BRITISH CLASSIFICATION SOCIETY
THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
An open meeting of the British Classification Society will be held at
The Natural History Museum on 27 January. It will be preceded by
the AGM of the British Classification Society.
It would be helpful if those intending to attend would contact either
Clive Moncrieff ([log in to unmask]) or Jo Padmore ([log in to unmask]).
Date: 27 January 2004
Time: 4:30
Title: Phylogeny of Manuscripts
Speakers: Peter Robinson (De Montfort University) &
Chris Howe (University of Cambridge).
Abstract
The phylogeny of manuscripts
Peter Robinson, De Montfort University
Christopher Howe, Cambridge University
There are obvious analogies between the creation of manuscript
traditions by processes of copying and the creation of populations of
living organisms by processes of copying. In both, one finds instances
of what Darwin called 'descent with modification'. In both, one might
then study the distribution of the modifications to construct hypotheses
of descent, thus achieving classifications in terms of family
relationships among the objects of study.
This paper reports on collaboration between various manuscript
scholars (represented here by Robinson) and scientists working in
evolutionary biology (Howe) to explore these analogies. We have tested
the applicability of the techniques of phylogenetic inference using an
'artificial' manuscript tradition, in which the lines of descent are
known. We have looked at the consequences of assigning different
weights to particular kinds of change, and at how to cope with the
manuscript equivalent of lateral gene transfer.
This talk will be illustrated by examples drawn from different
manuscript traditions. A key question is how best to make use of these
techniques both to help understand ourselves how particular readings in
particular texts came about, and to help explain this to others.
<C.B. Moncrieff, Head of Biometry, The Nat. Hist. Mus., London>
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