Pronunciation of scientific names

[Richard Jensen]

Lammers is right (for a change!?).  I always find it amusing that one of
my students has no trouble pronouncing her own name (Kwiatkowski or
Altesleben or some other equally imposing epithet) but stumbles badly
when trying to say Ranunculaceae or even Aceraceae.  Of course, she grew
up pronouncing her own name, but the latter only appeared later in life
and in a context in which the presupposition was that learning scientific
names is *hard*.

I not only expect my students to learn names (typically family, genus,
species) but to spell them correctly as well.

Richard J. Jensen      |   E-MAIL: rjensen at saintmarys.edu
Dept. of Biology       |   TELEPHONE: 219-284-4674
Saint Mary's College   |   FAX: 219-284-4716
Notre Dame, IN  46556  |