Foundations of Biogeography: Classic Papers with Commentaries

Foundations of Biogeography provides facsimile reprints of seventy-two works that have proven fundamental to the development of the field. From classics by Georges-Louis LeClerc Compte de Buffon, Alexander von Humboldt, and Charles Darwin to equally seminal contributions by Ernst Mayr, Robert MacArthur, and E. O. Wilson, these papers and book excerpts not only reveal biogeography's historical roots but also trace its theoretical and empirical development. Selected and introduced by leading biogeographers, the articles cover a wide variety of taxonomic groups, habitat types, and geographic regions. Foundations of Biogeography will be an ideal introduction to the field for beginning students and an essential reference for established scholars of biogeography, ecology, and evolution. List of Contributors John C. Briggs, James H. Brown, Vicki A. Funk, Paul S. Giller, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Lawrence R. Heaney, Robert Hengeveld, Christopher J. Humphries, Mark V. Lomolino, Alan A. Myers, Brett R. Riddle, Dov F. Sax, Geerat J. Vermeij, Robert J. Whittaker

About the Author :
Mark V. Lomolino is an associate professor at the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, and current president of the International Biogeography Society. He is coauthor, with James H. Brown, of Biogeography. Dov F. Sax is a research biologist and lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and secretary of the International Biogeography Society. James H. Brown is a Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of New Mexico, and past president of the International Biogeography Society. He is author of Macroecology, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Review :
"If your class reading list calls for something on Linnaeus, Buffon, de Candolle, von Humboldt and Hooker at one end of the time span, along with MacArthur and Wilson's theory and developments in the 1970s, this 2-kg set will be very useful."--Mark Williamson "Nature" "Compendia of this type can be judged by two criteria: how effectively the specific selections convey the complex history of the field, and how well the accompanying commentaries orient the reader to provide a realistic sense of the science's development. . . . The book measures up well to these standards. The selection includes warty works as well as bright jewels, and most of the commentaries provide a good accounting of the twists and turns as concepts and research avenues developed toward the present. . . . Another standard for judging a compilation is how many surprises we encounter. Again, the volume stands up well."--Stephen T. Jackson "Ecology" "This is not only a truly voluminous book . . . it is also very interesting and supplies stimulating reading of papers of various styles and approaches." --P. Langer "Mammalian Biology" "[The Foundations] are all extremely useful for teaching, and the present volume is no exception, providing a generous basis for an advanced course or graduate seminar. . . . The volume is a major accomplishment. Praise is due to the publisher, volume editors, and section editors for providing a compendious resource for students and scholars in the history of evolution, ecology, and biogeography."--Jane R. Camerini "Journal of the History of Biology" "It is not possible to do justice here to the dozens and dozens of great studies reprinted in this book--after all, virtually every paper is considered a classic in its own rignt--but perhaps it suffices to say that it should not come as any surprise when Foundations of Biogeography itself becomes a major milestone in modern biogeography."--Carole T. Gee "Plant Systematics and Evolution" "The purpose of the Foundations series is to bring together and reprint classic papers from a field in one place and create a volume for students of the field to use as a reference. In this aim, the Foundations of Biogepgraphy succeeds admirably. . . . [The] book should make a worthy addition to the library of a biogreographer at any stage. . . .This book would make an excellent text for use in an introduction to biogeography seminar or in a history of biogeography course."--S. Kathleen Lyons "Journal of Mammal Evolution"