Seed Dispersal - Softcover

Beal, W J (William James)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3847215841 ISBN 13: 9783847215844

Publisher: tredition GmbH, 2012

Synopsis

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS series. The creators of this series are united by passion for literature and driven by the intention of making all public domain books available in printed format again - worldwide. At tredition we believe that a great book never goes out of style. Several mostly non-profit literature projects provide content to tredition. To support their good work, tredition donates a portion of the proceeds from each sold copy. As a reader of a TREDITION CLASSICS book, you support our mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion.

About this title

About the Author

Beal was born in Adrian, Michigan, to William and Rachel (Comstock) Beal, and he married Hannah Proud in 1863. He attended the University of Michigan, where he earned an A.B. degree in 1859 and an A.M. degree in 1862; he also received an S.B. degree from Harvard University, 1865, an M.S. degree from the University of Chicago, 1875, and a number of honorary degrees. Between 1858 and 1861 he was also teacher of Natural Sciences at Friends Academy at Union Springs, New York. He served as professor of botany at the University of Chicago in 1868-70, then went on to Michigan Agricultural College (MAC, now Michigan State University), where he was a professor of botany (1871-1910), and curator of the museum (1882-1903). While at MAC, he arranged for Liberty Hyde Bailey to work as an assistant to Asa Gray at Harvard University for two years during 1883-1884. He also served as director of the state Forestry Commission (1889-1892). Beal was the founder of MSU's W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the oldest continuously operated botanical garden in the United States. He was one of the pioneers in the development of hybrid corn. He was the author of The New Botany, Grasses of North America, and History of Michigan Agricultural College. In 1887, he and Professor Rolla C. Carpenter created "Collegeville", the first neighborhood in what later became East Lansing. He retired to Amherst, Massachusetts, and died there in 1924. In 1879 Beal started one of the longest running experiments in botany. He filled 20 bottles with a mixture of sand and seeds, with each bottle containing 50 seeds from 21 species of plant. Then the bottles were buried, their necks pointing down to exclude water. The goal of the experiment was to unearth one of the bottles every five years, plant the seeds, and observe the number that would sprout. Later caretakers extended the experiment by opening a bottle once every decade, and later, every two decades. The most recent bottle was unearthed in 2000, and 2 of the 21 plant species sprouted. The experiment is still running, with the next bottle due to be tested in 2020, with the end of the study due in 2100.

Edition details

• Publisher: tredition GmbH
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3847215841
• ISBN 13: 9783847215844
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112