Revised edition of: Species: a history of the idea. Berkeley: University of California Press, c2009.

A persistent argument among evolutionary biologists and philosophers revolves around the nature of natural selection. Evolution by Natural Selection: Confidence, Evidence and the Gap explores this argument by using a theory of persistence as an intentional foil to examine ways in which similar theories can be misunderstood. It discusses Charles Darwin s theory of natural selection, including what the theory says, what it aims to explain, and how it manages to explain natural selection.

Darwin s theory is so familiar today that it feels universally understood. However, the...

This book is an extended argument for abandoning the various single concepts and the "species" rank. The author proposes that the rank of "species" be replaced by a pluralistic view. In such taxonomy, the smallest identifiable lineages would be used within various divergent phylogenies in a context dependent manner. In such a view, "species" represents different sorts of things depending on the organism/lineage being considered. In practice, this is what is already done although it is not formally recognized.

Phylogenetic Systematics: Haeckel to Hennig traces the development of phylogenetic systematics against the foil of idealistic morphology through 100 years of German biology. It starts with the iconic Ernst Haeckel the German Darwin from Jena and the evolutionary morphology he developed. It ends with Willi Hennig, the founder of modern phylogenetic systematics. Written in English, the book presents a unique perspective on a vast body of German biological literature.

The book also offers a perspective on German biology in the Third Reich. The author looks at how...