Exploring and communicating knowledge of trees in the early royal society.
For nearly 150 years after its foundation, Fellows of the Royal Society collected information on trees, investigated their anatomy and physiology, promoted planting and improved planting practices, and introduced, naturalized and classified foreign species. Their discoveries and advice were widely disseminated and used. Historians have generally neglected this interest, although the Society's first publication was an influential work on trees. They have also overlooked the significance of Stephen Hales's remark in Vegetable Staticks--that he hoped his enquiries into the nature of plants would improve skills in agriculture and gardening-and his linking of sap movement to tree pruning. Fellows' experiments and field trials not only advanced knowledge of the structure, nutrition and growth of trees but also provided empirical evidence supporting instructions for cultivating them.
History Faculty, University of Oxford, Old Boys' High School, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL, UK. beryl.hartley@history.ox.ac.uk
Beryl
B
Hartley
D001901:Botany / Q000266:history; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D012958:Societies, Scientific / Q000266:history*; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology*