Joseph Hooker: a philosophical botanist.
The nineteenth-century British botanist, Joseph Dalton Hooker,was one of the people whose career became a model for that of the modern,professional scientist.However,he preferred to refer to himself as a philosophical botanist, rather than a professional. This paper explores the reasons for this choice,and analyses Hooker's imperial approach to plant classification, the consequences of which are still with us.
Endersby
Jim
J
History Department, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9SH, UK. J.J.Endersby@sussex.ac.uk
D001901:Botany / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D012606:Scotland