A question about species authors

[Richard Pyle]

> One more thing.  Erast said: "First things first: science first, then
> money..."  This statement makes money a goal - e.g..? to go _into_ the
> researcher's POCKET ?   Perhaps that is why Erast said "sell" the
> name/authorship/research.   The only money being spoken of is money _into_
> the RESEARCH.   Big difference between the person's pocket and financial
> provisions to be _spent_  on enabling the research to be done.   In this
> thread, money is a means to an end (being able to do research and publish
> same), not an end in itself.

I understand your point here, and agree with it.  But remember, oftentimes
the largest portion of a taxononmic grant proposal goes toward salaries.
Why should this be any different for private donations in exchange for
authorship or patronyms?

Aloha,
Rich

P.S. For what it's worth, much of my own salary (the bulk of which is not
earned for taxonomic research) is "donated" back into my own taxonomic
research.  But I haven't yet thought about naming a species after myself,
nor making myself an additional co-author on one of my own papers.... :-)