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John_Ray

John Ray was a biologist who lived from 1627 until 1705.  He published important works on plants, animals, and natural theology.  His classification of plants in his [[Historia Plantarum]] was an important step towards modern taxonomy.  Ray rejected the system of dichotomous division by which species were classified according to a pre-conceived, either/or type system, and instead classified plants according to similarities and differences that emergered from observation.  Thus he advances scientific empiricism against the deductive rationalism of the scholastics.