Agnes Arber
Agnes Arber | |
---|---|
Newnham College (1902) University College, London (Sc.D., 1905) | |
Spouse | Edward Alexander Newell Arber (m. 1909) |
Children | Muriel Agnes (1913–2004)[1] |
Awards | Gold Medal of the Linnean Society of London (1948) Fellow of the Royal Society (1946) President, Botany Section, British Association for the Advancement of Science (1921) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Plant morphology, plant anatomy |
Author abbrev. (botany) | A.Arber |
Agnes Arber
Her scientific research focused on the monocotyledon group of flowering plants. She also contributed to development of morphological studies in botany during the early part of the 20th century. Her later work concentrated on the topic of philosophy in botany, particularly on the nature of biological research.
Biography
Agnes Robertson was born on 23 February 1879 in Primrose Hill, London.[2] She was the first child of Henry Robert Robertson, an artist, and Agnes Lucy Turner, and had three younger siblings, Donald Struan Robertson (who later became Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Cambridge), Janet Robertson, who later became a portrait painter, and Margaret Robertson (married name Hills), who was a notable suffragist and local politician. Her father gave her regular drawing lessons during her early childhood, which later provided her with the necessary skills to illustrate her scientific publications herself.[3]
At the age of eight Robertson began attending the North London Collegiate School founded and run by Frances Buss, one of the leading proponents for girls' education. Under the direction of the school's science teacher Edith Aitken, Robertson discovered a fascination with botany, publishing her first piece of research in 1894 in the school's magazine and later coming first in the school's botany examinations, winning a scholarship.[4]
It was here that Robertson first met Ethel Sargant, a plant morphologist who gave regular presentations to the school science club. Sargant would later become her mentor and colleague, having a profound influence on Arber's research interests and methods.[4][2]
In 1897, Robertson began studying at
After finishing her Cambridge degree in 1902 Robertson worked in the private laboratory of Ethel Sargant for a year, before returning to University College, London as holder of the Quain Studentship in Biology. She was awarded a
Robertson met Edward Alexander Newell Arber (1870–1918) while studying at Newnham College. They married on August 5, 1909 and moved back to Cambridge, where she would remain for the rest of her life. Her only child, Muriel Agnes Arber, was born in 1913, became a geologist, and died in 2004.[1]
Arber and her husband had many interests in common, and her marriage was described as 'happy'.[3] Arber was awarded a Research Fellowship from Newnham College in 1912 and published her first book Herbals, their origin and evolution in the same year. Her husband Newall Arber died in 1918 following a period of ill health.[4] Arber never remarried, but continued with her research. She studied in the Balfour Laboratory for Women from her marriage until the laboratory's closure in 1927. Arber maintained a small laboratory in a back room of her house from then until she stopped performing bench research in the 1940s and turned to philosophical study.[2]
Death
Agnes Arber died on 22 March 1960, at the age of 81, and is buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's, Girton.[2]
Scientific career
Early career
Before attending University College, London Arber spent the summer of 1897 working with Ethel Sargant in her private laboratory in Reigate, where Sargant instructed her on microtechniques used to prepare plant specimens for microscopic examination.[2] Arber returned to work in Sargant's laboratory at least once during the summer holidays while she was studying at University College London. Sargant employed Arber between 1902 and 1903 as a research assistant working on seedling structures, during which time in 1903 she published her first paper 'Notes on the anatomy of Macrozamia heteromera' in Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.[4] Whilst at University College London Arber conducted research on the gymnosperm group of plants, producing several papers on their morphology and anatomy.[3] The study and philosophy of plant morphology would become the central focus of her later work.
Balfour Laboratory, Cambridge
In 1909 Arber was granted space in the Balfour Laboratory for Women by
Following the award of a Research Fellowship by Newnham College between 1912 and 1913 Arber published her first book in 1912. Herbals, their origin and evolution describes the transformation of printed
Arber focused her research on the anatomy and morphology of the
In 1921, the "botanical establishment" denied Arber the 1921 presidency of
In 1925 Arber published her third book The Monocotyledons. The Editors of the Cambridge Botanical Handbooks series had asked Ethel Sargant in 1910 to prepare a volume on the
Later work
After the 1927 closure of the Balfour Laboratory Arber set up a small laboratory in a back room of her house to conduct her research, after the resident head of the Botany School Professor
After the publication of The Monocotyledons Arber continued her research into this group, concentrating her research into the
Between 1930 and 1942 Arber conducted research into the structure of flowers, where she investigated the structure of many different forms and used morphological information to interpret other flower structures. Her results were published in 10 review papers spanning this period.[3] In 1937 she published a summary of the morphological ideas which had been discussed concerning floral structure, which was considered an important review article for morphological studies.
In January 1942 Arber published her last paper involving original botanical research. All of her subsequent publications were entirely concerned with historical and philosophical topics.[2] [1]
Philosophical studies
During the Second World War Arber found it difficult to maintain her small laboratory, due to health problems and supplies were becoming more difficult to obtain.[2] Further, she did not believe it was "fair to her neighbours" to have flammable laboratory materials in her home while there was a danger of wartime bombing.[2] This led to her decision to stop performing laboratory work and to concentrate more on philosophical and historical issues. Arber published work on historical botanists, including a comparison between Nehemiah Grew and Marcello Malpighi in 1942, John Ray in 1943 and Sir Joseph Banks in 1945.[7]
Arber had been introduced to the work of
In 1946 she published Goethe's Botany, a translation of Goethe's Metamorphosis of Plants (1790) and Georg Christoph Tobler's (1757–1812) Die Natur with an introduction and interpretation of the texts.The Natural Philosophy of Plant Form, published in 1950 has been considered the most important of Arber's books.
