Hans Sloane

Sir Hans Sloane ( born April 16, 1660 in Killyleagh, † January 11, 1753 in Chelsea) was an Irish scientist, physician and botanist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Sloane ".

Life

Early on he was interested in botany and natural history. After his schooling he began to study medicine, chemistry and biology in London. Then he traveled to France, where he continued his studies in Paris and Montpellier and 1683 received his doctorate. From 1687, he undertook an extended research trip to Jamaica.

Among his acquaintances included scientists such as Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley.

On January 21, 1685 Sloane was elected to the Royal Society and in 1727 was appointed to the President, where he took the direct successor to Isaac Newton. In 1716 he received the title Sir.

Hans Sloane was an avid collector. In addition to his extensive herbarium collection includes his insects, fossils, rocks, coins, paintings and antiques from Egypt, Peru, North America and the Orient. This collection formed the basis of the British Museum in London. Named after him is also the Sloane Square. His collection of books, including the original diaries of many contemporary buccaneers and privateers, he bequeathed to the Library of the British Museum, they constitute today the Sloane Collection of the British Library.

After Sloane named taxa

Carl Linnaeus named in his honor, the genus of the plant family Sloanea Elaeocarpaceae. Pieter Cramer named the extinct Jamaican butterfly Urania sloanus by Sloane, Bloch and Schneider Viper fish Chauliodus sloani.

Writings (selection )

• Catalogus plantarum quae in insula Jamaica ... to 1696.
• Voyage to the islands Madera, Barbadoes, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica ... 1707-1725.
• Pharmacopoeia [ Pharmacopeia ] Collegii regalis medicorum Londinensis. 4th Edition, Knaplock, London 1721 ( as editor; Digitized edition )