This work provides short biographies of 50 historical figures in cycad biology. It covers those starting in the early 17th century through the 21st century.  Each of the biographies covers a career including birth and death, schooling, places of employment, travel in field work, publications, place of their cycad type specimens, list of species described and list of species named for them. The latter two items are illustrated along with any honorific items such as currency, stamps, and so on. Additionally, each entry has a portrait. The purpose of this work is to bring together in one place treatments on the lives, work, publications, illustrations, and type specimens of the historic figures in cycad biology.  It will be of interest to researchers in cycads but also to the large, amateur community of cycad enthusiasts and others interested in gymnosperms and the history of botany. The book will be featured at the triennial meetings on cycad biology at New York Botanical Garden.

Table of Contents:
Introduction.- Preface.- Acknowledgements.- 1. Introduction.- 2. 17th Century.- Rheede, Hendrik Adriaan Van 1636–1691.- Rumphius, Georg Everhard 1627–1702.- 3. 18th Century.- Banks, Joseph 1743–1820.- von Jacquin, Nicolaus Joseph 1727–1817.- Linnaeus, Carolus 1707–1778 and Linnaeus filius, Carlos 1741–1783.- Mutis, José Celestino Bruno 1732–1808.- Thunberg, Carl Peter 1743–1828.- 4. Early 19th Century.- Brongniart, Adolphe-Théodore 1801–1876.- Brown, Robert 1773–1858.- Lehmann, Johann Georg Christian 1792–1860.- Miquel, Friedrich Anton Wilhelm 1811–1871.- Seemann, Berthold Carl 1825–1871.- Warszewicz, Józef 1812–1866.- Willdenow, Carl Ludwig 1765–1812.- 5. Late 19th Century.- Braun, Alexander Karl Heinrich 1805–1877.- Bull, William 1828–1902.- de Candolle, Alphonse Louis Pierre Pyramus 1806–1893.- Eichler, August Wilhelm 1839–1887 and Pilger, Robert Knuds Friedrich 1876–1953.- Hooker, William Jackson 1785–1865 and Hooker, Joseph Dalton 1817–1911.- Lemaire, Charles Antoine 1800–1871.- Linden, Jean Jules 1817–1898 and Linden, Lucien Charles Antoine 1853–1940.- Moore, Charles 1820–1905.- Moore, Thomas 1821–1887.- von Mueller, Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich 1825–1896.- von Regel, Eduard August 1815–1892.- Roezl, Benedikt 1824–1885.- Thiselton-Dyer, William Turner 1843–1928.- Wallis, Gustav 1830–1878.- 6. Early 20th Century.- Chamberlain, Charles Joseph 1863–1943.- Hutchinson, John 1884–1972.- Prain, David 1857–1944.- Stapf, Otto 1857–1933 and Davy, Joseph Burtt 1870–1940.- Wood, John Medley 1827–1915.- 7. Contemporary.- Califano, Luigi 1901–1976.- De Luca, Paolo 1944–2021.- Dyer, Robert Allen 1900–1987 and Verdoorn, Inez Clare 1896–1989.- Giddy, Cynthia 1933–1998.- Grobbelaar, Nathanaël (Nat) 1928–2015.- Hill, Kenneth (Ken) David 1948–2010.- Johnson, Lawrence (Lawrie) Alexander Sidney 1925–1997).- Leandri, Jacques Désiré 1903–1982.- Maconochie, John Richard 1941–1984.- Melville, Ronald 1903–1985.- Norstog, Knut Jon 1921–2003.- Pant, Divya Darshan 1919–2001.- Sabato, Sergio 1941–1991.- Sacks, Oliver Wolf 1933–2015.- Schuster, Julius 1886–1949.- Whitelock, Loran Martin 1930–2014.- About the authors.- Index.