Author Dr. Henry Gee, longtime
writer/editor for the prestigious journal Nature, has taken on the
difficult role of explaining the relationships between cladistic (or
phylgenetic) evolutionary analysis and the broad paleontological
implications of that method.
Gee mixes a relaxed style (as when he does a
phylogeny of his cats and himself, dressed as Henry VIII) that covers his
involvement in evolution that ranges from postgraduate days to the recent
past.
He offers readers many simple examples to
illustrate the procedures behind cladistics. In fact, I think Gee's major
contribution is to show how extremely simple cladistic analysis is;
stripping it of its cumbersome jargon and discussing the mechanics in
clear language. his is certainly an important read, and a book that should
be in every science library.
--R. G. Sprackland
