James Edward Smith (botanist)

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James Edward Smith

Sir James Edward Smith (born December 2, 1759 in Norwich , † March 17, 1828 ibid) was a British botanist and founder of the Linnean Society of London . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Sm. "

Live and act

Smith began studying medicine in 1777 at the University of Edinburgh , where he also studied botany from 1781 with John Hope (1725–1786). From 1783 he worked as a doctor in London , where he continued his botanical studies at the university . There his teachers were John Hunter and William Pitcairn (1711–1791).

Smith founded the Linnaeus Society with Joseph Banks ; he bought Linnaeus' herbarium and its library, manuscripts and other collections. Smith was elected the first President of the Linnaeus Society in London and held that position until his death. He made a great contribution to systematic botany, especially to the English flora, and also made a botanical trip through Holland , France and Italy . From 1796 he lived in Norwich again .

Honors

In 1797 he became a member of the Leopoldina . In 1808 he was accepted as an external member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and in 1818 as a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences . The genus Smithia Aiton from the legume plant family (Fabaceae) was named in his honor.

In 1814 he was from King George III. knighted as a Knight Bachelor ("Sir").

Fonts

Rees Cyclopedia
  • with John Abbot : The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia, London 1797
  • Compendium Floræ Britannicæ , London 1800
  • Exotic Botany: consisting of colored figures and scientific descriptions of such new, beautiful, or rare plants as are worthy of cultivation in the gardens of Britain ... The figures by J. Sowerby. 2 volumes, London 1804
  • Remarks on the generic characters of the decandrous papilionaceous plants of New Holland , London 1804
  • An Introduction to physiological and systematical Botany , London 1807
  • A review of the modern state of Botany, with a particular reference to the natural systems of Linnæus and Jussieu. From the second volume of the supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica , Edinburgh 1817 (?)
  • Considerations respecting Cambridge, more particularly relating to its Botanical professorship , London 1818
  • A Grammar of Botany, illustrative of artificial, as well as natural classification; with an explanation of Jussieu's system , London 1821
  • A Selection of the Correspondence of Linnaeus and other naturalists . 2 volumes, London 1821 volume 1
  • A Compendium of the English Flora , London 1829
  • The English Flora , 5 volumes, London 1824–36
  • English Botany, or colored figures of British Plants. … , The figures by J. Sowerby (2nd edition, 12 volumes), London 1832–1846
  • with John Sibthorp : Flora Graeca . 10 volumes. London 1806-1840

Web links

Commons : James Edward Smith  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Member entry of Sir James Edward Smith at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on October 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
  3. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 314.
personal data
SURNAME Smith, James Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British botanist and founder of the Linnaeus Society in London
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1759
PLACE OF BIRTH Norwich
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1828
Place of death Norwich