Skip to main content
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Applied Physical Sciences
  • Astronomy
  • Computer Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Economic Sciences
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Applied Biological Sciences
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics and Computational Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Immunology and Inflammation
  • Medical Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
  • Systems Biology
Perspective

Historical natural kinds and mineralogy: Systematizing contingency in the context of necessity

View ORCID ProfileCarol E. Cleland, View ORCID ProfileRobert M. Hazen, and View ORCID ProfileShaunna M. Morrison
PNAS January 5, 2021 118 (1) e2015370118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015370118
Carol E. Cleland
aCenter for the Study of Origins, Department of Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Carol E. Cleland
Robert M. Hazen
bEarth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Robert M. Hazen
  • For correspondence: rhazen@ciw.edu
Shaunna M. Morrison
bEarth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Shaunna M. Morrison
  1. Edited by Bruce Watson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, and approved November 2, 2020 (received for review July 20, 2020)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

The advancement of science depends upon developing classification protocols that systematize natural objects and phenomena into “natural kinds”—categorizations that are conjectured to represent genuine divisions in nature by virtue of playing central roles in the articulation of successful scientific theories. In the physical sciences, theoretically powerful classification systems, such as the periodic table, are typically time independent. Similarly, the standard classification of mineral species by the International Mineralogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature, and Classification relies on idealized chemical composition and crystal structure, which are time-independent attributes selected on the basis of theoretical considerations from chemical theory and solid-state physics. However, when considering mineral kinds in the historical context of planetary evolution, a different, time-dependent classification scheme is warranted. We propose an “evolutionary” system of mineral classification based on recognition of the role played by minerals in the origin and development of planetary systems. Lacking a comprehensive theory of chemical evolution capable of explaining the time-dependent pattern of chemical complexification exhibited by our universe, we recommend a bootstrapping approach to mineral classification based on observations of geological field studies, astronomical observations, laboratory experiments, and analyses of natural samples and their environments. This approach holds the potential to elucidate underlying universal principles of cosmic chemical complexification.

  • natural kinds
  • mineral evolution
  • classification
  • mineralogy
  • cosmic evolution

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: rhazen{at}ciw.edu.
  • Author contributions: C.E.C., R.M.H., and S.M.M. designed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no competing interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

Data Availability.

There are no data underlying this work.

Published under the PNAS license.

