HISTORY-OF-BOTANY_ppt-Autosaved-Autosaved.pdf

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT’S
COME INTO YOUR MIND
WHEN YOUR HEAR THE WORD ….?
BOTANY

WHERE DOES THE WORD BOTANY
COME FROM?
The term "botany" itself
probably came from the
Greek words botanikos

BOTANY-
•
•
is the systematic and scientific study of
plants.
This field primarily focuses on their
structure, biochemistry, physiological
processes, links to the environment, and
interactions with other living things.

•
•
But despite being established
as a discipline, the term “plant”
definition remains vague and still
up for more clarification.
Botanists often describe plants
more inclusively with

History of Botany – A Timeline
During the Pre-17th Century
•
•
•
4th Century B.C.E:
Aristotle and Theophrastus got involved in identifying
plants and describing them.
Theophrastus was hailed as the “Father of botany”
because of his two surviving works on plant studies.
Although Aristotle also wrote about plants, he received
more recognition for his studies of animals.

During the Pre-17th Century
In A.D. 60: Dioscorides wrote De Materia Medica.
which described a thousand medicines, the majority
of which came from plants.
For 1500 years, it remained the guidebook on
medicines in the Western world until the invention
of the compound microscope.

During the 17th Century

Early 17th century:
For a brief period, the search for knowledge in the field
of Botany temporarily became stagnant.
However, the revival of learning during the European
Renaissance renewed interest in plants

During the 17th Century (Early 17th
century)


Prehistoric Era:
Humans have likely been using plants for food,
medicine, and other purposes for thousands of years.
The earliest evidence of plant cultivation dates back to
around 10,000 BCE in the Fertile Crescent region of the
Middle East.

During the 17th Century


Ancient Civilizations:
The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all had a
strong interest in plants and made significant
contributions to the study of botany.
The ancient Greeks, in particular, made significant
advances in the classification and naming of plants.

During the 17th Century - 1640


Johannes van Helmont measured the
uptake of water in a tree.
Brittanica.com explains (refer to Major
Experiments section) “In what is perhaps
his best-known experiment, van Helmont
placed a 5-pound (about 2.2-kg) willow

During the 17th Century - 1640


After five years, he found that the
tree weighed 169 pounds (about 77
kg), while the soil had lost only 2
ounces (57 grams).
He concluded that “164 pounds of

During the 17th Century -

1665: Robert Hooke invented the
microscope. Because of this, Robert
Hooke had the chance to look closely at
what a cell looks like.
His description of these cells was
published in Micrographia.


1674:
Botanist: Anton van
Leeuwenhoek1674: Anton van
Leeuwenhoek saw a live cell under
a microscope. Before his

1686: John Ray published his
book, Historia Plantarum. This
became an important step toward
modern taxonomy (Arber 2010).

Botanist: Rudolf Camerarius1694:
Rudolf Camerarius established
plant sexuality in his book entitled
De Sexu Plantarum Epistola. There,
he stated that: “No ovules of

Botanist: Stephen Hales 1727:
Stephen Hales successfully
established plant physiology as a
science. He published his
experiments dealing with the

Botanist: Carolus Linnaeus1758:
Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linne),
the “Father of Taxonomy“,
introduced the science of
taxonomy which deals with the

1760s: Botany became even more
widespread among educated women
who painted plants, attended classes on
plant classification, and collected
herbarium specimens. However, their
study focused on the healing properties
of plants rather than plant reproduction.

Botanist: Joseph Priestley Later part of the
eighteenth century: Joseph Priestley laid the
foundation for the chemical analysis of plant
metabolism. Joseph Priestley published his works
as Experiments and Observations on Different
Kinds of Air in 1774. The published paper
demonstrated that green plants absorb “fixed air”
(carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere, give off

History of Botany – A Timeline (During
the 19th Century)
Early part of the nineteenth century: Progress in
the study of plant fossils was made.
1818: Chlorophyll was discovered.
1840: Advances were made in the study of plant
diseases because of the potato blight that killed
potato crops in Ireland. This led to the further
study of plant diseases (Richman 2016).
1847: The process of photosynthesis was first

the 19th Century)
1859: Charles Darwin proposed his theory of
evolution and adaptation, or more commonly
referred to as “survival of the fittest” (kenyon.edu
2016).
Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace
collaborated. Darwin soon published his renowned
and highly recognized book On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection.

the 19th Century)
1862: The exact mechanism of photosynthesis
was discovered when it was observed that starch
was formed in green cells only in the presence of
light.
1865: The results of Mendel’s experiments in
1865 showed that both parents should pass
distinct physical factors which code information to
their offspring at conception. The offspring then

the 20th Century)
Twentieth Century up to the Present:
Early 20th Century: The process of nitrogen
fixation, nitrification, and ammonification was
discovered.
1903: The two types of chlorophyll—a and b were
discovered. Learn more here.
1936: Through his experiment, Alexander Oparin

the 20th Century)
1940s: Ecology became a separate
discipline. Technology has helped
specialists in botany to see and
understand the three-dimensional nature
of cells and the genetic engineering of
plants. This greatly improved crops and

the 20th Century)

HISTORY-OF-BOTANY_ppt-Autosaved-Autosaved.pdf

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