What's Who? A Dictionary of Things Named After People and the People They Are Named After

What's Who? provides an indispensable guide for anyone who knows what a biro is but has forgotten who Biro was, has ever wondered who invented the monkey wrench, or pondered whether or not the Eccles Cake was named after a character in the Goon Show. It contains 614 main entries covering some 700 words and phrases – an eclectic mix drawn from virtually every field of human activity, from religion to radio-telephony, from chemistry to cookery. It blends the familiar with the obscure, the factual with the fanciful, the technical with the everyday, and the serious with the utterly ridiculous. Eponymy, the naming of things after people, is not a mere linguistic oddity, but a record of discoveries, ideas and inventions and a memorial to the men and women who found, imagined or created them. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys making serendipitous discoveries: Who invented the monkey wrench? Which bishop of Alexandria made a fortune selling mouldy bacon? What is chaulmoogra oil? How many towns in Britain are named after a dog? Where on your car is the Watts linkage? Who discovered the G-spot? What is the secret of Orffyreus' wheel? And more...