Pioneer Naturalists

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Fledgling naturalists and readers with a taste for trivia will have a field day with this volume. Evans ( Life on a Little-known Planet ) introduces more than 100 people who have lent their monikers to the scientific nomenclature of North American plants and animals. The entries range from a mere paragraph to full-length chapters, from famous naturalists John James Audubon, William Bartram, David Douglas, Thomas Nuttall to their lesser-known associates and plant collectors like John Xanthus and Gideon Lincicum. We learn that Franklin's gull was named for Sir John, not Benjamin; that Merriam's mouse wasn't discovered until after the spring trap was invented. This collection of eponyms gives an impressive portrait of the field science establishment of the 18th and 19th centuries. Illustrations. ( Oct.)

Library Journal

Nineteenth-century naturalists often latinized personal names to designate new plants and animals collected during the exploration of America. Retired Harvard entomologist Evans uses these names, or eponyms, as the basis for his 75 short, alphabetically grouped accounts describing the plants, animals, and individuals involved in collecting and naming these new species. A vast amount of historical information on the lives of over 100 naturalists, such as John James Audubon and Asa Gray, are interwoven throughout these well-written, interesting stories, which capture the adventure of discovering new plants and animals. Of interest to general readers and naturalists alike.-- Teresa Elberson, Lafayette P.L., La.

Booknews

Douglas fir, Merriam's mouse, forsythia, Woodhouse's toad, Dall's porpoise, and Queen Anne's Lace are among the many familiar plants and animals whose names were bestowed on them by the naturalists exploring North America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The author, an entomologist, tells the stories behind these names, each chapter describing a person who discovered the genus or species, the person for whom it was named, and the plant or animal itself. Also included are a chronology of North American natural history and a short chapter on women naturalists (since they are ignored in the rest of the book). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jon Kartman

Nature enthusiasts wondering how quite a few of the plants and animals on this continent acquired their names need only consult these pages. For instance, hard-core planters (the only kind who'd know it when they saw it) will discover that Eaton's fern is named after one Daniel Cady Eaton (1834-85), who "earned a very substantial reputation as a student of ferns." Avocational entomologists will be thrilled, especially if related to John Henry Comstock (1849-1931), to know that a certain mealybug also bears the familial identifier; in addition, knowing that these tiny insects, which spend their lives sucking the juices out of plants, can be differentiated by how their pygidia, or hind ends, are constructed will be of interest, too. Pity, however, poor Mrs. Comstock, who, while her husband got the glory of having one insect named after him, spent much of her time drawing pictures of the pygidia of the many species of mealybugs. A biological trivia treasure-trove.