William T. Stearn
| William Thomas Stearn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
16 April 1911 Cambridge |
| Died |
9 May 2001 (aged 90) London |
| Institutions | Lindley Library, Natural History Museum |
| Education | Cambridge High School for Boys |
| Known for | Botanical taxonomy, History of botany, Botanical Latin |
| Notable awards | Linnean Society Gold Medal (1976), Commander of the Swedish Order of the Star of the North (1980), Engler gold medal (1993), CBE (1997), Asa Gray Award (2000) |
| Spouse | Eldwyth Ruth Alford |
William Thomas Stearn CBE (/stɜːrn/; 16 April 1911 – 8 May 2001) was a British botanist known for his expertise on the history of botany and in the classical languages. His work is widely read, with his etymological dictionary of Latin names of garden plants likely the best-known of the works appearing under his own name. Among botanists his Botanical Latin, now in its fourth edition (1992), is a standard reference.
Life
William Stearn was born at 37 Springfield Road, Chesterton, Cambridge, England on April 16, 1911, the eldest of four sons, to Thomas Stearn (1871/2–1922), a coachman, and Ellen (Nellie) his wife (née Kiddy 1886–1986) of West Suffolk.[1] Despite lacking any family background in biology he developed a keen interest in natural history and books at an early age. He attended Cambridge High School for Boys, and while there managed to obtain a position as a part-time research assistant at the Department of Botany, Cambridge University. However, he was largely self-educated, his widowed mother being unable to afford a university education for him. He attended evening classes to develop his linguistic skills, particularly the classics and obtained his first employment at the age of 18 as an apprentice antiquarian bookseller at Bowes & Bowes bookstore in Cambridge.[2] In 1940 he married Eldwyth Ruth Alford, by whom he had a son and two daughters, and who collaborted with him on some of his work. He died in London on May 9, 2001[3][4]
Work
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While working at the bookstore he continued his research, visiting the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in 1930, at the age of 19 to study Epimedium, the subject of a later publication, a monograph of the genus (1938).[5][6] By then he had already published his first paper in 1929, on Campanula pusilla (Campanula cochleariifolia).[7]
He became the Librarian at the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library in London from 1933–1952, having been "discovered" at the Cambridge bookstore by the horticulturalist E. A. Bowles at the age of 22.[8] The only break from this employment was the war years 1941–1946, when he served with the Royal Air Force both in England and in Asia. From the Lindley Library, he moved to the British Museum of Natural History and when he retired in 1976, he was the Senior Principal Scientific Officer at the Department of Botany there. Following his retirement he continued to work, both at the Museum and at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.[2][4] Just before his death he completed a revision of his original Epimedium monograph.[9]
He was the author of over 480 publications.[7][10][lower-alpha 1] While his genus monographs largely concentrated on Mediterranean flora, he was also the author of species articles both popular and technical as well as a number of classical treatises.[4] While his output covered a wide range of topics, he is best known for his contributions to botanical history and the publication of his Botanical Latin (4 editions 1966–1992).[11] The latter has been described as akin to the bible of taxonomists.[4] One of his best known contributions to the history of botany is his extensive introduction to the Ray Society's edition of Linnaeus' Species plantarum (1957)[12] and his introductions and commentaries on many classic botanical texts.[13] He also had an interest in the history of botanical illustration, collaborating with the art historian Wilfrid Blunt and summarised in their 1950 Art of Botanical Illustration.[14][15][16][17] He collaborated with his wife in translating German botanical history into English.[18]
He was a member of the Linnean Society (named after the 18th-century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus) for many years, becoming a fellow as early as 1934, serving on the Council 1959–1963 and as Vice-President 1961–1962 and President 1979–1982.[7][2]
Awards
William Stearn received three honorary doctorates during his lifetime, from Cambridge, Leiden and Uppsala. In 1976 the Linnean Society awarded him their gold medal (now the Linnean medal) for his work on Linnaeus, and the made a Commander of the Swedish Order of the Star of the North (Polar Star) in 1980. In 1993 he received the Engler gold medal. In 2000 he received the Asa Gray Award, the highest honor of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists.[4] He was appointed CBE in 1997.[3]
Legacy
Stearn is considered amongst the most eminent British botanists, and has been compared to botanists of the past including Robert Brown, Darwin, the Hookers (William and Joseph),[3] and described as "the modern Linnaeus".[8] Amongst other epithets, Stearn has been described as "The Complete Naturalist".[19][20]
407 taxa bear his name as a botanical authority.[21] In the light of his work on Epimedium, the RHS has named a cultivar after him, Epimedium 'William Stearn'.[22][6]
Selected publications
Books
- Stearn, William T. (2002) [1938]. Green, Peter Shaw; Mathew, Brian, eds. The genus Epimedium and other herbaceous Berberidaceae. (including the genus podophyllum by Julian Shaw, illustrations by Christabel King) (Revised ed.). Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens. ISBN 9781842460399.
- Sitwell, Sacheverell (1990) [1956 London: Collins]. Synge, Patrick Millington, ed. Great flower books, 1700-1900: a bibliographical record of two centuries of finely-illustrated flower books (New ed.). London: Witherby. ISBN 9780854932023.[lower-alpha 2]
- Stearn, William T. (1992) [1966]. Botanical Latin: history, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary (4th ed.). Portland, Or.: Timber Press. ISBN 9780881923216.
- The Natural History Museum at South Kensington (1981)[lower-alpha 3]
- Stearn, William T. (2002) [1992]. Stearn's dictionary of plant names for gardeners: a handbook on the origin and meaning of the botanical names of some cultivated plants. Portland, Or.: Timber Press. ISBN 978-0881925562.
