BIOL 1001 Chapter 20: Chapter 20
Document Summary
Natural history: the branch of biology that examines the form and variety of organisms in their natural environment. Aristotle believed that both inanimate objects and living species had fixed characteristics and created a ladder-like classification of nature from simplest to most complex. In the 14th century it was thought that everything had been created by a god, that species could never change or become extinct and that new species could never arise. Natural theology was a belief that knowledge of god may be acquired through the study of natural phenomen and sought to name and catalogue all of god"s creation. Careful study of each species would identify its position and purpose in the great chain of being (scala naturae) Biogeography: the study of the geographic distribution of plants and animals. Comparative morphology: analysis of the structure of living and extinct organisms.
