BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
LEAFLETS 
THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 
Series IV Brooklyn, N. Y., October 18, 1916. No. 13 
SOME EARLY BOTANISTS 
The new building of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, now nearly 
completed, will contain on its walls about seventy names of dis- 
tinguished botanists.* The great majority of these belong in the 
period from Linnaeus to the present time. In this Leaflet are 
mentioned some of the writers about plants who lived earlier 
than Linnaeus. 
Aristotle, pupil of Socrates and teacher of Alexander the Great, 
has been called the father of natural science. His writings are 
extensive and have in large part come down to us; those on 
plants, however, have been lost. Aristotle recognized the pioneer 
character of his work. “Mine is the first step,” he writes, “and 
therefore a small one. You, my readers, must judge me with in- 
dulgence.” However, his writings were authority for nearly two 
thousand years. 
Theophrastus of Eresus, called by Linnaeus the father of 
botany, was born about the year 370 B. C. on the island of Mit}'-- 
lene, where Aristotle taught Alexander. He became the pupil, 
friend and successor of Aristotle. The grove near Athens where 
Aristotle had taught became, under Theophrastus, the first 
botanic garden. Theophrastus wrote on many subjects; his 
“Characters” has been widely translated and imitated. His 
“History of Plants” describes about five hundred kinds of plants. 
In this work four groups are taken up: trees, shrubs, half-shrubs, 
and herbaceous plants; under each there are cultivated and wild 
plants. Very few wild plants are described; “there are many 
others,” says Theophrastus, “but they have no names.” It is 
said that Theophrastus lived nearly a hundred years, and, 
according to his wish, was buried in his garden. 
*These names were chosen by vote of American botanists as described in 
the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record . IV, NO. 4, October, 1915, 
