Abstract
"Palaetiological science" is a term coined in 1837 by William Whewell, to define "those researches in which the object is, to ascend from the present state of things to a more ancient condition, from which the present is derived by intelligible causes." In other words, palaetiological sciences are those which use the evidence of the present in reconstructing the past. Whewell's term has been used infrequently, but was recently promoted by an internet group calling themselves the "Darwin-L discussion group."