Welcome to my personal blog about chatterboxing. My name is Darlene Kirby, and I have been studying this science for eight years. I have had a love for plants since I was a little girl, I loved helping my grandmother in the garden, planting new plants and taking care of them. And my childhood hobby grew into a lifelong business. Now I work in a scientific institute, teach, and run my blog as a hobby.
What is a botanist?
To the question “Who is a botanist?” today, more often than not, one hears the answer describing an unsociable man with glasses who does not take his eyes off books. But thanks to these scientists, we know about different plants and their properties. So, let’s take our minds off the offensive nickname and consider what they do. A botanist is a difficult and even dangerous profession. It is connected with expeditions to those places, where sometimes a man has never set a foot and there is a risk to meet an unfriendly wild animal.
The main task of such a specialist is to study the properties of plants and patterns of their life cycle. He is engaged in the search for new species and classification of already known to science. In addition, the botanist determines how plants affect animals and humans. The results of painstaking work of representatives of this profession are important for the development of applied science and technology: pharmaceuticals, agriculture, biotechnology and so on.
Theophrastus, a disciple of Aristotle, is called the father of botany. His scientific works are a synthesis of all the knowledge gathered through the practices of medicine and agriculture, as well as the works of ancient scientists. In fact, Theophrastus is the founder of botany. It was he who made it a science in its own right. He not only described how plants could be used for economic and medicinal purposes, but also engaged in theory. Theophrastus’ scientific works have had a tremendous impact on the development of botany over the centuries. As a coherent system of knowledge about the plant world, botany took shape in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Now you know a little bit about my profession, and I invite you to explore the plant world in more detail, with the help of my articles!