In his captivating and engaging book, Stephen Heard reveals the astonishing, instructive, and sometimes scandalous stories behind taxonomic nomenclature. Ever since Carl Linnaeus's binomial system of scientific names was adopted in the 18th century, scientists have frequently assigned animal and plant species the names of those they wished to honor or discredit. Some scientists resolved their ideological differences by exchanging unflattering names, while others gave flowers or beautiful jellyfish the names of their secret lovers. Through these names, we preserve the memory of little-known pioneering scientists, explorers, and simply courageous individuals without whom many discoveries in biology would be impossible. Scientific names can tell us a great deal about both those to whom they are dedicated and their authors—their worldviews, passions, and weaknesses.