In his engaging book, Stephen Heard tells about unusual and instructive stories connected with taxonomic names. Since Carl Linnaeus introduced the binomial system in the 18th century, scientists have often named animal and plant species after people they wanted to immortalize—or, on the contrary, to consign to oblivion. Some expressed their ideological disagreements this way, giving species unflattering names; others dedicated the names of plants and jellyfish to their secret lovers. These scientific names preserve the memory of outstanding, yet often forgotten, scholars, travelers, and bold people without whom many biological discoveries would not have happened. They reveal plenty of interesting details both about the honorees and about the authors of the names—their views, preferences, and weaknesses.