Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science and study of naming and classification. Taxonomy was first recognized as a formal subject in 1813 by A.P. de Candolle as a combination o the Greek words taxis (arrangement) and nomos (rules or laws) in his famous work Theorie elementaire de la botanique. Although the methods of taxonomy can be utilized to classify all variety of things, the first and arguably most important use of taxonomy was to classify living organisms.

The definitions of the concepts of classification and systematics are similar to, if not the same as taxonomy itself. Different authors will use the terminology in different ways. For our intents at this website "classification" will here be the most broad and general term and simply refer to the allotment of any items into categories, and those categories need not be hierarchical or biological in nature, such as the classification of mammals based upon the number of digits they have on their hands, feet, or occasionally wings. Theoretically, all mammals will have a number of digits between one and five on each of their limbs, so their are five categories that a mammal may be classified into based on this criterion. (please temporarily forget about conditions like syndactyly and polydactyly, where they may be fused or extra digits). There is not subcategory of 2.5 digits. "Taxonomy", although it need not be biological in nature, is a more general type of classification and will contain subcategories into which things are classified. Another key distinction between classification and taxonomy is the naming aspect of the activity. Taxonomy requires the naming of objects, whereas classification in general may or may not utilize names. For example, one may classify the coins in their coin jar by their monetary value or diameter, but they need not name each coin in order to do so. In a strict sense, taxonomy is sometimes used to refer simply to the naming of things with no regard for their arrangement or classification, but herein taxonomy implies at least basic classification along with the nomenclature.

Biology Encyclopedia	Taxonomy Taxonomy is the science and study of naming and classification. Taxonomy was first recognized as a formal subject in 1813 by A.P. de Candolle as a combination o the Greek words taxis (arrangement) and nomos (rules or laws) in his famous work Theorie elementaire de la botanique. Although the methods of taxonomy can be utilized to classify all variety of things, the first and arguably most important use of taxonomy was to classify living organisms. The definitions of the concepts of classification and systematics are similar to, if not the same as taxonomy itself. Different authors will use the terminology in different ways. For our intents at this website "classification" will here be the most broad and general term and simply refer to the allotment of any items into categories, and those categories need not be hierarchical or biological in nature, such as the classification of mammals based upon the number of digits they have on their hands, feet, or occasionally wings. Theoretically, all mammals will have a number of digits between one and five on each of their limbs, so their are five categories that a mammal may be classified into based on this criterion. (please temporarily forget about conditions like syndactyly and polydactyly, where they may be fused or extra digits). There is not subcategory of 2.5 digits. "Taxonomy", although it need not be biological in nature, is a more general type of classification and will contain subcategories into which things are classified. Another key distinction between classification and taxonomy is the naming aspect of the activity. Taxonomy requires the naming of objects, whereas classification in general may or may not utilize names. For example, one may classify the coins in their coin jar by their monetary value or diameter, but they need not name each coin in order to do so. In a strict sense, taxonomy is sometimes used to refer simply to the naming of things with no regard for their arrangement or classification, but herein taxonomy implies at least basic classification along with the nomenclature.
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