An Inquisitive Look at Naming Species: ‘Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider’

 

Looking for a good read? Here is a recommendation. I have an unusual approach to reviewing books. I review books I feel merit a review. Each review is an opportunity to recommend a book. If I do not think a book is worth reading, I find another book to review. You do not have to agree with everything every author has written (I do not), but the fiction I review is entertaining (and often thought-provoking) and the non-fiction contains ideas worth reading.

People like order, especially scientists. The naming of living things has even become a science called taxonomy.

“Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider: How Scientific Names Celebrate Adventurers, Heroes, and Even a Few Scoundrels,” by Stephen B. Heard, looks at the naming of things, specifically the hows and why of naming living creatures for individuals.

Heard explains it started with Carl Von Linne, a man known as Carolus Linnaeus. (In the eighteenth century it was customary for scientists to Latinize their names.)  He invented binomial nomenclature and scientific classification of living creatures.

Binomial nomenclature is a fancy term for two-part name. The scientific name for human beings has two parts: homo sapiens (wise man).  Our species is homo (man); our genus sapiens (wise). Sorting creatures into species and genus is scientific classification. The names are Latin, bestowed by discoverers, the individuals who first bring attention to new creatures or plants by publishing a paper about them.

There is plenty to name. While names sometimes describe the characteristics of the item named (sapiens in homo sapiens as a debatable example) often discoverers name them for people. As Heard shows, therein lies a story.

A fascinating story. Heard starts by describing how naming works. The rules lack the force of law but are followed regardless. He then plunges into the bizarre world of eponymous naming: naming things for individuals.

He starts with basics. Forsythia and magnolia were named for individuals. Heard tells us who and why. He next presents more interesting examples of eponymous naming, starting with a chapter on a louse named for cartoonist Gary Larson.

Heard examines different types of names. While many species named to honor an individual (including Gary Larson’ louse), other names are intended to insult the honoree. Heard discusses that. He shows the sometimes whimsical nature of naming, naming things for celebrities, fictional characters, or oneself (a no-no according to tradition). He discusses the practice of selling names, often done to finance research.

“Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider” is weird and wonderful. It examines an important corner of science with a lighthearted look.

“Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider: How Scientific Names Celebrate Adventurers, Heroes, and Even a Few Scoundrels,” by Stephen B. Heard, Yale University Press, 2020, 256 pages, $28.00 (Hardcover)
Published in Science & Technology
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  1. CB Toder aka Mama Toad Member
    CB Toder aka Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    Thank God and R> for@seawriter

    Sounds like another book my husband will enjoy, and his birthday just around the corner! Thank you.

    • #1
  2. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    My personal favorite is the beetle of the genus Agra, named Agra Cadabra by American Entomologist Terry Erwin, who obviously has a sense of humor. Here is a picture of Agra Grace, a similar bug:

    • #2
  3. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    RightAngles (View Comment):
    My personal favorite is the beetle of the genus Agra, named Agra Cadabra by American Entomologist Terry Erwin, who obviously has a sense of humor.

    He mentioned that type of naming, but the book’s focus is on species named for people, including fictional folks.

    • #3
  4. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    The mention of Gary Larson reminds me of the story of the spikes on a stegosaurus, the Thagomizer. It probably not in the book since it’s a body part and not a whole species. Larson named the spikes in a cartoon and it’s been informally adopted by the scientific community. 

    • #4
  5. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Yeah, I figured out on my own that “scientific” nomenclature is just descriptive in a fancier language. 

    • #5
  6. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Yeah, I figured out on my own that “scientific” nomenclature is just descriptive in a fancier language.

    How can they be great panjandrums without their own super-secret code?

    • #6
  7. EODmom Coolidge
    EODmom
    @EODmom

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    My personal favorite is the beetle of the genus Agra, named Agra Cadabra by American Entomologist Terry Erwin, who obviously has a sense of humor. Here is a picture of Agra Grace, a similar bug:

    My sister will love that. 

    • #7
  8. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    “Weird and wonderful” is a great recommendation for a book, I think.

    • #8
  9. Al French of Damascus Moderator
    Al French of Damascus
    @AlFrench

    Lewis and Clark have many plants named after them. I have a Lewisia rediviva in my yard.

    David Douglas, an early botanical explorer in the Pacific Northwest, also has many plants named after him, including Oregon’s state tree, the Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga douglassi.

     

    • #9
  10. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Seawriter: Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider: How Scientific Names Celebrate Adventurers, Heroes, and Even a Few Scoundrels

     

    • #10
  11. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    Al French of Damascus (View Comment):
     Pseudotsuga douglassi

    This is one of my favorite, although the more common scientific name is Pseudotsuga menziesii.  The genus name, translated, means false hemlock.  The species name comes from Archibald Menzies.  Wikipedia describes Menzies as rival of David Douglas.  Don’t know about that.  

    The Douglas-fir is not related to the hemlock at all, and it isn’t a true fir.  So everybody loses.

    Of all the scientific names I had to memorize, maybe my favorite is a fungus, Polyporous schweinitzii, just because it’s fun to say.

