Douglas Houghton Campbell | |
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| Born | December 19, 1859 |
| Died | February 24, 1953 (aged 92) Stanford, California |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Campb. |
Douglas Houghton Campbell (December 19, 1859 – February 24, 1953) was an Americanbotanist and university professor.[1]: 48 He was one of the 15 founding professors atStanford University.[2] His death was described as "the end of an era of a group of great plant morphologists."[3]
Campbell was born and raised inDetroit,Michigan. His father,James V. Campbell, was a member of the Supreme Court of the state of Michigan and a law professor at the University of Michigan.[3] Douglas Campbell graduated from Detroit High School in 1878, going on to study at theUniversity of Michigan. He studied botany, learning newmicroscopy techniques, and becoming interested in cryptogrammic (deciduous)ferns.[1] He received his master's degree in 1882, and taught botany at Detroit High School while he completed hisPhD research. He received his PhD in 1886, then travelled toGermany to learn more microscopy techniques. He developed a technique to embed plant material inparaffin to make fine cross-sections; he was one of the first if not the first to study plant specimens using this technique, which had been newly developed by zoologists. He was also a pioneer in the study of microscopic specimens using vital stains.[4]
When Campbell returned to the United States he took up a professorship atIndiana University (1888 to 1891), writing the textbookElements of Structural and Systematic Botany. In 1891 he became the founding head of the botany department atStanford University and remained at Stanford for the remainder of his career, retiring in 1925.[2] He studiedmosses andliverworts, producingThe Structure and Development of Mosses and Ferns in 1895. This book, together with its subsequent editions in 1905 and 1918, became the authoritative work on the subject and "firmly established Campbell's reputation as one of the leading botanists of the United States."[4] HisLectures on the Evolution of Plants was published in 1899, and became widely used as a botany textbook.University Textbook of Botany was published in 1902, with fears expressed by colleagues that interest in pure research interest would prejudice its worth being found to be misplaced.[1]: 48 He also travelled extensively though the Pacific collecting samples and writingOutline of Plant Geography, published in 1926, about his travels.
Campbell was a member of a number of scientific institutions. He was president of theBotanical Society of America in 1913 and was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences in 1910.[4] He was a member of theLinnaean Society ofLondon, theRoyal Society of Edinburgh, theDeutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, theInternational Association of Botanists, and theAmerican Philosophical Society.
