Species, Science and Society

Quentin Wheeler was President of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Vice President and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Arizona State University, Keeper and Head of Entomology in the Natural History Museum, London, Director of the Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation, and Professor of Insect Systematics in Cornell University, U.S.A. He produces a weekly podcast and newsletter, The Species Hall of Fame, and his previous books include The Future of Phylogenetic Systematics (2016), The New Taxonomy (2008), Letters to Linnaeus (2009), What on Earth?—100 of Our Planet’s Most Amazing New Species (2013), Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory—A Debate (2000), Extinction and Phylogeny (1992) and Fungus-Insect Relationships (1984).

"Wheeler’s compelling narrative reminds us of the unprecedented crisis facing biodiversity and forcefully argues that the way forward, for the sake of life on our planet and our humanity, must include and emphasize detailed morphological study of the species we name. This book is in part a provocative, fact-based opinion piece, a memoir of a lifelong passion for the wonders of the natural world, and a serious logical challenge to the hegemony of experimentalist and molecular genetics in biology. Wheeler’s take is more than just a screed on the current state of affairs, he lays out a vision of the solution. His solution requires a reconstituted science of taxonomy, a collaborative global workforce, and funds to make it happen."Kipling W. Will, University of California, Berkeley"The author has succeeded in writing a highly original book on species exploration: their discovery, explanation, and relationships, that is both rigorous and accessible to a wide audience. There is no book on the market that addresses the nature of the content of this book with the breadth, depth, and clarity that this book achieves."Antonio G. Valdecasas, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid"Usually thought of as the science dealing with describing and classifying all organisms, taxonomy is a rich and varied discipline. Quentin Wheeler’s book sets out to make a compelling case for taxonomy as a significant, fundamental, if under-appreciated, discipline. Rather than detail all the intricacies of its intellectual complexity, his book is a straightforward, no nonsense pragmatic account – one that should be, must be – read. But not just by life scientists and environmental policy makers, but by the general public as well – if for no other reason than to appreciate just how the interrelatedness of life on our earth is understood."David M. Williams, The Natural History Museum, London"Species, Science and Society is a constructive defense and promotion of Systematics in the 21st century... A timely book to remind us that good research in Systematics must integrate identification, description and classification in numerous and complementary comparative approaches... A clear statement that the results of Systematics are essential for a better understanding of Biodiversity, a fundamental societal challenge in facing global changes."Thierry Bourgoin, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris"This excellent book is lighting a path for those who wish to respond to the biodiversity crisis with expanded taxonomic knowledge rather than retracted expectations. It makes a persuasive argument for a mainly scientific solution to the biodiversity crisis based on the science of Systematics to replace the poverty of contemporary frameworks that treat the natural world as ecosystem services, natural capitol and nature-based solutions which, based on current data, have failed to halt or address the decline of biodiversity in any significant way. At its heart this book extols the idea that we need to live with, understand and document the natural world rather than solely viewing it as an object solely for exploitation."Robert Scotland, Oxford University"A plea for a renaissance of taxonomy in its full form by one of the greatest living advocates of the field. Wheeler speaks to the next generation of researchers in a personal and often humorous narrative, warning that the foundation of biodiversity studies is rapidly crumbling."Joseph V. McHugh, University of Georgia

• Part I — Overview A Little about Molecules Scientific Malpractice The Science of Species The Art of Survival Cosmology of the Life Sciences Choices Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Taxonomy but Were Afraid to Ask A Science Misunderstood Greatly The Species-Scape The Illusion of Knowledge Morphology without Apology The Inventory Imperative Other than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Was the Play?Part II — A Crisis of Crises Extinction Systematics under Siege The Nature Gap Options for a Sustainable FuturePart III — Solutions Taxonomic Renaissance A Planetary-Scale Species Inventory Hall of the Holocene Shameless Self-Promotion The Evolution of Evolutionary Economics