    • #11
  12. Al French of Damascus Moderator
    Al French of Damascus
    @AlFrench

    Quietpi (View Comment):

    Al French of Damascus (View Comment):
    Pseudotsuga douglassi

    This is one of my favorite, although the more common scientific name is Pseudotsuga menziesii. The genus name, translated, means false hemlock. The species name comes from Archibald Menzies. Wikipedia describes Menzies as rival of David Douglas. Don’t know about that.

    The Douglas-fir is not related to the hemlock at all, and it isn’t a true fir. So everybody loses.

    Of all the scientific names I had to memorize, maybe my favorite is a fungus, Polyporous schweinitzii, just because it’s fun to say.

    Everybody wins. The Doug fir is the most valuable forest species in the northwest.

    • #12
  13. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    Al French of Damascus (View Comment):
    Everybody wins. The Doug fir is the most valuable forest species in the northwest.

    Indeed.  I marked & cruised many thousands.  Mind you, if I spotted a Polyporous schweinitzii,  I culled the entire butt log.  So it’s a fun fungus to name, not so much to find.

    • #13
  14. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Quietpi (View Comment):

    Al French of Damascus (View Comment):
    Everybody wins. The Doug fir is the most valuable forest species in the northwest.

    Indeed. I marked & cruised many thousands. Mind you, if I spotted a Polyporous schweinitzii, I culled the entire butt log. So it’s a fun fungus to name, not so much to find.

    Didn’t they have a show about polyamorous swine in Utah? 

    • #14
  15. GFHandle Member
    GFHandle
    @GFHandle

    I sent a link to this post to a friend got this reply:

    I don’t know about the spider named in honor of David Bowie, but Herb had a grad student who named a spider “Mastophora dizzydeani”.  Apparently there was a baseball player nicknamed Dizzydean who threw a certain kind of fastball (I think).  The spider makes a ball from a glob of silk on the end of a dragline and throws it at the prey to knock it out and reel it in – so, the baseball analogy, (I could explain it better if I knew baseball).

    Also, for better or worse, now wealthy people can contribute to research and be rewarded with their name on a new species, (mostly happening at the American Museum). 

    • #15
  16. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    I sent a link to this post to a friend got this reply:

    I don’t know about the spider named in honor of David Bowie, but Herb had a grad student who named a spider “Mastophora dizzydeani”. Apparently there was a baseball player nicknamed Dizzydean who threw a certain kind of fastball (I think). The spider makes a ball from a glob of silk on the end of a dragline and throws it at the prey to knock it out and reel it in – so, the baseball analogy, (I could explain it better if I knew baseball).

    Also, for better or worse, now wealthy people can contribute to research and be rewarded with their name on a new species, (mostly happening at the American Museum).

    Never heard of Dizzy Dean? The last player in the National League to win 30 games in one season. He got beaned in one game and was rushed to the hospital. The headline the next day was “X-Rays of Deans Head Show Nothing.”

    • #16
  17. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    GFHandle (View Comment):
    Also, for better or worse, now wealthy people can contribute to research and be rewarded with their name on a new species, (mostly happening at the American Museum). 

    He has a chapter on this phenomena – and it is happening worldwide, not mostly at the American Museum. But, as the author points out, the money goes to sponsor expeditions, fund research, and conduct science that could not be otherwise afforded. It seems churlish to object to the exchange between a willing donor and a willing discoverer.

    • #17
  18. GFHandle Member
    GFHandle
    @GFHandle

    Seawriter (View Comment):
    It seems churlish to object

    My friend wrote “Also, for better or worse, now wealthy people….” Is that an objection?

    • #18
  19. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Percival (View Comment):
    Never heard of Dizzy Dean? The last player in the National League to win 30 games in one season. He got beaned in one game and was rushed to the hospital. The headline the next day was “X-Rays of Deans Head Show Nothing.”

    One of the Gashouse Gang! Also notable for saying “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up”.

    • #19
  20. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):
    Never heard of Dizzy Dean? The last player in the National League to win 30 games in one season. He got beaned in one game and was rushed to the hospital. The headline the next day was “X-Rays of Deans Head Show Nothing.”

    One of the Gashouse Gang! Also notable for saying “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up”.

    “Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss?”

    • #20
  21. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Percival (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):
    Never heard of Dizzy Dean? The last player in the National League to win 30 games in one season. He got beaned in one game and was rushed to the hospital. The headline the next day was “X-Rays of Deans Head Show Nothing.”

    One of the Gashouse Gang! Also notable for saying “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up”.

    “Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss?”

    Dean gets a mention in my book Vanished Houston Landmarks. He played in Houston during his minor league years.

    • #21
  22. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Hate to drag this into the orbit of a certain President, but:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragramma_donaldtrumpi

    and

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopalpa_donaldtrumpi

    • #22
  23. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Hate to drag this into the orbit of a certain President, but:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragramma_donaldtrumpi

    and

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopalpa_donaldtrumpi

    “May the larva of a thousand N. donaldtrumpi infest your closet!” is going to be my go-to curse for awhile. 

    • #23
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