Each person closely interacts with the world of wildlife and is himself part of it. And if in general biology studies the laws of the living world, then the plant is in the field of botany as an integral part of it.
Why plant science is called botany
Plants were in the sphere of human interests long before the formation of botany as a science, since ancient times. The study of flora was directly related to the issue of survival: plants are food, building materials, material for making clothes, medicine and (in no case should be forgotten) dangerous poisons. The accumulated knowledge and observations required systematization. So there was a need for the formation of plant science.
In search of an answer to the question why the science of plants is called botany, we need to go back centuries, because this teaching is one of the oldest in the world of natural sciences. The botanist (the science of plants) finally acquired the form of a harmonious knowledge system in the period of the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries.
The name of science, like many others, has Greek roots. It comes from the ancient Greek "botane". This word had several meanings, in the meaning of "pasture", "feed" was used no less often than in the meaning of "plant", "grass". It included everything that could be considered a plant: flowers, mushrooms, algae, trees, mosses and lichens. The word "botany" is a derivative of "botane", it meant everything that related to plants. That is, literally: botany is the science of plants. Therefore, wondering why the science of plants is called botany, the answer must be sought in the Greek sources of systematizing knowledge of the plant world in the form of science.
The origin of botany as a science
Aristotle, in his great work on animals, also announced a similar scientific work on plants. It is not known for certain whether it is finished or not. Only some of its fragments have survived to this day. Therefore, by right, the founding father of botany as a science is Theophrastus, the author of two fundamental works that became the basis of botany for the next 1500 years. And in the modern world, the value of knowledge set forth by Theophrastus in his writings is undeniable. This is the answer to the question of why the science of plants is called botany. The Greek philosopher could not name it otherwise.
But research in the field of botany is not limited only to the achievements of Western civilization. China also contributed significantly, perhaps there was an exchange of scientific achievements, given the functioning of the Silk Road.
History of Botany
The science of botany in its modern conception originated in the era of colonialism as an area of research by farmers of herbs and trees common in the region, as well as plants that people brought with them from distant wanderings. But a person’s deep interest in flora begins its history from the time of the Neolithic. People not only tried to determine the medicinal properties of plants, the growing season, edibility, resistance to low-temperature climatic conditions, productivity and nutritional properties, but also to preserve this knowledge.
Before the advent of botany as a science, man had already studied plants from a scientific point of view. This circumstance explains not only the widespread use by people from ancient times of the medicinal properties of plants grown in the wild. Since the time of the Bronze Era, the practice of growing cultivated plants has been widely used.
A new stage in the development of science - new knowledge
At the end of the 16th century, a microscope was invented, which determined the beginning of a special stage in the development of botany, opened previously unknown new possibilities in the study of plants, spores and even pollen. Then science took a step further, opening the veil in matters of reproduction, metabolism, previously closed to humans.
Botany developed in close connection with the development of biology as a whole. As a result of scientific research, the whole living world was divided into kingdoms:
- bacteria
- mushrooms;
- plants;
- animals.
Botany is exploring the realm of bacteria, fungi and plants. The development of botany as a science was of tremendous importance. But at the dawn of its inception, people were engaged in plants on their own, and most of the botanical gardens that were especially common in the Western world were devoted to the classification, labeling and trade of seeds. And only after centuries they became the most important research centers.
Kingdom of plants
Plants can be found everywhere: on land (meadows, steppes, fields, forests, mountains), in water (in fresh water, lakes and rivers, in marshy areas, in the seas and oceans). Almost all plants are characterized by a fixed way of life, the ability to convert solar energy into organic compounds, have rich chlorophyll reserves, process carbon dioxide into oxygen, for which the planet’s vegetation is called the lungs of the Earth.
Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, many plants are among the rare or endangered, and this list is only updated every year. Many representatives paid for their beauty: people, without thinking about how much harm is done to nature, blasphemously destroy plants for the sake of a one-day bouquet. Such a bitter fate befell the forest lilies of the valley, water lilies, sleep-grass.
To protect rare plant species from extinction, they are listed in the Red Book and protected at the legislative level. The science of plants serves as the foundation of knowledge for this paper. And now this is our common task - to preserve the flora for future generations so that both our children and grandchildren can see the unique beauty of the plant world that we were lucky to see.