discovering the earth plants

[...]... titles or fragments, and they consist of what appear to be lecture notes rather the Father of Botany than the texts of books The two exceptions are Theophrastus’s most important works: De historia plantarum (On the history of plants) and De causis plantarum (On the reasons for plant growth) With these works Theophrastus initiated the methodical study of plants Theophrastus grew plants in his own botanical... of the world to collect specimens of exotic plants that could be grown back home Many of the plants they brought to the botanical gardens later found their way into private gardens, where they were grown for ornament Plants recounts the adventures of some of the most famous plant collectors As botanists recorded more and more of the plants growing in their own countries and as increasing numbers of plants. .. led in turn to the investigation of plant evolution Thousands of years ago our ancestors obtained their plant foods— fruits, seeds, leaves, and roots—by gathering them from plants growing wild Then they began to cultivate some of those plants and very slowly the plants were transformed into the domesticated crop plants that farmers grow today The book describes the origin of some of the most important... penalty Rather than stand trial, he left Athens and settled which is now lost (The in Chalcis (see the map on the previous page) He died the following Granger Collection) year tHeopHrAstus, tHe FAtHer oF BotAny When Aristotle quit Athens for the last time, he left his friend and assistant Theophrastus (ca 372–ca 287 b.c.e.) to lead the Peripatetic school In his will Aristotle bequeathed the Lyceum... and of some of the individuals who contributed to it Plants, one volume in the Discovering the Earth set, begins the story in ancient Greece, where philosophers first speculated about the origin of plants, and the study of botany began The book then considers medicinal plants, which were of prime concern to the founders of botany Until modern times, most medicines were obtained from plants and physicians... they will be able to learn more xiii 1 The Father of Botany N atural history is the study of plants and animals, with the emphasis on observation rather than experiment People have always made use of plants, of course, but as means to an end, a resource to be utilized They gathered plants for food and medicines and later they cultivated them; they constructed their buildings, boats, and many tools... and other parties seeking safety had lamps and torches to help them find their way They all decided to go to the shore to see whether they could find safety by sailing out from the coast, but the sea was too rough for   plants them to launch boats Pliny, who may have been asthmatic, lay down on a linen cloth Twice he asked for cold water, which he drank Then they saw flames approaching and there... desires the appetitive element gave them the ability to move Human souls had both the nutritive and appetitive features, but also a rational element, which gave them the capacity for thought the Father of Botany  Aristotle studied plants and animals and certainly dissected some animals He wrote only about animals, however, leaving it to Theophrastus (ca 371–ca 287 b.c.e.; see “Theophrastus, the Father...x plants There are seven books in the set that deal with the following topics: 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Earth sciences, atmosphere, oceans, ecology, animals, plants, and exploration These topics will be of interest to students of environmental studies, ecology, biology, geography, and geology Students of the humanities may also enjoy them for the light they shed on the way the scientific aspect... understand any more about the plants they used than their properties and how to exploit them It was not until the cultural flowering in ancient Greece that scholars began to speculate about the origins of plants, to investigate their growth and structure, and to attempt to catalog the many different kinds of plants That was the beginning of natural history, and in later centuries it led to the study of botany . and the Green Earth Plants