Species Problems and Beyond

In conjunction with Frank Zachos from the Natural History Museum Vienna, and Igor Pavlinov of Lomonosov Moscow State University in Moscow (both mammalogists) I have edited this book:

You can read more but I thought it was worthwhile noting the table of contents:

• Section 1. Concepts and theories
  • 1. We Are Nearly Ready to Begin the Species Problem – Matthew J Barker
  • 2. Is the Species Problem That Important? – Yuichi Amitani
  • 3. ‘Species’ as a technical term: Multiple meanings in practice, one idea in theory – Thomas A C Reydon
  • 4. What Should Species Be? Taxonomic Inflation and the Ethics of Splitting and Lumping – Jay Odenbaugh
  • 5. The Good Species – John S Wilkins
• Section 2. Practice and methods 
  • 6. Species in the Time of Big Data: The Multi-species Coalescent, the General Lineage Concept, and Species Delimitation – Aleta Quinn
  • 7. Species delimitation using molecular data – Megan L Smith and Brian C Carstens
  • 8. Taxonomic order, disorder and governance – Stijn Conix, Stephen T Garnett, Frank E Zachos and Les Christidis
• Section 3. Ranks and trees and names 
  • 9. Ecology, evolution, and systematics in a post-species world – Brent D Mishler
  • 10. The species before and after Linnaeus – tension between disciplinary nomadism and conservative nomenclature – Alessandro Minelli
  • 11.?Taxonomic hierarchies as a tool for coping with the complexity of biodiversity – Julia D Sigwart
• Section 4. Metaphysics and epistemologies 
  • 12. The species problem from a conceptualist’s viewpoint – Igor Ya. Pavlinov
  • 13. (Some) Species are Processes – John Dupré
  • 14. Metaphysical presuppositions about species stability: problematic and unavoidable – Catherine Kendig
  • 15. Critique of taxonomic reason(ing): nature’s joints in light of an ‘Honest’ Species Concept and Kurt Hubner’s historistic?philosophy of science – Frank E Zachos
• Afterword 
  • 16. Continuing After Species: An Afterword – Robert A Wilson

It is a nice mix of scientists, philosophers and historians, and mixtures of all three disciplines (I’m thinking here of Alessandro Minelli). It’s about as interdisciplinary as it’s possible to make it. I am very proud of this and I strongly recommend you all buy a copy now to increase the royalties to keep up with a fast moving problem and discussion.