Résumé
Résumé de Les pionniers de la botanique britannique
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
Perfect for readers who love the history of science, gardens and herbaria, or lively portraits of curious people. Anyone who enjoys explorers, microscopes, seaweeds and fossils will find good company here.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
What does it take to build a science in one country? This book answers through seventeen chapters, with botanists looking back at their predecessors. You meet Ray the field naturalist, Grew with his microscope, Brown the careful observer, and the two Hookers at Kew. Together they show how British botany rose, faded and rose again. Start with the men who first gave plants an order.
Dans ce résumé
- 1Morison and Ray rebuild plant classificationFree
- 2Grew and Hales open the plant's inner life
- 3John Hill carries Linnaeus into Britain
- 4Robert Brown sees what others miss
- 5The Hookers make Kew a world centre
- 6Henslow and Lindley teach science to everyone
- 7Griffith and Harvey chase plants across the world
- 8Fungi, soils and disease become sciences
- 9Fossils, new methods and a friend of Darwin
Point clé 1 sur 9
Morison and Ray rebuild plant classification
Morison and Ray are the founders of systematic botany in Britain. Before them, classification had barely moved since Theophrastus, who sorted plants into trees, shrubs and herbs. The two men revived the idea of Cesalpino, who grouped plants by their flowers and fruit.
Robert Morison, born in Aberdeen, fought for the King, fled to France and became the first Professor of Botany at Oxford in 1669. He planned a vast history of plants and was killed in 1683 when a coach knocked him down in London. John Ray, a Cambridge man, gave up his fellowship over the Act of Uniformity. He built his own system and, in 1703, named the monocotyledons and dicotyledons. The two men quarrelled bitterly.
Morison claimed to follow nature alone and never credited Cesalpino, which hurt his name. Ray applied the shared principles better and lasted longer. Linnaeus judged that Morison laid the foundation and Ray built upon it.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Questions about Les pionniers de la botanique britannique
What is Makers of British Botany about?
It collects seventeen chapters about botanists who shaped plant science in Britain, from Ray and Morison in the seventeenth century to Ward and Joseph Hooker. Specialists explore their lives and discoveries, with one chapter following generations of Edinburgh professors.
Who wrote Makers of British Botany?
F. W. Oliver edited it in 1912, and different botanists wrote the chapters. They include Vines, Agnes Arber, Francis Darwin, Bower, Farmer, Dukinfield Scott, Lang and Thiselton-Dyer, each writing about a subject in their own field.
Which botanists does the book cover?
It covers Morison, Ray, Grew, Hales, Hill, Brown, William Hooker, Henslow, Lindley, Griffith, Henfrey, Harvey, Berkeley, Gilbert, Williamson, Ward, the Edinburgh professors and Joseph Hooker.
Is Makers of British Botany easy to follow without a science background?
Each chapter stands alone, with lives, travels, rivalries and friendships to carry you along. You can dip into a subject that catches your interest.
Why does the book matter for the history of science?
It shows how British botany moved from classifying plants to studying their anatomy, physiology, fossils and diseases. It also follows the path to Darwin and the Hookers, through the work of many individuals.