Great Tree of Life

The Great Tree of Life is a concise, approachable treatment that surveys the concept of the Tree of Life, including chapters on its historical introduction and cultural connection. The Tree of Life is a metaphor used to describe the relationships between organisms, both living and extinct. It has been widely recognized that the relationship between the roughly 10 million species on earth drives the ecological system. This work covers options on how to build the tree, demonstrating its utility in drug discovery, curing disease, crop improvement, conservation biology and ecology, along with tactics on how to respond to the challenges of climate change. This book is a key aid on the improvement of our understanding of the relationships between species, the increasing and essential awareness of biodiversity, and the power of employing modern biology to build the tree of life.

"The two authors have a firm reputation in the world of natural history, and both have over 400 publications and wrote many books. A synthesis from their hand could only be wide and mature as in this book. Every novice in systematic biology should read this book at least three times, and every biologist should have it on his book shelf. School teachers, even at the basic school, can find here manifold inspiration to innovate their biology teaching and link it with present-day issues. But I also hope with the authors that this book will impact not only the scientific community, but also, more importantly, the public and policy makers. The language is fluent and easy to read, and accompanied with numerous well chosen colour illustrations. This makes the content approachable to a wide audience, and one may wish indeed that the strong message of the book will even have influence on deniers of evolution or climate change." --Plant Ecology and Evolution

Dr. Douglas E. Soltis is a Distinguished Professor in the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. Prior to moving to Florida in 2000, he was Professor of Botany at Washington State University. He received his Ph.D. in 1980. Research interests include building the plant tree of life, as well as the tree of all life; and evolution and genome doubling (polyploidy). He has over 400 published papers and eight books. He was president of the Botanical Society of America (1999-2000). He was named a Distinguished Professor at the University of Florida in 2008. He has received the Centennial Award and the Distinguished Fellow Award from the Botanical Society of America. With Pam Soltis he received the Dahlgren International Prize in Botany (2002), the Asa Gray Award in Plant Systematics (2006), and the Darwin-Wallace Medal from the Linnean Society of London (2016). With coauthors P. Soltis, P. Endress, and M. Chase he received the Stebbins Medal in 2006 (for Phylogeny and Evolution of Angiosperms). Dr. Pamela S. Soltis is a Distinguished Professor and Curator in the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. Prior to moving to Florida in 2000, she was Professor of Botany at Washington State University. She received her Ph.D. in 1986. Research interests include exploration of plant diversity, including reconstructing the tree of life; genome duplication (polyploidy); conservation. She has over 400 published papers and eight books. She served as president of the Society of Systematic Biologists (2004-07) and of the Botanical Society of America (2006-09). She was named a Distinguished Professor at the University of Florida in 2007. She has received the Centennial Award and the Distinguished Fellow Award from the Botanical Society of America. With Doug Soltis, she received the Dahlgren International Prize in Botany (2002), the Asa Gray Award in Plant Systematics (2006), and the Darwin-Wallace Medal from the Linnean Society of London (2016). With coauthors D. Soltis, P. Endress, and M. Chase, she received the Stebbins Medal in 2006 (for Phylogeny and Evolution of Angiosperms). She was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2016.