2006-02-06 The Naming of Names

Having read Anna Pavord's "The Border Book", which is interesting and easy to follow, I felt that she would be an excellent person to write a down to earth, yet compelling book on how plants got their names.
This is not a book that does that. Anna writes beautifully about her travels and passion for the pioneers in plant naming. She also gives a great deal of detail as to how the process of plant naming has evolved through the ages, but this is a book on the process of naming, not the plants themselves.
That said I am enjoying the book and it is easy to read. My only real criticism is that she has an annoying habit of quoting in Italian or Latin, pre-supposing that the reader is familiar/fluent with these languages. A revised edition would do well to give the translation in brackets alongside the quote.
In summation. If you want a good bedside read about the people who gave birth to the process of classifying and standardising plant nomenclature, then this is great bedside or coffee table read. If you're interested in the plants themselves, this may not be for you. For all that it is a good book all the same.