origins of systematics

[Robert Robbins]

On Sun, 26 Mar 1995, Neal Evenhuis wrote:

> I've given a talk to various groups entitled "Taxonomy: the world's oldest
> profession". It is easily defended by the words of the King James version
> of Genesis 2: 20
>
>      " . . . and Adam named all the animals".
>
> Can't get much earlier than that!

Actually, you can.  Steven Pincker's book, The Language Instinct, makes
the case that certain linguistic and conceptual aspects of dealing with
biological objects seem to be hard-wired into our brains, reflecting our
evolutionary heritage.  Of course, some would dispute Pincker's approach
to linguistics.  Some might dispute Genesis, too, but that's no reason to
put aside a nice argument.



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