Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 5, 2026

Peter Sneath

Peter Henry Andrews Sneath FRS, MD was a British microbiologist who co-founded the field of numerical taxonomy, together with Robert R. Sokal. Sneath and Sokal wrote Principles of Numerical Taxonomy, revised in 1973 as Numerical Taxonomy. Sneath reviewed the state of numerical taxonomy in 1995 and wrote some autobiographical notes in 2010.

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Jul 5, 2026
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Peter H. A. Sneath
Born(1923-11-17)17 November 19231
Died9 September 2011(2011-09-09) (aged 87)
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
Known fornumerical taxonomy
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society1
Scientific career
Fieldsmicrobiology
InstitutionsUniversity of Leicester
ThesisThe bacterial genus Chromobacterium (1959)
Sneath

Peter Henry Andrews Sneath FRS,1 MD (17 November 1923 – September 9, 2011) was a British microbiologist who co-founded the field of numerical taxonomy, together with Robert R. Sokal. Sneath and Sokal wrote Principles of Numerical Taxonomy,2 revised in 1973 as Numerical Taxonomy.3 Sneath reviewed the state of numerical taxonomy in 19954 and wrote some autobiographical notes in 2010.5

A special issue of the journal Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, on microbial systematics, is dedicated to the memory of Peter Sneath.6

References

References

  1. Jones, D.; Grant, W. D. (2013). "Peter Henry Andrews Sneath. 17 November 1923 -- 9 September 2011". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 59: 337–357. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2013.0008.
  2. Sneath, Peter H. A.; Sokal, Robert R. (1963). Principles of numerical taxonomy (7 ed.). San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-0621-0. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  3. Sneath, Peter H. A.; Sokal, Robert R. (1973). Numerical taxonomy: the principles and practice of numerical classification. San Francisco: Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-0697-0.
  4. Sneath, P. H. A. (1995). "Thirty Years of Numerical Taxonomy". Systematic Biology. 44 (3): 281–298. doi:10.1093/sysbio/44.3.281.
  5. Sneath, P. H. A. (2010). "Reflections on prokaryotic systematics" (PDF). The Bulletin of BISMiS. 1 (1): 77–83. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2012.
  6. Sutcliffe, IC; Trujillo, ME; Goodfellow, M (2012). "Special Issue on The BISMiS 2011 prokaryotic systematics, a vital discipline entering a period of transition". Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. 101 (1): 1–2. doi:10.1007/s10482-011-9674-y. PMID 22080412.
  7. International Plant Names Index. Sneath.
External links