The Eponym Dictionary of Odonata is a comprehensive listing of all
people after whom damselflies and dragonflies have been named in
scientific or common names. Each entry provides details of the species
and a brief biography of the person. It is also cross-referenced so that
the relationships between scientific authors, entomologists and others
can be followed. Many entries have been contributed by the people so
honoured who are not necessarily odonatologists, entomologists,
zoologists or even great men of science. Many damselflies and
dragonflies are named for the author's family members, friends and those
who collected the species holotypes, while others are figures from myth
or history. In fact, it could be anything from the author's mother to a
favourite musician! Because entries may include details of dates,
places, educational and work institutions, it is possible to discover
information about each person and for a picture to be built of how the
science sometimes follows groupings of colleagues or those significantly
influenced by charismatic teachers. The Dictionary includes other names
which might, at a glance, be thought to be eponyms yet are not in the
truest sense. These may be species named after characteristics embodied
in characters from literature, whole peoples, acronyms or toponyms, etc.
To some extent it can read like a canon of the great women and men of
science over the last several centuries. Interestingly there are species
named after as many as three generations of the same family, veiled
references to old lovers, sycophantic homage, financial patronage, etc.,
as well as all the more 'legitimate' reasons for naming species. Not
surprisingly, odonatologists exhibit a range of opinion on the practice,
from naming all species after people, to wanting all eponyms banned;
they can be totally humourless and pedantic or full of fun and
irreverence. Like all of us they have as many reasons for their namings
as ordinary folk have for naming their children or pets! Underlying all
this, however, is the value of this volume in cataloguing this
fascinating aspect of science for all users, whether scientists or
interested lay readers.
