Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Biogeography has had a long history woven into natural history, evolutionary
biology, systematics, geology, and ecology. In this chapter I highlight some
authors whose works focus on evolutionary aspects of biogeography. Many
worksthatmighthavebeenincludedhavebeenomittedbecausethischapter
is not intended to be an exhaustive historical treatment. For historical ac-
counts of biogeography, see Hofsten (1916), George (1964), Browne (1983),
Larson (1986), Papavero and Balsa (1985), Bowler (1989, 1996), Papavero
(1990, 1991), Papavero et al. (1997), and Lomolino et al. (2004). My ap-
proach is largely archaeological (in the sense of Foucault 1966, 1969), trying
to identify strategies and practices, in order to reconstruct the space where
evolutionary biogeography has developed. Additionally, I have paid special
attention to the way more recent authors have interpreted these ideas (me-
tahistory).
The questions posed by modern biogeographers are already present in pres-
cientific writings. The concepts of centers of origin and dispersal may be re-
cognized in the biblical accounts of the Garden of Eden, Noah's Ark, and
the Tower of Babel (Papavero and Balsa 1985; Papavero et al. 1997). In the
Middle Ages some progress was made in the study of life and Earth. In his
Confesiones
and
De Civitate Dei,
Saint Augustine (354-430) analyzed the
Deluge and the dispersal of animals preserved in Noah's Ark. Muslim schol-
ars Abu al-Rayhan Mohamed ben Ahmad al-Biruni (973-1050) and Avicenna
(980-1037) analyzed the expansion of geographic distributions and the in-
