By Richard B. Primack
“A man is wise with the wisdom of his time only & ignorant with its ignorance.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.
In September, the University of Basel in Switzerland celebrated the life of the famous botanist Casper Bauhin with a special international symposium, “400 years of Botanical Collection: Implications for Present-Day Research.”
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| Participants in the symposium. |
Among his many contributions, Bauhin established the university’s botanical garden, was a pioneer in developing the concept of the genus, described many plant species for the first time, and completed a flora of Basel.
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| A portrait of Bauhin. |
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| Bauhin’s Flora of Basel from 1622. |
Bauhin’s herbarium contains many of the oldest specimens of important cultivated plants, such as potato.
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| A herbarium specimen of potato prepared by Bauhin. |
As part of the symposium, I presented a keynote talk on the use of botanical gardens and plant collections in climate change research.
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| Primack presents a talk at the symposium. |
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