The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians

Beolens, Watkins, and Grayson (all, independent scholars) offer a directory of living amphibians whose scientific or common name is derived from a person's name. The directory is arranged alphabetically by these individuals' names. Normally, the name of an individual within the scientific name is a tribute from the zoologist who first formally described the species to a colleague (sometimes the person who collected the specimen), or to a sponsor of the research. But the many possible variations all are explained in this book, which is primarily intended to serve as a reference for amateurs or specialists interested in this background. For anyone interested in natural history, this volume makes for fascinating browsing. Additionally it serves as an excellent illustration of the web of scientific and personal relationships in the field. The source of the scientific names is the AmphibiaWeb database at Berkeley, supplemented by standard directories and the scientific literature. The book also contains biographical and anecdotal information about the individuals, derived from a variety of sources, including personal knowledge; unfortunately specific citations are lacking. -- D. Goodman * CHOICE * The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians is clearly a labour of love and a fascinating work. The entries are concise and informative and often entertaining. While it could have been improved with the addition of an index or two, it will still be a valuable resource for professional and amateur herpetologist alike. -- Alisa Mizikar * Reference Reviews * I think that the authors are to be congratulated for the effort that they have put into these books [Eponym Dictionaries], and for the apparent scrupulousness with which they have pursued their goals. An immense amount of research has gone into the work, tracking down obscure references and re-checking data from the original sources. ... These are not books only for reference, but also for dipping into in moments of quiet contemplation, because there is a wealth of quirky information here. The biographies vary from amusing anecdotes to boring lists of technical achievements, presumably depending on the available information. -- David A. Morrison * Systematic Biology * EDA is probably not going to be a book that sells in high volume. Its not illustrated, its written in a mostly straightforward and pithy way without flourish or extraneous comment, but this is still a wonderful book, because in my humble opinion while not many of us need to know that Karunaratnes Narrow-mouthed Frog is named after a Sri Lankan zoologist and entomologist, I find it uplifting that Bo and the two Michaels have featured him and a whole world full of diligent, hard-working individuals (1,609 of them to be exact) in a book and that Pelagic have backed the project and clearly worked hard to help present it in as readable way as possible. -- Charlie Moores * Talking Naturally *

Richard Crombet-Beolens is known to all as Bo Beolens or as his online personae, the Grumpy Old Birder and the Fatbirder. While much of his career was in community work and as the CEO of various charities, all his free time has been spent birding or otherwise pursuing his life-long interest in the natural world. Since the late 1990s he has had articles published in a variety of birding magazines in the UK and USA. He is co-author of three other eponym dictionaries and has a book of memoirs in publication. He has also written for several disability publications. Michael Watkins is a shipbroker who mainly concentrated on the tanker oil and chemical markets and worked in London for 45 years. No longer active in the business, he is still associated with it as a tutor and part of the examining process for the industry's professional body, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. Since retiring from the City, he has had more time for birding, travelling and grandchildren-minding, but never quite enough. Michael Grayson spent most of his working life at the British Library, London. His childhood fascination with reptiles and amphibians never left him (much to his parents chagrin). His chief interests are vertebrate taxonomy and nomenclature, and the captive husbandry of exotic species. He is a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London.