- Plants are the major source of life on earth. They provide us with food, oxygen and a variety of raw materials for various industrial and domestic purposes. That is why humans have always been interested in plants since time immemorial.
- The Greek scholar Theophrastus was one of the early Botanists of the world. He is also known as the “Father of Botany” due to his major writings on plants. One of his books called “Enquiry into Plants” classified the plants based on the geographical ranges, sizes, uses and growth patterns. The other work called “On the Causes of Plants” explained the economics of growing plants.
- Dioscorides was another Greek physician from 90-40 A.D. who wrote an encyclopedia about herbal medicines known as “De Materia Medica”. This book was used as an important medicinal guidebook for over 1500 years until the invention of the compound microscope.
- The invention of the compound microscope by Robert Hooke in 1665 marked the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of Botany. It helped in the study of the anatomy and physiology of plants. The discovery of chlorophyll helped in understanding the process of photosynthesis. Gregor Mendel studied the genetic inheritance in plants through his experiments on pea plants.
- With the advent of biotechnology and genetic engineering, scientists are able to understand the plant structure in a better way and have devised better ways of improving crop yield and crop health.
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