Bionomina , a forum for the discussion of nomenclatural and terminological issues in biology

Science is an encounter between reality and language. It is based on objects and facts, apprehended through observation and experimentation, and on descriptive, predictive and explanatory concepts, models and theories, expressed through language. Accurate, unambiguous and universal communication is crucial for science to operate and develop. As well stated by clear-sighted scientists and historians of science like Ernst Mayr, an important, although often underrated, ground of disagreement, or of false agreement, among scientists, is the terminology they use. Not rarely, different colleagues or schools of thought erroneously think they disagree (or agree), simply because they use different terms for the same concept, or the same term for different concepts. Therefore scientific terms, i.e., simple words, play a crucial role in the scientific activity. This is particularly true of biology, particularly of the fields that deal with the comparative and