Darwin-L Message Log 7:85 (March 1994)

Academic Discussion on the History and Theory of the Historical Sciences

This is one message from the Archives of Darwin-L (1993–1997), a professional discussion group on the history and theory of the historical sciences.

Note: Additional publications on evolution and the historical sciences by the Darwin-L list owner are available on SSRN.

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<7:85>From DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu  Fri Mar 25 22:07:42 1994

Date: Sat, 25 Mar 1994 23:07:37 -0500 (EST)
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
Subject: March 25 -- Today in the Historical Sciences
To: darwin-l@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu
Organization: University of NC at Greensboro

MARCH 25 -- TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES

1712: NEHEMIAH GREW dies, probably in London, England.  A graduate of
Cambridge University and a physician, Grew was an active member of the
Royal Society and published the first comprehensive account of the Society's
collections, _Musaeum Regalis Societatis or a Catalogue and Description of the
Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved
in Gresham College_ (London, 1681).  An early collaborator with Robert Hooke
in the use of the microscope, Grew specialized in the comparative examination
of plant structure, and coined the term "comparative anatomy" to describe his
mode of study, which he expounded in _The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun_
(London, 1672) and _The Comparative Anatomy of Trunks, Together With an
Account of Their Vegetation Grounded Thereupon_ (London, 1675).

1844 (150 years ago today): HEINRICH GUSTAV ADOLF ENGLER is born at Sagan,
Germany (now Zagan, Poland).  As a student in botany at the University of
Breslau, Engler will study the the large and complex genus _Saxifraga_ under
the tutelage of Heinrich Goeppert, and will soon come to accept evolution as
the necessary foundation of systematics.  He will take up an appointment in
systematic botany at the University of Kiel in 1878, and two years later will
establish the _Botanische Jahrbucher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und
Pflanzengeographie_ which will become the leading journal of its time in
botanical systematics and which Engler himself will edit for fifty years.  His
interest in historical biogeography will lead to the publication of  _Versuch
einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt_ between 1878 and 1882, a work
that will present the first comprehensive account of plant evolution in the
Northern Hemisphere.  Engler will move to the University of Breslau in 1884,
and in collaboration with Karl A. E. Prantl he will begin his most influential
work, _Die naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien_, which will be published in 248
installments over a period of 28 years.  In 1889 Engler will be appointed
professor of botany and director of the botanical garden in Berlin, and he
will remain there for the rest of his career, publishing widely on systematics
and phytogeography and influencing an entire generation of botanical
systematists.

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