the TRIMERAL SYSTEM in BIOLOGICAL TAXONOMY - universala ...

Databanks; now we have CD-Roms with sight and sound; and
above all now we have the INTERNET with a limitless potential for
information retrieval and exchange, making it possible even to
(quickly!) find the proverbial needle in a haystack ...
So, what are we waiting for?
We are waiting for a totally logical and easy-to-use system to
replace the cumbersome and creaky Linnaean one. A system
which would do away with the onerous need to master dead and
extremely complex languages. A system with a moderate
number of simple rules, as free of exceptions as possible; so that
they can be remembered and adhered to without racking one’s
brain or spending valuable time on a complicated handbook. A
system fully compatible with the computer. A system so coherent
as to provide a solid infrastructure needing no extension or
modification, once mastered, and leaving users free to apply
complete attention to their objective study: living things and their
evolution, without bothering about linguistics.
Admittedly, many proposals to this end have already seen the
light of day, including representation by numbers instead of
names or by expressing everything in plain English. In fact, the
need for mucking out these Augean stables has become so
urgent at this start of the 21 st Century, that a so-called Draft
BioCode has been worked out by a special commission to that
end — the International Committee on Bionomenclature (ICB) —
which code must and undoubtedly will be discussed by
representatives of all the life sciences. Well, here is yet another
proposal, but this time on an entirely new footing ... with many
advantages, never seen before. A bold statement, indeed, but let
the reader judge for himself in the following chapters.
The operating principle is essentially that of a constant, close
engagement between three mechanical components analogous
to the steering wheel, the gear box, and the accelerator pedal of
a motor car. The steering wheel would be a new taxonomic
framework proper, the gear box a new nomenclative wordlist, and
the accelerator pedal a new linguistic infrastructure, the latter
being free of the complexities of Latin and Greek. In fact, the
whole has a Tau-like infrastructure. This combination is so easily
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