[DOWNLOAD] "Moonstruck by Herbaria (Biology Today) (Column)" by The American Biology Teacher " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Moonstruck by Herbaria (Biology Today) (Column)
- Author : The American Biology Teacher
- Release Date : January 01, 2011
- Genre: Life Sciences,Books,Science & Nature,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 72 KB
Description
I have become fascinated by herbaria, collections of dried plant specimens. Like many new loves, this one began rather suddenly. Yes, I had known about them for years and had even been to a symposium on virtual herbaria, but I hardly ever gave them a thought. Then, as described in my January column (Flannery, 2011), while attending the Botany 2010 meeting last August in Providence, Rhode Island, I had a tour of the herbarium at the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Roger Williams Park. I also went to a couple of sessions on the effort to digitize herbarium collections throughout the United States. These experiences got me thinking about herbaria and reading up on them. When, in October, I had a chance to revisit the herbarium in Providence, I was moonstruck. I really wanted to dig into the subject and learn as much about herbaria as I could. Like many love affairs, this one isn't based on particularly sound judgment. I am not a botanist and know little about plants, although I've gotten interested in drawing them, and I've done some work on Agnes Arber, an early-20th-century plant morphologist (Flannery, 2005). Still, I am definitely light on plant knowledge. But I think this is part of the lure of the subject: a plunge into the unknown, a desire to push my brain. I have begun, just begun, to seriously consider herbaria, and this column is my first attempt to write about them. I have already discovered so much I find interesting that I am hoping this information will interest you as well.