Her studies on the philosophy of plant morphology led her to take a broader view of the links between science and philosophy.[4] The Mind and the Eye: A Biologist's Standpoint published in 1954 provides an introduction to biological research and develops a methodology for performing this research. Arber describes research as taking place in six stages: the identification of research question or topic; the collection of data through experiments or observation; the interpretation of the data; testing the validity of the interpretation; communicating the results; and considering the research in context. For Arber, the context includes interpreting the result in terms of history and philosophy and covers half of the book. Arber's book is distinctive in that it was written before Thomas Kuhn demonstrated that scientist's views are influenced by the views of others in their field and before Ernst Mayr's criticism of describing the philosophy of biology in the same way as the philosophy of physics.[7]
Her final book, The Manifold and the One published in 1957 is concerned with wider philosophical questions. The book is a wide-ranging and syncretic survey, drawing on literary, scientific, religious, mystical and philosophical traditions, incorporating Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist philosophy with European philosophy.,[4] in pursuit of a discussion of the mystical experience which Arber defines as "that direct and unmediated contemplation which is characterised by a peculiarly intense awareness of a Whole as the Unity of all things".[11]
Recognition and awards
In 1921 she accepted the annual position as president of the botany section of the
In 1946 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. She was the first woman botanist and third woman overall to receive this honor.[2] In 1948 she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society of London.[4]
Legacy
In February 1961, Muriel Arber donated some of her mother's surviving materials to the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation.[2]
A
Selected publications
- Arber, Agnes (1912). Herbals: their origin and evolution. A chapter in the history of botany, 1470–1670 (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Arber, Agnes (1938) [1912 (reissue 1953)]. Herbals: their origin and evolution. A chapter in the history of botany, 1470–1670 (2nd ed.). ISBN 978-1-108-01671-1.
- Arber, Agnes (1986) [1912; 2nd ed. 1938]. ISBN 978-0-521-33879-0.
- Arber, Agnes (1938) [1912 (reissue 1953)]. Herbals: their origin and evolution. A chapter in the history of botany, 1470–1670 (2nd ed.).
- Arber, A. (1920). Water Plants: A Study of Aquatic Angiosperms. Cambridge. .
- Arber, Agnes (1925). Monocotyledons: a morphological study. ISBN 9781108013208.
- Arber, A. (1934). The Gramineae. Cambridge.
- Arber, Agnes (1950). The Natural Philosophy of Plant Form. CUP Archive. GGKEY:HCBB8RZREL4.
- Arber, A. (1954). The Mind and The Eye. Cambridge.
- Arber, A. (1957). The Manifold and the One. John Murray.
See also
- Dorothea Pertz, for whom Agnes Arber wrote an obituary
References
- ^ a b Friend 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Schmid 2001.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hanshaw Thomas, H. (1960) "Agnes Arber, 1879–1960 Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society Vol.6 (November 1960).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Packer, K. (1997) Notes and records on the Royal Society of London Vol. 51, No. 1
- ^ Wylie, R.B (1922) 'Review: Biology of Aquatic Plants' Botanical Gazette, Vol.74, No.2
- ^ Arber, A. (1934) The Gramineae
- ^ a b Flannery, M "Arber". Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010. 'The Many Sides of Agnes Arber'
- ^ DeBakcsy, Dale (17 October 2018). "Bringing Teleology Back: Agnes Arber's Neo-Aristotelian Plant Morphology". Women You Should Know. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ Agnes, A. (1950) 'The Natural Philosophy of Plant Form'
- ^ Hofer, et al (2001) 'Genetic Control of Leaf Morphology: A Partial View' Annals of Botany Vol. 88
- ^ Arber, A. (1957). The Manifold and the One, p. 14
- ^ a b "Arber, Agnes (1879-1960)". English Heritage. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ "Agnes Arber Gin".
- ^ International Plant Names Index. A.Arber.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
- Special issue dedicated to Agnes Arber: Annals of Botany, December 2001, Vol.88 No.6
- Schmid, R. (December 2001). "Agnes Arber, née Robertson (1879–1960): Fragments of her Life, Including her Place in Biology and in Women's Studies". .
- JSTOR 1217828.
- Friend, Peter (2012). "Muriel Agnes Arber, 1913–2004" (Obituary). The Geological Society. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
- Schmid, Rudi (May 2008). "Agnes Arber and other early women botanists". Retrieved 9 February 2017.
- "Pictures of Agnes Arber and her associates". www.rudischmid.com. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- Arber, Muriel A.; Stearn, William T. (1 January 1968). "List of published works of Agnes Arber, E. A.N. Arber and Ethel Sargant". ISSN 0037-9778. Biographical notes by W. T. Stearn
External links
- Media related to Agnes Arber at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by Agnes Arber at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Agnes Arber at Wikisource