William Gilson Farlow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1844-12-17)December 17, 1844 Boston,Massachusetts, US |
| Died | June 3, 1919(1919-06-03) (aged 74) |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Known for | Phytopathology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Academic advisors | Asa Gray,Heinrich Anton de Bary |
| Doctoral students | William Albert Setchell |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Farl. |
William Gilson Farlow (December 17, 1844 – June 3, 1919) was an Americanbotanist,mycologist, and professor atHarvard University for more than 40 years. Farlow conducted groundbreaking research onplant pathology, taught the first plant pathology course in the United States, and co-founded the journalAnnals of Botany.[1][2]
Farlow was born on December 17, 1844, inBoston,Massachusetts. His parents were Boston businessman John Smith Farlow and Nancy Wight Blanchard. He attended theQuincy Grammar School and theEnglish High School in Boston, followed by a year atBoston Latin School. From childhood he reportedly aspired to a career in botany.[3]
Farlow attendedHarvard University (A.B., 1866), where he studied with ProfessorAsa Gray and served as student president of the Harvard Natural History Society. He earned his M.D. fromHarvard Medical School in 1870, studying withJeffries Wyman.[3] From 1870 to 1872, he worked on the collections ofcryptogams at theGray Herbarium, again under the supervision of Professor Gray. In 1872 he went to Europe, studying algae and fungi at theUniversity of Strasbourg under the tutelage ofHeinrich Anton de Bary. He went on to study lichens withJohannes Müller Argoviensis inGeneva, Switzerland, and study marine algae withGustave Thuret andÉdouard Bornet inAntibes, France.[2][4]
In 1874, Farlow returned to Harvard and, with the support of Professor Gray, received an appointment as an assistantprofessor ofbotany at theBussey Institution in 1874. He became Professor ofCryptogamic Botany from 1879 until his death 40 years later.[2][5] Farlow retired from undergraduate teaching in 1896 but continued to advise graduate students, collect specimens, and conduct research. He willed his herbarium and library to Harvard, where they form theFarlow Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany.[4] Farlow's obituaries recognized him the "father" of cryptogamic botany in the United States.[4][6] He published dozens of scientific articles, reports, and conference papers.[7]
Among his students was the phytologistWilliam Albert Setchell.[8] He corresponded with other botanists such asCaroline Bingham andJacob Georg Agardh and collaborated in the identification and classification of species of algae previously unknown to science.[9] Twogenera, the algaeFarlowia and the fungusFarlowiella, were named in his honor in 1876 and 1891, along with numerous species of algae, fungi, and lichens.[4]
Farlow was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1874.[10] He served as president of theAmerican Society of Naturalists in 1899, president of theNational Academy of Sciences in 1904,president of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science in 1905, and president of theBotanical Society of America in 1911. He was also a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society,[11] a fellow of theLinnaean Society of London, and a member of theParis Academy of Science.[2]
He received honorary doctoral degrees fromHarvard University (LL.D, 1896), theUniversity of Glasgow (LL.D, 1901),[12] theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison (LL.D, 1904), andUppsala University (Ph.D., 1907).[2] He was elected to honorary membership of theManchester Literary and Philosophical Society 30 April 1898[13]
On June 10, 1900, Farlow married Lilian Horsford (1848–1927), daughter of Harvard chemistry professorEben Norton Horsford.[2]
Among Farlow's publications are:
WithCharles Lewis Anderson andDaniel Cady Eaton he issued theexsiccata seriesAlgae exsiccatae Americae Borealis (1877–1889).[14]
Between 1922 and 1946 theFarlow Herbarium distributed the exsiccataReliquiae Farlowianae. Cryptogams distributed by the Farlow Herbarium of Harvard University, the first part edited byRoland Thaxter (no. 1–600), followed up byDavid H. Linder (no. 601–1000).[15][16]
{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)