From the history of botany

The science of botany traces back to the ancient Greco-Roman world but received its modern impetus in Europe in the 16th century, mainly through the work of various physicians and herbalists. These professionals in seeking plants useful in medicine began seriously to observe plants themselves, as reflected in the woodcuts with which their herbal books were illustrated.

In the 17th century, as a result of the earlier revival of learning and of increased facilities for travel and study n Europe and Asia, many more plants became known, and some botanists turned from medical botany to attempts to name and catalogue all known kinds of plants. The most celebrated early work of this kind was Illustrated Exposition of Plants (1623) by the Swiss scientist Gaspard Bauhin, who listed and described about 6,000 species.

In the 18th century the greatest figure in botany was the Swedish scientist Carolus Linnaeus. His most valuable and lasting contributions were his careful descriptions of approximately 6,000 species arranged in genera (the same arrangement used today), his collation of the species that he knew with the names and descriptions of previous botanists, and his rules of nomenclature. He established binomial nomenclature - i.e., the naming of each species by two words, of which the first is the name of the genus to which it belongs and the second is a qualifying word, usually an adjective.

Even in this early period botany was becoming specialized. While many botanists were occupied only with the classes and names of plants, the foundations of anatomy, morphology and physiology were being laid. The important field of genetics was initiated in the 19th century, principally through the work of the Austrian botanist Gregor Mendel.

Plants were of paramount importance to early man; he depended upon them as sources of food, shelter, clothing, medicine, ornament, tools and magic. Today it is known that in addition to their practical and economic values green plants are indispensable to all life on Earth. Through the process of photosynthesis plants transform energy from the sun into the chemical energy of food, which makes all life possible. A second unique and important capacity of green plants is the formation and release of oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. The oxygen of the atmosphere, so absolutely essential to many forms of life, represents the accumulation of over 3,500,000,000 years of photosynthesis by green plants.

Although the many steps in the process of photosynthesis have become fully understood only in recent years, even in prehistoric times man somehow recognized intuitively that some important relation existed between the sun and plants. Such recognition is suggested by the fact that in primitive tribes and early civilizations worship of the sun was often combined with the worship of plants.

Earliest man depended totally upon the natural resources of his environment, which, until he developed methods for hunting, consisted almost completely of plants. The behavior of pre-Stone Age man can be inferred by studying the botany of aboriginal peoples in various parts of the world. Isolated tribal groups in South America, Africa and New Guinea, for example, have extensive knowledge about plants and distinguish hundreds of kinds according to their utility, as edible, poisonous or otherwise important in their culture. They have developed surprisingly sophisticated systems of nomenclature and classification, which approximate the binomial system (i.e., generic and specific names) found in modern biology. The urge to recognize different kinds of plants and to give them names thus seems to be as old as the human race.

In time plants were not only collected by primitive man but also grown by him. This domestication resulted not only in the development of agriculture but also in a greater stability of human populations. From the settling down of agricultural peoples in places where they could depend upon adequate food supplies the first villages and the earliest civilizations came.

Because of the long preoccupation of man with plants a large body of folklore, general information and actual scientific data has accumulated, which has become the basis for the science of botany.

Fundamentally, botany remains a pure science including any research into the life of plants and limited only by man's technical means of satisfying his curiosity. It has often been considered an important part of a liberal education, not only because it is necessary for an understanding of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, pharmacology and other applied arts and sciences, but also because an understanding of plant life is related to life in general.

Because man has always been dependent upon plants and surrounded by them he has woven them into his designs, into the ornamentation of his life, even into his religious symbolism. A Persian carpet and a bedspread from a New England loom both employ conventional designs derived from the forms of flowers. Medieval painters and great masters of the Renaissance represented various revered figures surrounded by roses, lilies, violets and other flowers, which symbolized chastity, martyrdom, humility and other Christian attributes.

Answer the following questions.

1. Who was the first to collect and study plants?

2. What do plants in people's designs and ornamentations mean?

3. Why is botany considered an important part of education?

4. What did domestication of plants result in?

5. How did the early man distinguish plants?

6. Who contributed to the attempt to name and catalogue plants?

7. Why was worship of the sun often combined with the worship of plants in primitive tribes and early civilizations?

8. Why has botany been considered an important part of a liberal education?

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