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Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker ( June 30, 1817 - December 10, 1911) was an English botanist and traveller.He was born in Halesworth, Suffolk and was the second son of the famous botanist Sir William Jackson Hooker. He was educated at Glasgow University, and almost immediately after taking his M.D. degree there in 1839 joined Sir James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition, receiving a commission as assistant-surgeon on the Erebus. The botanical fruits of the three years he thus spent in the Southern Seas were the Flora Antarctica, Flora Novae Zelandiae and Flora Tasmanica, which he published on his return.
His next expedition was to the northern frontiers of India (1847-1851), and the expenses in this case also were partially defrayed by the government. The party had its full share of adventure. Hooker and his friend Dr Archibald Campbell were detained in prison for some time by the raja of Sikkim, but nevertheless they were able to bring back important results, both geographical and botanical. Their survey of hitherto unexplored regions was published by the CalcuttaThis article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. For the gambling term, see Calcutta Calcutta is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Its original name was Kalikata and is, in higher literature, still referred to as such. Speakers of the region's Trigonometrical Survey Office, and their botanical observations formed the basis of elaborate works on the rhododendronAzaleastrum Candidastrum Hymenanthes Mumeazalea Pentanthera Rhododendron Therorhodion Tsutsusi Source: Rhododendron (from the Greek: rhodos rose; dendron tree) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. This is such a large genus that the plas of the Sikkim HimalayaTibetan plateau and the Taklamakan plain to the north. The Himalaya (the Himalayan Range is a mountain range in Asia, separating India and the Northern Areas of Pakistan on the south and southwest from the vast Tibetan plateau (now part of China) on the n and on the flora of India. His works were illustrated with lithographs by Walter Hood FitchWalter Hood Fitch ( February 28th, 1817 1892) was a Victorial botanical artist. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Fitch was involved in fabric printing from the age of 17 and took to botanical art after being discovered by William Jackson Hooker, the edit.
Among other journeys undertaken by Hooker were those to PalestineFor varying definitions, see definitions of Palestine. Palestine ( Latin: Syria Palaestina Hebrew: Palestina Eretz Yisrael Arabic: Filasin , is a region in the Middle East extending inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Its political sta (1860), MoroccoAl Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah In Detail( Full size) Official language Arabic Capital Rabat Largest City Casablanca King Mohammed VI Prime Minister Driss Jettou Area Total Ranked 56th 446,550 km² Population Total (2003) Density31,689,267 70/km² Ranked 36th In (1871), and the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in (1877), all yielding valuable scientific information. In the midst of all this travelling in foreign countries he quickly built up for himself a high scientific reputation at home. In 1855 he was appointed assistant-director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewThe Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are extensive gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond upon Thames and Kew in southwest London. They originated in the exotic garden at Kew House formed by Lord Capel of Tewkesbury, enlarged and greatly extended by, and in 1865 he succeeded his father as full director, holding the post for twenty years. At the early age of thirty he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1873 he was chosen its president. He received three of its medals: the Royal in 1854, the Copley in 1887 and the Darwin in 1892.
He acted as president of the British Association at its Norwich meeting of 1868, when his address was remarkable for its championship of Darwinian theories. Of Darwin, indeed, he was an early friend and supporter: it was he who, with Charles Lyell, first induced Darwin to make his views public, and the author of The Origin of Species recorded his indebtedness to Hooker's wide knowledge and balanced judgment.
He was the author of numerous scientific papers and monographs, and his larger books included, in addition to those already mentioned, a standard Students Flora of the British Isles and a monumental work, the Genera plantarum, based on the collections at Kew, in which he had the assistance of George Bentham. On the publication of the last part of his Flora of British India in 1897 he was created G.C.S.I., of which order he had been made a knight commander twenty years before; and twenty years later, on attaining the age of ninety, he was awarded the Order of Merit.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopędia Britannica. 1911 Britannica
