The Environmentalist, 21, 237–243, 2001©2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Manufactured in The Netherlands.

Book reviews

The variety of life: a survey and a celebration of allthe creatures that have ever lived, by C. Tudge,2000. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, xii+ 684 pp., ISBN 0-19-850311-3, £35�00 (hard-back).

To a zoology graduate from the 1960s who hasnot closely followed the changes in taxonomyand nomenclature this book presents a few sur-prises. Two Kingdoms (Animalia and Plantae)have become three domains (Archaea, Bacte-ria and Eucarya) whilst the neat ‘classes’ ofphylum Arthropoda have now become subphylaCrustacea, Insecta, Chelicerata and Pycnogonidae.Reptiles survive as a class by the skin oftheir teeth and as a sop to tradition. Manynew (to me) groupings have appeared suchas Lophotrochozoa, Dromopoda, Pelmatozoa,Neognathae and Pleocyemata. If you know whatthese are then this book cannot teach much.

After absorbing such changes it takes little timeto realise that the book is an excellent reviewand description of the history of classification andof the complete diversity of extinct and extantlife. Within its pages the variety of life—mostlyat the higher levels of classification (rarely below‘Order’)—is presented. The evolution, relation-ships and morphology of the groupings are dis-cussed in straightforward and sometimes chattystyles. The expertise behind the assessments andevaluations is however never in doubt.

The three domains and their groupings are nottreated equally. The Bacteria and Archaea cover20 pages whilst the Eucarya (plants and animals)occupy 480 pages. Within the latter only about 60pages are devoted to plants, and most of thoseto the flowering plants (Angiosperms). There isa very clear and interesting chapter on the fam-ily Hominidae, describing the four genera and 15species (including seven Homo species) known todate. The knowledge and interpretation of humanevolution continuously and rapidly advances so a

succinct account of the present status of both iswelcome.

The first part of the book (about 90 pages)contains a review of the ‘craft and science ofclassification.’ This considers the history of taxon-omy and classification from Aristotle up to thepresent debate between the classical Linnaeansand Hennig’s cladists. Tudge attempts to reconcilethe two views with a plea for the acceptance of his‘Neolinnaean Impressionism.’ Whilst this soundsmore like an artistic movement of the 19th or 20thcentury, time will tell whether or how the diver-gent views will come together. As the book shows,ideas on the subject have been evolving for mil-lenia and will undoubtedly continue to do so forquite a while yet.

Taxonomy and classification have largely disap-peared from modern undergraduate studies. Thisis to be regretted. Perhaps it is not ‘sexy’ enough.No matter how the study of biology advances inthe future, surely a good knowledge of its con-stituent parts and their relationships—the vastcollection and diversity of the totality of life—isessential. This book provides that information ina clear and erudite way to all who wish to know it.

Marcus R. Chambers,Fleet, HampshireGU51 4JU, UK

Environments and historical change, Paul Slack(ed.) 1999. Oxford University Press, Oxford,196 pp. ISBN 0-19-823388-4, £30 (hardback).

The eight chapters in this book were origi-nally delivered as the Linacre Lectures in 1988at Linacre College, Oxford University. ThomasLinacre (1460?–1521) was an English humanistand physician who founded the Royal College ofPhysicians, UK. The book is edited by Paul Slack,Principal of Linacre College and he provides the