Phoebe Lankester
Phoebe Lankester | |
|---|---|
| Born | Phoebe Pope 10 April 1825 |
| Died | 9 April 1900 (aged 74) |
| Occupation | botanist |
Phoebe Lankester (also Phebe Lankester, nee Pope; 10 April 1825 – 9 April 1900) was a British botanist known for her popular science writing, particularly on wildflowers, parasitic plants, and ferns. Her writing incorporated both technical, high-level text and writing accessible to the lay reader. She published several books, and wrote a syndicated column for more than twenty years, and lectured on science. Her husband was surgeon and naturalist Edwin Lankester, and her eldest son E. Ray Lankester became a zoologist.
Family
She was born Phoebe Pope in Highbury to Samuel Pope, a former Manchester mill owner, and his wife, on 10 April 1825.[1] She had one brother. In 1845, she married the naturalist Edwin Lankester, with whom she had eight children.[1][2] Her eldest son E. Ray Lankester became a zoologist.[1]
Writing
Lankester published her books under the name Mrs. Lankester. Her books combined scientific rigour with interesting information about traditional medicinal uses of plants.[3] She also lectured on science and for more than twenty years wrote a syndicated column on women's topics that ran in provincial newspapers.[4] Her column was written under the name of 'Penelope'. Lankester's husband was a professor of New College in London.[1] The Lankesters were known to have received Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley at their home, among other famous guests.[1]
Lankester wrote a new section on popular plant knowledge for the third (1884) edition of English Botany, a publication that had illustrations by James Sowerby and other members of the Sowerby family.[5]
Lankester died in London on 9 April 1900, predeceased by her husband, who died in 1874.[1]
Selected books
- A Plain and Easy Account of the British Ferns (1860)
- Wild Flowers Worth Notice (1879)
- Talks About Plants, Or, Early Lessons in Botany (1879)
- The National Thrift Reader (1880)
- British Ferns (1881)
References
- ^ a b c d e f Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey; Harvey, Joy Dorothy (1 January 2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780415920407.
- ^ Lightman, Bernard (1 October 1997). Victorian Science in Context. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226481128.
- ^ Way, Twigs. Virgins, Weeders and Queens: A History of Women in the Garden.
- ^ Davies, Emily. Collected Letters, 1861-1875, p. 500.
- ^ "English botany, or, Coloured figures of British plants". Biodiversity Library.