According to Wikipedia, the Greek mythological figure Palamedes {pal-uh-meed-eez} is said to have invented "....counting, currency, weights and measures, jokes, dice and a forerunner of chess called pessoi, as well as military ranks". The story goes that Palamedes also uncovered a ruse by Odysseus. Odysseus had promised Agamemnon that he would defend the marriage of Helen and Menelaus, but pretended to be insane to avoid having to honor his commitment. Unfortunately, Palamedes's unmasking of Odysseus led to a gruesome end; he was stoned to death for being a traitor after Odysseus forged false evidence against him. We chose Palamedes as the name for the toolbox for his (presumed) contributions to the art of measurement, interest in stochastic processes (he did invent dice!), numerical skills, humor and wisdom.

The Palamedes Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio Palamedes), native to the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico, provides the toolbox with an attractive icon.