John S. Wilkins, Species: A History of the Idea. University of California Press 2009
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/11391.php
$49.95, £34.95 hardcover ISBN 9780520260856
320 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 16 line illustrations, 1 table
September 2009, Available worldwide
» E-book version available

The complex idea of "species" has evolved over time, yet its meaning is
far from resolved. This comprehensive work takes a fresh look at an idea
central to the field of biology by tracing its history from antiquity to
today. John S. Wilkins explores the essentialist view, a staple of logic
from Plato and Aristotle through the Middle Ages to fairly recent times,
and considers the idea of species in natural history—a concept often
connected to reproduction. Tracing "generative conceptions" of species
back through Darwin to Epicurus, Wilkins provides a new perspective on
the relationship between philosophical and biological approaches to this
concept. He also reviews the array of current definitions. Species is a
benchmark exploration and clarification of a concept fundamental to the
past, present, and future of the natural sciences.

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