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Author
Summary
"Humans have been modifying plants and animals for millennia. The dawn of molecular genetics, however, has kindled intense public scrutiny and controversy. Crops, and the food products which include them, have dominated molecular modification in agriculture. Organisations have made unsubstantiated claims and scare mongering is common. In this textbook Paul Thompson presents a clear account of the significant issues--identifying harms and benefits,...
Author
Summary
Modern biological classification is based on the system developed by Linnaeus, and interpreted by Darwin as representing the tree of life. But despite its widespread acceptance, the evolutionary interpretation has some problems and limitations. This comprehensive book provides a single resource for understanding all the main philosophical issues and controversies about biological classification. It surveys the history of biological classification...
Author
Summary
"The general principles of the scientific method, which are applicable across all of the sciences, are essential for perspective, productivity, and innovation. These principles include deductive and inductive logic, probability, parsimony, and hypothesis testing, as well as science's presuppositions, limitations, ethics, and bold claims of rationality and truth. The implicit contrast is with specialized techniques confined to a given discipline, such...
Author
Series
Systematics Association special volume volume no. 88
Summary
"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 50 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 25 years. Written in an accessible style by internationally renowned...
Author
Summary
"The main task of this book is to explain how the process of natural selection produces purposeful beings that make sense of their world - organisms who do things for good reasons. It provides a link between a physical world described in terms of matter in motion and a living world described in terms of meanings and purposes. David is proposing a unification of biology and the humanities through a shared engagement with questions of purpose and meaning....