Key Figures in Plant Science and Their Contributions

Theophrastus 371- 287 BCE

Known as the 'Father of Botany' and wrote 'Historia Plantarum', one of the first systematic studies of plants.

Dioscorides 40 - 90 CE

Wrote 'De Materia Medica', a major pharmacological text on medicinal plants, classifying and describing 600+ medicinal plants and their uses.

Carl Linnaeus 1753

Developed the binomial nomenclature system and published 'Species Plantarum' (1753), which classified thousands of plant species.

Charles Darwin 1859

Developed the theory of evolution by natural selection and wrote 'On the Origin of Species' (1859), studying plant movement and adaptation.

Barbara McClintock 1983

Discovered 'jumping genes' (transposable elements) in maize and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1983).

Norman Borlaug 1970

Known as the 'Father of the Green Revolution', developed high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1970).

Jan Baptista van Helmont (1579-1644)

Conducted the Willow Tree Experiment to study plant growth, suggesting that a plant's mass comes from water.

Joseph Priestley (1733 to 1804)

Discovered that plants produce oxygen (O₂) and showed that plants purify air and contribute to respiration.

Jan Ingenhousz (1779)

Expanded on Priestley's work, showing that light is necessary for oxygen production in plants.

C.B. van Niel (1930s)

Discovered that photosynthesis is a redox reaction and identified H₂O as the source of O₂.