Botanists Posters & Prints
- for the science classroom and gardeners.

BOTANISTS Elizabeth Blackwell Norman Borlaug Luther Burbank G. W. Carver Dioscorides Leonhart Fuchs J. S. Henslow Carl Linnaeus Jane Loudon Barbara McClintock G. J. Mendel Anna Maria Merian Anna Pratt Pierre-Joseph Redouté Theophrastus

Botantists are biologists who study the growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, diseases, ecology, and evolution of plants. They are integral to agriculture, forestry, gardening / horticulture, herbology and medicine.

The word horticulture is from the Latin hortus (garden) and cultura (from colere, meaning "to cultivate, tillage"). The word agriculture is from the L. agricultura - ager+cultura = field (open land)+cultivate and refers to the crops most economically grown (farmed - L. firmare "to fix, settle, confirm, strengthen") in more open spaces like cereals and animal feed. Forestry is the cultivation of trees and products related to trees.

Elizabeth Blackwell,
b. 1700; Scotland
d. 1758

Elizabeth Blackwell (nee Blachrie) was among the first women to achieve fame as a botanical illustrator. As artist and engraver for the plates of A Curious Herbal, designed for physicians as a reference to medicinal plants. (She is not the Elizabeth Blackwell who earned the first medical degree in the US.)

Norman Borlaug
b. 3-25-1914, Iowa

Norman Borlaug, an agricultural scientist and humanitarian, has been called the "father of the Green Revolution". He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

Luther Burbank
b. 3-7-1849; Massachusetts
d. 4-11-1926; California

Luther Burbank, botanist, horticulturist and agricultural innovator, had as his objective to improve the quality of plants and thereby increase the world's food supply.

Burbank developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over a 55-year career that include the Shasta Daisy, the potato that McDonald's uses for french fries, and the poppy that is the California state flower.

Luther Burbank was not considered a "scientist" in the academic sense because he didn't keep careful records of observations.

"And to think of this great country in danger of being dominated by people ignorant enough to take a few ancient Babylonian legends as the canons of modern culture. Our scientific men are paying for their failure to speak out earlier. There is no use now talking evolution to these people. Their ears are stuffed with Genesis." Luther Burbank

• Life and Works of Luther Burbank (autobiography)

George Washington Carver
b. c.1865; Missouri
d. 1-5-1943

African American botanist and educator George Washington Carver developed innovative uses for a variety of agricultural crops such as peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes, and crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil.

• more George Washington Carver posters
• Technology’s Past poster series

Pedanius Dioscorides, ca. 40-90, ancient Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist from Asia Minor, practiced in ancient Rome at the time of Nero.

Dioscorides searched extensively for medicinal substances and is famous for writing a five volume book De Materia Medica that is a precursor to all modern pharmacopeias, one of the most influential herbal books in history.

• Making Medicines: A Brief History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals

Leonhart Fuchs
b. 1-17-1501; Duchy of Bavaria
d. 5-10-1566,

Leonhard Fuchs (sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs), Otto Brunfels and Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) are considered the three founding fathers of botany.

Fuch, a physician, was professor of medicine at Tübingen and provided instruction in medicinal plants and founded one of the first German botanical gardens.

FYI - Ever wonder where the word fuchsia comes from? Fuchs name was immortalized by the plant "Fuchsia triphylla, flore coccineo" first described on the island of Hispaniola c. 1698. The color fuchsia describes the color of the flowers plants.

• grain posters

John Stevens Henslow
b. 2-6-1796; England
d. 5-16-1861

Henslow, whose passion for plants overcame his interest in rocks, was an influential botany professor at Cambridge. Henslow's student was Charles Darwin, with whom he had a life long friendship; he was also a correspondent of John James Audubon who named a sparrow for Henslow.

Carl Linnaeus
b. 5-13-1707; Sweden
d. 1-10-1778; Uppsala

Carl Linnaeus, also known as Carolus Linnaeus (Latinized) and Carl von Linné (after ennoblement), was a botanist, physician and zoologist. He is recognized as the "Father of Modern Taxonomy" and one of the fathers of modern ecology. Linnaeus' contribution to science is the binary nomenclature, a formal system of naming species with a Latin name in two parts: first genus, then a specific description, ie. Cornus florida for the flowering dogwood.

Jane Loudon, née Webb
b. 8-19-1807; England
d. 1858

Jane Loudon is best known for illustrations and co-authoring gardening manuals with her husband, and not for as a early pioneer in science fiction. Her novel Mummy! was written to support herself, when at age 17, her father died penniless.

BTW - Bindweed (wild morning glory, creeping jenny, etc.) a native of Eurasia, was introduced to the west as an ornamental; now it is considered a nuisance and pernicious weed that is nearly impossible to eliminate.

• more flower posters

Barbara McClintock
b. 6-16-1902; Hartford, CT
d. 9-2-1992

Barbara McClintock received her Ph.D in botany in 1927 (Cornell), where she began her life long work on maize cytogenetics.

• more Women of Science poster series
• genetics posters
• mitosis poster

Anna Maria Sibylla Merian
b. 4-2-1647; Frankfurt, Germany
d. 1-13-1717; Amsterdam

Anna Maria Sibylla Merian, from a family of artists, studied insects and plants in great detail and then illustrated them with paintings and engravings.

• women artist posters

Anne Pratt
b. 12-5-1806; England
d. 1893

As a self taught botantist Anne Pratt never received acclaim from the science community though as one of the best known botanical illustrators of the Victorian age, she helped popularize botany.

• more flower posters

Pierre-Joseph Redouté
b. 7-10-1759; Luxembourg (now Belgium)
d. 10-20-1840

Pierre-Joseph Redouté was an official court artist of Marie Antoinette and botanist known for his paintings of flowers, particularly roses and lilies at Malmaison.

Theophrastus
b. c 370 BC, Greece
d. c 285 BC

Theophrastus is known as the "The Father of Taxonomy" for his work in classifing plants.

• more philosophers posters

I AM A FARMER, Poster

My hobby is working in the garden, and I like being outdoors - rain or shine. Planting, growing, harvesting: it's all exciting to me! I hope to have a farm of my own someday. If I follow my dream and believe in myself, I'll be supplying fresh, healthy food to the people of the world. I have the power to be somebody!

Related careers: Greenhouse Manager / Agricultural Engineer / Park Ranger / Rancher

• "Someday I'll be Somebody!" Vocational Education Posters