The Naming of the Shrew

Latin names - often unpronounceable, frequently incorrect, and always a little puzzle to solve - have frustrated laypeople since they were formalized as scientific terms in the eighteenth century. Why was the purely terrestrial eastern American mole called Scalopus aquaticus, or the Oxford ragwort named Senecio squalidus - dirty old man? What were naturalists thinking when they named a beetle Agra katewinsletae, a fish genus Batman, and a trilobite Han Solo? Why is zoology filled with names like Chloris chloris chloris (the greenfinch) and Gorilla gorilla (a type of, well, gorilla)? The naming of the star-nosed mole will unveil these mysteries, explore their history, celebrate their poetic nature, and demonstrate how naturalists sometimes get it so terribly wrong. With wonderfully witty style and captivating narrative flow, this book will change your perspective.