Although I wrote the majority of this book at home, overlooking the outskirts of Berlin with my library at my back, it’s the nature of a project like this that many people contributed to its completion and success. I hope to name all of those people here, and please pardon any unintentional omissions.
Elisabeth Lauffer undertook the sometimes challenging translation of this text-heavy book, with its many German examples and expressions, with care and sensitivity. Beth Clevenger and Anthony Zannino from the MIT Press oversaw the project, helping polish the language and content of the English version, including providing additional images. Thanks to Liz, Beth, and Anthony, this book has become more than a mere translation.
I wish to thank Hanns Zischler for our many inspiring conversations and his unique perspective on natural history. He directed me to Rebekka Göpfert at Agentur Göpfert literary agency, to whom I am indebted for her generous support, interest, and—last but not least—facilitating my connection with publishing house Matthes & Seitz Berlin. Many thanks to Andreas Rötzer and his publishing team for their friendly, positive support, and in particular to editor Tilman Vogt, who handled the manuscript with impressive care, patience, and sensitivity.
Thanks to Professor Damaris Nübling at the University of Marburg, who is a true authority on the study of names and who patiently answered my probing questions—which must have seemed naïve from the perspective of a linguistic pro—and who probably remained convinced that biological species “are no more special than a batch of freshly baked rolls.”
Special thanks to biologist and historian Carsten Eckert, who was always willing to share his impressive knowledge of the history of biology, and especially the history of the Berlin Museum für Naturkunde.
Doug Yanega (Riverside, CA) and Neal Evenhuis (Honolulu, HI) carefully corrected the English translation of chapter 1. Janet Monge (Philadelphia, PA) provided background information on Edward Drinker Cope’s skull in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Many friends and colleagues shared published and unpublished anecdotes and wonderful name constructions with me, generously passing along their own knowledge of names and naming and providing me with relevant literature. Thanks to Ulrike and Horst Aspöck (Vienna, Austria), Sören Flachowsky (Berlin, Germany), Claus Bätke and Jörn Köhler (BIOPAT, Germany), George Beccaloni (London, UK), Wolfgang Böhme and André Koch (Bonn, Germany), Neal Evenhuis (Honolulu, HI), Anke te Heesen (Berlin, Germany), Rainer Hutterer (Bonn, Germany), Michael A. Ivie (Bozeman, MT), Volker Lohrmann (Bremen, Germany), Wojciech J. Pulawski (San Francisco, CA), “Theo” Michael Schmitt (Greifswald, Germany), Frank Steinheimer (Halle, Germany), and Holger Stöcker (Berlin, Germany).
I sincerely thank all colleagues who provided me with images and reproduction permissions, particularly Sabine Hackethal (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Editha Schubert (Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Müncheberg, Germany).
I am especially grateful to my colleagues at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, who happily shared the most wonderful stories about the collections and objects in their expert care. There’s no better workplace to study the diversity of nature, accompanied by Archaeopteryx and Brachiosaurus. The museum wouldn’t be the place it is without the following individuals: Renate Angermann, Peter Bartsch, Oliver Coleman, Jason Dunlop, Carsten Eckert, Sylke Frahnert, Johannes Frisch, Christiane Funk, Matthias Glaubrecht, Ursula Göllner, Peter Giere, Rainer Günther, Sabine Hackethal, Anke Hoffmann, Frieder Mayer, Wolfram Mey, Birger Neuhaus, Christiane Quaisser, Carola Radke, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Frank Tillack, and Johannes Vogel. I also thank the team in the museum library, who helped me tremendously with the literature: Martina Rißberger, Hans-Ulrich Raake, and Annegret Henkel. In the final months of writing, Caroline Ring helped with research, bringing her own brand of energy and enthusiasm to the project, as well as an eye for good stories.
I had intended for a number of friends and colleagues to serve as sympathetic but noncontradictory listeners, as I outlined my conviction that names are important and provide the key to taxonomy. Few performed their task to my satisfaction, but those who did helped me refine my own view of things—for the better, I hope—with their critical discussion points and questions. Many thanks to Matthias Glaubrecht, Anita Hermannstädter, Ina Heumann, Annette Kaufhold, Volker Lohrmann, Carsten Lüter, Katinka Pantz, Gerhard Scholtz, Georg Töpfer, and Hanns Zischler.
Thanks to Carsten Eckert, Matthias Glaubrecht, Rebekka Göpfert, and Caroline Ring, who read the manuscript with critical and expert eyes, pointing out all manner of discrepancies and inconsistencies. Katinka Pantz—observant, curious, ingenious—created a piece of art with her revisions.
My wife Daniela was my most untiring and critical reader, mercilessly combing every version of the manuscript for rambling or redundancies, ultimately wresting a slimmer, unquestionably better version from me.
Finally, my gratitude goes again to Daniela and my children Yannika, Mattes, Merle, and Mina, who uncomplainingly spent their days not only with me, but with Alexandre Girault, Francis Walker, and other eccentrics. At this point, my kids can’t understand how a person could possibly be bored by etymology.