Posts Tagged ‘science history’
John Joly: The Poet-Scientist Who Understood Plant Magic
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 1, 1857 John Joly (pronounced “JOLLY”) was born on this day in Hollywood House near the village of Bracknagh (pronounced “BRACK-nuh”) in County Offaly, Ireland. Joly was an Irish polymath whose profound…
Read MoreMartinus Beijerinck: The Botanist Who Discovered Viruses in Plants
Flu Discovery Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Martinus Beijerinck (pronounced “by-a-rink”). Beijerinck searched for the reason tobacco plants were dying. In his research, Beijerinck ground up some diseased tobacco leaves and then pressed the juices through a bacteria filter. He was utterly shocked when the filtered, bacteria-free liquid still spread…
Read MoreThe Microscopic Gardener: Matthias Schleiden’s Cellular Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 5, 1804 This day marks the birth of one Matthias Jakob Schleiden, a German botanist whose work on plant cells has gardeners everywhere unconsciously in his debt, though most wouldn’t recognize his…
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