ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with sociological and anthropological approaches to the phenomenon of classification and within the history of the intersections between the taxonomic and biodiversity sciences. Sociologists, anthropologists and historians have long been rightly fascinated by human classification practices. A continuing dependency on the visible morphological characteristics of specimens was complemented by the use of DNA sequences as a new form of classificatory currency. By the end of the twentieth century, taxonomy, was being reframed by state-of-the-art genomic approaches, increasingly relying on DNA and molecular techniques and powerful computer technologies to 'split and lump' the natural world. The technoscience that the barcode of life Initiative promotes, DNA barcoding, was advanced from 2003 onwards as a way to radically speed up and even 'democratize' the identification–classification work of conventional taxonomy. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