View Full Text

References

  1. ↵
    1. E. N. Zalta
    1. A. Bird,
    2. E. Tobin
    , “Natural kinds” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E. N. Zalta, Ed. (Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 2015).
  2. ↵
    1. C. E. Cleland
    , The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2019).
  3. ↵
    1. R. Boyd
    , Homeostasis, higher taxa, and monophyly. Philos. Sci. 77, 686–701 (2010).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  4. ↵
    1. E. J. Lowe
    , The Four-Category Ontology (Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK, 2006).
  5. ↵
    1. J. Laporte
    , Natural Kinds and Conceptual Change (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2004).
  6. ↵
    1. B. Ellis
    , Scientific Essentialism (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, 2001).
  7. ↵
    1. I. Hacking
    , The Social Construction of What? (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999).
  8. ↵
    1. V. W. Quine
    1. V. W. Quine
    , “Natural kinds” in Ontological Relativity and Other Essays, V. W. Quine, Ed. (Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 1969), pp. 114–138.
  9. ↵
    1. V. Baker
    1. C. E. Cleland
    , “Common cause explanation and the search for a smoking gun” in 125th Anniversary Volume of the Geological Society of America: Rethinking the Fabric of Geology, Special Paper 502, V. Baker, Ed. (Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO, 2013), pp. 1–9.
  10. ↵
    1. C. E. Cleland
    , Prediction and explanation in historical natural science. Br. J. Philos. Sci. 62, 551–582 (2011).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  11. ↵
    1. C. E. Cleland
    , Methodological and epistemic differences between historical science and experimental science. Philos. Sci. 69, 474–496 (2002).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  12. ↵
    1. C. E. Cleland
    , Historical science, experimental science, and the scientific method. Geology 29, 987–990 (2001).
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  13. ↵
    1. C. Elder
    , Biological species are natural kinds. South. J. Philos. 6, 339–362 (2008).
    OpenUrl
  14. ↵
    1. M. W. Ellis
    , The problem with the species problem. Hist. Philos. Life Sci. 33, 343–363 (2011).
    OpenUrlPubMed
  15. ↵
    1. S. Okasha
    , Darwinian metaphysics: Species and the question of essentialism. Synthese 131, 191–213 (2002).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  16. ↵
    1. I. Hacking
    , A tradition of natural kinds. Philos. Stud. 61, 109–126 (1991).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  17. ↵
    1. I. Hacking
    , On Boyd. Philos. Stud. 61, 149–154 (1991).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  18. ↵
    1. M. Godman
    , Scientific realism with historical essences: The case of species. Synthese, doi:10.1007/s11229-018-02034-3 (2019).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  19. ↵
    1. M. Ereshefsky
    , Species, historicity, and path dependency. Philos. Sci. 81, 714–726 (2014).
    OpenUrl
  20. ↵
    1. R. Wilson
    1. P. E. Griffiths
    , “Squaring the circle: Natural kinds with historical essences” in Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays, R. Wilson, Ed. (The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999), pp. 210–228.
  21. ↵
    1. R. G. Millikan
    , Historical kinds and the “special sciences”. Philos. Stud. 95, 45–65 (1999).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  22. ↵
    1. C. Santana
    , Mineral misbehavior: Why mineralogists don’t deal in natural kinds. Found. Chem. 21, 333–343 (2019).
    OpenUrl
  23. ↵
    1. R. M. Hazen,
    2. S. M. Morrison
    , An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part I: Stellar mineralogy (>13 to 4.6 Ga). Am. Mineral. 105, 627–651 (2020).
    OpenUrl
  24. ↵
    1. S. M. Morrison,
    2. R. M. Hazen
    , An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part II: Interstellar and solar nebula primary condensation mineralogy (> 4.565 Ga). Am. Mineral. 105, 1508–1535 (2020).
    OpenUrl
  25. ↵
    1. R. M. Hazen,
    2. S. M. Morrison,
    3. A. Prabhu
    , An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part III: Primary chondrule mineralogy (4.566 to 4.561 Ga). Am. Mineral. in press.
  26. ↵
    1. S. M. Morrison,
    2. R. M. Hazen
    , An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part IV: Planetesimal differentiation and impact mineralization (4.566 to 4.560 Ga). Am. Mineral. in press.
  27. ↵
    1. J. D. Dana
    , A System of Mineralogy, Comprising the Most Recent Discoveries, Including the Full Descriptions of Species and Their Localities, Chemical Analyses and Formulas (Putnam, New York, NY, ed. 3, 1850).
  28. ↵
    1. R. O. Sack,
    2. M. S. Ghiorso
    , Ti3+- and Ti4+-rich fassaites at the birth of the solar system: Thermodynamics and applications. Am. J. Sci. 317, 807–845 (2017).
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  29. ↵
    1. E. B. Rampe et al.
    , Mineralogy and geochemistry of sedimentary rocks and eolian sediments in gale crater, Mars: A review after six Earth years of exploration with Curiosity. Geochemistry 80, 125605 (2020).
    OpenUrl
  30. ↵
    1. J. Locke
    , An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1689).
  31. ↵
    1. K. P. Dial,
    2. N. Shubin,
    3. E. L. Brainerd
    1. P. D. Gingerich
    , “Evolution of whales from land to sea” in Great Transformations in Vertebrate Evolution, K. P. Dial, N. Shubin, E. L. Brainerd, Eds. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2015), pp. 239–256.
  32. ↵
    1. D. G. Burnett
    , Trying Leviathan (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2007).
  33. ↵
    1. P. J. Heaney
    , Time’s arrow in the trees of life and minerals. Am. Mineral. 101, 1027–1035 (2016).
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  34. ↵
    1. R. M. Hazen
    , An evolutionary system of mineralogy: Proposal for a classification based on natural kind clustering. Am. Mineral. 104, 810–816 (2019).
    OpenUrl
  35. ↵
    1. R. M. Hazen
    , The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet (Viking, New York, NY, 2012).
  36. ↵
    1. R. M. Hazen et al
    ., Mineral evolution. Am. Mineral. 93, 1693–1720 (2008).
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  37. ↵
    1. R. M. Hazen,
    2. N. Eldredge
    , Themes and variations in complex systems. Elements 6, 43–46 (2010).
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  38. ↵
    1. E. J. Chaisson
    , Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001).
  39. ↵
    1. H. J. Morowitz
    , The Emergence of Everything (Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2002).
  40. ↵
    1. L. Zaikowski,
    2. J. M. Friedrich,
    3. S. R. Seidel
    , Chemical Evolution II: From Origins of Life to Modern Society (American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2007).
  41. ↵
    1. S. A. Kauffman
    , A World Beyond Physics: The Emergence and Evolution of Life (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2019).
  42. ↵
    1. S. A. Kauffman
    , Investigations (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2000).
  43. ↵
    1. R. B. Laughlin
    , A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down (Basic Books, New York, NY, 2005).
  44. ↵
    1. H. J. Morowitz
    , The Beginnings of Cellular Life: Metabolism Recapitulates Biogenesis (Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1992).
  45. ↵
    1. H. J. Morowitz,
    2. B. Heinz,
    3. D. W. Deamer
    , The chemical logic of a minimum protocell. Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 18, 281–287 (1988).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  46. ↵
    1. H. J. Morowitz,
    2. J. D. Kostelnik,
    3. J. Yang,
    4. G. D. Cody
    , The origin of intermediary metabolism. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97, 7704–7708 (2000).
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  47. ↵
    1. G. D. Cody et al
    ., Assaying the catalytic potential of transition metal sulfides for prebiotic carbon fixation. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 68, 2185–2196 (2004).
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  48. ↵
    1. G. Wächtershäuser
    , Groundworks for an evolutionary biochemistry: The iron-sulphur world. Prog. Biophys. Mol. Biol. 58, 85–201 (1992).
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  49. ↵
    1. M.D. Wilkinson et al
    ., The FAIR guiding principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci. Data 3, 160018 (2016).
    OpenUrlPubMed
  50. ↵
    1. J. Dupré
    , The Disorder of Things (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993).
  51. ↵
    1. F. E. Zachos
    , Species Concepts in Biology (Springer International, Cham, Switzerland, 2016).
  52. ↵
    1. M. Ereshefsky
    , Species pluralism and anti-realism. Philos. Sci. 65, 103–120 (1992).
    OpenUrl

