Sense and Nonsense in Bacterial Taxonomy

Summary: Classifications cannot be final, and the same group of organisms may be sorted and arranged in many different ways. The species is man-made, and since it cannot be defined the creation of taxa of higher categories based on species makes an absurd situation. The type method (a nomenclatural device) is inapplicable to bacteriology, and more use should be made of the population concept. Bacteriological nomenclature is full of absurdities, many derived from the Botanical Code. In particular, the principles of priority and the retroactive application of new rules are criticized, especially when they are applied to the names of well-established taxa. Two new principles of heretical taxonomy are described.