Botanical education in the UnitedStates: Part 2, The nineteenth cen-tury—Botany for the masses vs. theprofessionalization of botany

摘要

The nineteenth century saw the maturation of botany and botanical education, both in the United States and abroad. Student-active pedagogy, devised by Amos Eaton, was carried on by his student Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps, who became America’s first “best seller” botany textbook author. Her major competitor, Alphonso Wood, soon dominated the market by concentrating almost exclusively on taxonomy and making it available to all school levels. Asa Gray, America’s first professional botanist, focused on professionalizing the discipline through a profusion of content- rich botanical textbooks marketed to students from elementary grades through college. His preeminence attracted money to construct a dedicated botany building, including a laboratory, and eventually attracted graduate students. The “new botany,” championed by Charles Bessey and others, began to move American botany toward the forefront of botanical research while promoting laboratory work and student-active learning at all educational levels. This period culminated with the founding of the Botanical Society of America.