides a comprehensive account of the past fifty years of discussion on the relationship between classification, phylogeny and evolution. It covers cladistics in the era of molecular data, detailing new advances and ideas that have emerged over the last twenty-five years. Written in an accessible style by internationally renowned authors in the field, readers are straightforwardly guided through fundamental principles and terminology. Simple worked examples and easy-to-understand diagrams also help readers navigate complex problems that have perplexed scientists for centuries. This practical guide is an essential addition for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers in taxonomy, systematics, comparative biology, evolutionary biology and molecular biology.

Kingdoms, Empires, and Domains explores the history of the idea that there is more to the living world than plants and animals. Progressing chronologically through philosophical, religious, literary, and other pre-scientific traditions, leading molecular systematist Mark A. Ragan traces how transgressive creatures such as sponges, corals, algae, fungi, and diverse microscopic beings have been described, categorized, and understood throughout history. The book also explores how the concept of a "third kingdom of life" evolved within the fields of scientific botany and zoology, and continues to evolve up to the present day.

This book presents a revised history of early biogeography and investigates the split in taxonomic practice, between the classification of taxa and the classification of vegetation. It moves beyond the traditional belief that biogeography is born from a synthesis of Darwin and Wallace and focuses on the important pioneering work of earlier practitioners such as Zimmermann, Stromeyer, de Candolle and Humboldt. Tracing the academic history of biogeography over the decades and centuries, this book recounts the early schisms in phyto and zoogeography, the shedding of its bonds to taxonomy, its adoption of an ecological framework and its beginnings at the dawn of the 20th century. This book assesses the contributions of key figures such as Zimmermann, Humboldt and Wallace and reminds us of the forgotten influence of plant and animal geographers including Stromeyer, Prichard and de Candolle, whose early attempts at classifying animal and plant geography would inform later progress.“/p> The Origins of Biogeography is a science historiography aimed at biogeographers, who have little access to a detailed history of the practices of early plant and animal geographers. This book will also reveal how biological classification has shaped 18th and 19th century plant and animal geography and why it is relevant to the 21st bio geographer.

Learn to identify and describe the five major kingdoms of Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. Gain enough knowledge to correctly explain the differences and similarities of these five major kingdoms, as well as why and how they were divided this way. With well-placed images and complementing texts, this book is a wonderful read! Go ahead and grab a copy today.