The Woeseian revolution was the progression of the phylogenetic tree of life concept from two main divisions, known as the Prokarya and Eukarya, into three domains now classified as Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
[1] Although the three-domain system has been widely accepted, the initial introduction of Woese’s discovery received criticism from the scientific community.
The basis of phylogenetics was limited by the technology of the time, which led to a greater dependence on phenotypic classification before advances that would allow for molecular organization methods.
Woese’s advances in molecular sequencing and phylogenetic organization allowed for a better understanding of the three domains of life - the Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
[4] Possible factors that led to initial criticisms of his discovery included Woese's oligonucleotide cataloging, of which he was one of "only two or three people in the world" to be able to execute this method, let alone read the films.