Slashdot Mirror
Croak & Dagger: Following the Trail of a Herpetologist Spy
bmahersciwriter writes "When Rafe Brown started doing field research in the Philippines, he constantly found himself in the long shadow of Edward Taylor, an irascible giant of herpetology (the study of amphibians) from the mid-20th century, whose legacy was tarnished by accusations of fraud, questions about his naming methods, and rumours of a double life working for the U.S. government. Brown forged a bond with his predecessor and has begun to restore a collection of Taylor's specimens that were lost during the Second World War, and which could aid in allocating resources for conservation. He has meanwhile found out more about Taylor's extracurricular activities, which included work with the organization that would eventually become the CIA."
Nope....but it also includes reptiles.
Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians.
But herpes and herpetology are etymologically related. The Greek verb herpyzo means to creep or crawl (apologies for using Latin letters, I've tried Greek on /. before and it isn't pretty). So a herpeton is a creeping thing: i.e. snakes, lizards, salamanders, etc. Thus we end up with the study of creeping things or herpetology.
Herpes became the Greek word for shingles (herpes zoster in the medical books) because it was a creeping (or lurking) disease. It would seem to be gone but would lurk about only to resurface again. It was only natural, therefore, to apply it to what we commonly call herpes now (herpes simplex).