Asa Gray.

American Botanist 1810-1888

Asa Gray was the dominant force in botanical science in the United States throughout the mid-nineteenth century. He substantially advanced and influenced the study of North American flora and the dissemination of information about it. Gray's studies led to a reassessment of floristic plant geography in North America, and he was famous for the sheer volume of his knowledge and the way he used it to advance American botany. Gray won respect for American botany from abroad. Moreover, he played a critical role in the eventual acceptance of Darwin's theories in the United States.

Asa Gray was born in 1810 in Sauquoit Valley, New York, near Utica. As a youth he helped his father with farm and tannery work. He attended Fairfield Medical School, where he first became acquainted with basic botanical principles. Gray was awarded a medical degree in 1831, but then...