rankless nomenclature

Thomas Lammers lammers at VAXA.CIS.UWOSH.EDU
Tue Oct 17 07:30:23 CDT 2000


At 08:59 AM 10/17/00 +0100, you wrote:
>On the other hand - Mendeelev's table is a good example of how
>good phenetic system works: (1) it is based on observable features
>instead of untestable hypotheses; (2) it decouples names (like
>sulphur or prometheum) from the position of the element in the
>system. This is the reason why it survived so many paradigm shifts

The USDA Soil Classification System is an opposite approach, where the name
explicitly tells you the classification, e.g., alfic mollisol.


Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
Department of Biology and Microbiology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA

e-mail:       lammers at uwosh.edu
phone:      920-424-7085
fax:           920-424-1101

Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and
biogeography of the Campanulaceae s. lat.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that stood his ground."
                                                 -- Anonymous




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