The Charles Darwinspider and David Bowie Spider: How Scientific Names Celebrate Heroes, Adventurers, and Villains

From the very moment in the 18th century when Carl Linnaeus' binomial system of scientific naming was adopted, scientists have often assigned names of those they wanted to glorify or discredit to species of animals and plants. In his captivating, engagingly written book, Stephen Heard presents astonishing, highly instructive, and at times scandalous stories behind taxonomic nomenclature, from Linnaeus himself, who named a small unpleasant weed after his scientific rival, to the latest trend of naming species after pop culture idols, resulting in the David Bowie spider, Frank Zappa jellyfish, and Beyoncé fly. Some scientists resolved their ideological differences by exchanging unflattering names, while others bestowed names of their secret lovers upon flowers or beautiful jellyfish. Thanks to these names, we keep the memory of little-known pioneering scientists, travelers, and simply brave individuals without whom many discoveries in biology would not have been possible. Scientific names can tell us much about both those to whom they are dedicated and their authors — their worldviews, preferences, and weaknesses.