- Stearn, William T., ed. (1998). John Lindley (1799-1865): gardener, botanist and pioneer orchidologist : Bi-centenary celebration volume. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club & Royal Horticultural Society. ISBN 1-85149-296-8.
- Green, Peter S. (November 1999). "William T. Stearn: John Lindley 1799–1865. Gardener-Botanist and Pioneer Orchidologist". Curtis's Botanical Magazine (Review). 16 (4): 301–302. doi:10.1111/1467-8748.00234.
Articles
- Stearn, William Thomas (November 1938). "Epimedium and Vancouveria (Berberidaceae), a monograph.". Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany. 51 (340): 409–535. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1937.tb01914.x.
- Stearn, William T. (November 1952). "William Herbert's "Appendix" and "Amaryllidaceae"". Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History. 2 (9): 375–377. doi:10.3366/jsbnh.1952.2.9.375.
Notes
- ↑ Publications are numbered consecutively from 1 (1929) to 437 (1991), a further list from 1992–1997 exists only as a typed manuscript[4]
- ↑ Notes on the flowers represented in the plates, by P. M. Synge, The romance of the flower book, by S. Sitwell, The illustrators of the great flower books, by W. Blunt, An introduction to the bibliography, by P. M. Synge, The bibliography, by W. T. Stearn, Sabine Wilson, and Handasyde Buchanan, with a foreword by S. Dillon Ripley [23]
- ↑ About the Natural History Museum, London
References
- ↑ Prance 2014.
- 1 2 3 Walters 2001.
- 1 2 3 Anonymous 2001.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Iltis 2001.
- ↑ Stearn 1938.
- 1 2 Avent 2010.
- 1 2 3 The Linnean Society 1976.
- 1 2 Buchan 2007.
- ↑ Stearn 2002.
- ↑ The Linnean Society 1992.
- ↑ Stearn 1992.
- ↑ Linnaeus 1753.
- ↑ Robson 2001.
- ↑ Blunt & Stearn 1994.
- ↑ Blunt & Stearn 1973.
- ↑ Blunt 2001.
- ↑ Stearn 1976.
- ↑ Baumann 1993.
- ↑ Walters 1992a.
- ↑ Walters 1992b.
- ↑ Plantlist 2016.
- ↑ RHS 2016, Epimedium 'William Stearn'
- ↑ RBMS 2016.
- ↑ IPNI. Stearn.
Bibliography
- Anonymous (10 May 2001). "Professor William Stearn" (obituary). Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- Avent, Tony (March 2010). "An overview of Epimedium". The Plantsman: 10–17.
- Buchan, Ursula (2007). Garden people: the photographs of Valerie Finnis. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-51353-8.
- Iltis, Hugh H. (January 2001). "William T. Stearn—Recipient of the 2000 Asa Gray Award". Systematic Botany. 26 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1043/0363-6445-26.1.1.
- Prance, Ghillean T. (May 2014). "Stearn, William Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/75893. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- RBMS. "Sitwell, S. Great flower books, 1700-1900". Standard Citation Forms for Rare Materials Cataloging. Anerican Library Association. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- Robson, N. K. B. (2001). "William Thomas Stearn" (obituary). Watsonia. 24: 123–124.
- BSBI. "Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland". Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- RHS (2016). "Royal Horticultural Society". Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- Walters, S. Max (6 June 2001). "William Stearn" (obituary). The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- Walters, S. M. (August 1992b). "W. T. Stearn: the complete naturalist". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 109 (4): 437–442. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb01442.x.
- Walters, S. M. (August 1992a). "A bouquet for the complete naturalist: a celebration of the 80th birthday of W. T. Stearn". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 109 (4): 435–436. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb01441.x.
- Baumann, Hellmut (1993) [1986]. Die griechische Pflanzenwelt in Mythos, Kunst und Literatur [The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature]. trans. William Thomas Stearn, Eldwyth Ruth Stearn. Timber Press.
- "List of plant names with authority Stearn", International Plant Names Index
Stearn bibliography
- The Linnean Society (December 1976). "Publications by William T. Stearn on bibliographical, botanical and horticultural subjects, 1929-1976; a chronological list". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 8 (4): 299–318. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1976.tb00252.x.
- The Linnean Society (August 1992). "Publications by William T. Stearn on bibliographical, botanical and horticultural subjects, 1977-1991; a chronological list". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 109 (4): 443–451. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb01443.x.
Works by Stearn
- Blunt, Wilfrid; Stearn, William (1994) [1950 Collins]. The art of botanical illustration: an illustrated history. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486272658.
- Linnaeus (1753). Stearn, William T., ed. Species plantarum (1957 ed.). Ray Society.
- Stearn, William T. (2002) [1972 Cassell ISBN 0304937215]. Stearn's dictionary of plant names for gardeners: a handbook on the origin and meaning of the botanical names of some cultivated plants. Portland, Or.: Timber Press. ISBN 9780881925562.
- Blunt, Wilfred; Stearn, William (1973). Captain Cook's Florilegium: A Selection of Engravings from the Drawings of Plants Collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on Captain Cook's First Voyage to the Islands of the Pacific. London: Lion and Unicorn Press. ISBN 0902490125. (see Banks' Florilegium)
- Stearn, William T. (1976). The Australian flower paintings of Ferdinand Bauer. Introduction by Wilfrid Blunt. London: Basilisk Press. ISBN 9780905013015. (see Ferdinand Bauer)
- Green, P. S. (1977). "A Selection of Australian Flower Paintings by Ferdinand Bauer" (Review). J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 1. 1 (2): 145–149.
- Blunt, Wilfrid (2001). Linnaeus : the complete naturalist. Introduction by William T. Stearn. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691096360.
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