Asa Gray

Asa Gray ( born November 18, 1810 in Paris, New York, † January 30, 1888 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American botanist.

Life and work

Gray was born in Sauquoit, New York and in 1831 a doctor of medicine. He was a pupil of John Torrey, with whom he worked closely. Both published the book Flora of North America. 1838 Gray professor at the newly founded University of Michigan. From 1842 to 1873 he was professor of natural history at Harvard University. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " A.Gray ".

Gray and Charles Darwin shared a lifelong friendship. They first met at Kew, introduced to each other they had Joseph Dalton Hooker. When Darwin 's thoughts Alfred Russel Wallace on " natural selection " read, he exchanged views with Gray from about Wallace and his own ideas. Gray organized the first publication of Darwin's significant work On the Origin of Species and managed its royalties in the USA. Darwin Gray devoted his book Forms of Flowers (1877 ).

Honors

The Journal Asa Gray Bulletin (1893-1901, 1952-1961) is named after him, as is the Gray Herbarium and the Gray's Peak, a mountain in the U.S. state of Colorado. Since 1984, the Asa Gray Award, the highest award of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, awarded to deserving botanist.

Writings (selection )

• A Flora of North America. 2 volumes, Wiley & Putnam, New York 1838 -, (online). - With John Torrey
• Plantae Lindheimerianae: An Enumeration of the Plants collected in Texas, and distributed to Subscribers, by F. Lindheimer, with Remarks, and descriptions of new species, & c. In: Boston Journal of Natural History. Volume 5, 1845, pp. 210-264, (online) - with George Engelmann.
• Plantae Lindheimerianae, Part II An Account of a Collection of of Plants made ​​by F. Lindheimer in the Western part of Texas, in the Years 1845-6, and 1847-8, with Critical Remarks, descriptions of new species, & c .. In: Boston Journal of Natural History. Volume 6, 1850, pp. 141-240, (online).
• A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States. , 1848.
• Genera Boreali - orientalis florae Americae illustrata. From 1848 to 1849.
• Plantae Fendlerianae Novi - Mexicanae: An Account of a Collection of Plants made ​​chiefly in the Vicinity of Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Augustus Fendler; with Descriptions of the New Species, Critical Remarks, and Characters of other undescribed or little known Plants from surrounding regions. Boston 1848 (online).
• Plantae Wrightianae texano -neo - mexicanae: An account of a collection of plants made ​​by Charles Wright. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1852-1853, (online).
• Synoptical Flora of North America. 1878-1897 - completed by Benjamin Lincoln Robinson.
• Contributions to North American Botany. In: Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ". Volume 1-23, 1846-1888.