P.D. Magnus is a professor and department chair in Philosophy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He received his PhD from the University of California, San Diego. His primary research is in the philosophy of science, and he has written extensively on topics including the underdetermination of theory by data and natural kinds. His other publications include dozens of journal articles and the book Scientific Enquiry and Natural Kinds: From Planets to Mallards (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).