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.

Subscribers, for more details, please visit our Subscriptions FAQ.

Please click here to log into the PNAS submission website.

PreviousNext
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Historical natural kinds and mineralogy: Systematizing contingency in the context of necessity
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Historical natural kinds and mineralogy: Systematizing contingency in the context of necessity
Carol E. Cleland, Robert M. Hazen, Shaunna M. Morrison
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2021, 118 (1) e2015370118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015370118

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Historical natural kinds and mineralogy: Systematizing contingency in the context of necessity
Carol E. Cleland, Robert M. Hazen, Shaunna M. Morrison
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2021, 118 (1) e2015370118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015370118
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 118 (1)
Table of Contents

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Article Classifications

  • Physical Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • The IMA Classification System of Minerals
    • The IMA System and Planetary Evolution
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Data Availability.
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Abstract depiction of a guitar and musical note
Science & Culture: At the nexus of music and medicine, some see disease treatments
Although the evidence is still limited, a growing body of research suggests music may have beneficial effects for diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Image credit: Shutterstock/agsandrew.
Large piece of gold
News Feature: Tracing gold's cosmic origins
Astronomers thought they’d finally figured out where gold and other heavy elements in the universe came from. In light of recent results, they’re not so sure.
Image credit: Science Source/Tom McHugh.
Dancers in red dresses
Journal Club: Friends appear to share patterns of brain activity
Researchers are still trying to understand what causes this strong correlation between neural and social networks.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Yeongsik Im.
White and blue bird
Hazards of ozone pollution to birds
Amanda Rodewald, Ivan Rudik, and Catherine Kling talk about the hazards of ozone pollution to birds.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Goats standing in a pin
Transplantation of sperm-producing stem cells
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing can improve the effectiveness of spermatogonial stem cell transplantation in mice and livestock, a study finds.
Image credit: Jon M. Oatley.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Special Feature Articles – Most Recent
  • List of Issues

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490