“History needs to be constantly re-written –not in order to supersede the work of earlier historians, itself a permanent part of history– but to enlarge their vision with the new material and the unique illumination provided by later experience.”
A.G. Morton, “History of Botanical Science”
The history of botany has many colorful facets, the study of which throws light on the sources of its evolution. Botany is indeed embedded in human history, from its origin in two of the most ancient sciences of all, magic and medicine, through its long association with pharmacology, agriculture and horticulture, to its part in the exploration of the world, and in ensuring the supply of food and raw materials for the rise and maintenance of modern industrial society. Botany has drawn strength from other disciplines, and contributed to them in return; and at various stages has reflected in its thought the philosophical currents of the time. Nonetheless, before everything, botany is the creation of botanists: knowledge of their lives and tribulations, their characters and motives, are part of the fabric of its history.
Our aim is to re-narrate some “botanical” stories from a more distinct angle: that is, an anthology of unique stories about those women who had contributed to the scientific study of plants, but also of those who represented plants, trees and flowers through their mythical metamorphoses. We call it: Women in Green.
Either real or fictional, all these stories will revive the beauty of the scientia amabilis.
