The 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. - Provides a single reference describing the properties, history and utility of The Tree of Life - Introduces phylogenetics and its applications in an approachable manner - Written by experts on the Tree of Life - Includes an online companion site containing various original videos to enhance the reader's understanding and experience

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).