Dr Dukinfield Henry Scott FRS H

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

LLD (28 November 1854 – 29 January 1934) was a British

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Biography

Scott was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 28 November 1854, the fifth and youngest son of architect Sir

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

and his wife Caroline Oldrid. Scott studied Natural Sciences at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, graduating with his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

, and then as a postgraduate at

Würzburg University Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

in Germany, where he studied under the famous botanist

Julius von Sachs Julius von Sachs (; 2 October 1832 – 29 May 1897) was a German botanist from Breslau, Prussian Silesia. He is considered the founder of experimental plant physiology and co-founder of modern water culture. Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop a ...

, and earned his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

. In 1882, Scott was appointed Assistant to the Professor of Botany at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, and in 1885 as Assistant Professor in Biology (Botany) at the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

, South Kensington. He was the first lecturer in botany at University College who allowed women to attend his classes. One of his most brilliant students was

Harold Wager Harold William Taylor Wager FRS (11 March 1862 – 17 November 1929) was a British botanist and mycologist. He was the uncle of the geologist Lawrence Rickard Wager. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1904. He was President of th ...

, who went on to become a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1904. In 1892, Scott was appointed the first Keeper of the

Jodrell Laboratory Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...

at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

, a position he held for fourteen years until 1906, under the Directorship of the botanist

William Turner Thiselton-Dyer Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (28 July 1843 – 23 December 1928) was a leading British botanist, and the third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Life and career Thiselton-Dyer was born in Westminster, London. He was a son of ...

, one of his early mentors. He moved with his family to East Oakley House near

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in 1906. He continued to research and publish from there until his death. Throughout his life, Scott published many books and papers on botany and palaeobotany in scientific journals. He worked closely with specialists in

paleobotany Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...

such as

William Crawford Williamson William Crawford Williamson (24 November 1816 – 23 June 1895) was an English Naturalist and Palaeobotanist. Early life Williamson was born at Scarborough, North Yorkshire, the son of John Williamson, and Elizabeth Crawford. His father, a ...

and Francis Wall Oliver. He supported the education of women and was the first lecturer in botany at University College who allowed women to attend his classes. In addition to his research, Scott provided considerable service to the wider scientific community. He was General Secretary of the British Association from 1900 to 1903, and President of the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the society gained it ...

from 1904 to 1906. He was the Botanical Secretary of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

from 1902 to 1908 and its President from 1908 to 1912. He was President of the Palseobotanical Section of the International Botanical Congress at Cambridge in 1930. Scott received many awards and honours. He was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

in 1916 and a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in June 1894. In 1930 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. He was awarded the

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

of the Royal Society in 1906, the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

of the Linnean Society in 1921, the

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

of the Royal Society in 1926 and the

Wollaston Medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London. The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), t ...

of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1928. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science of Manchester University, a Doctor of Laws in Aberdeen, and Honorary or Corresponding Membership of many foreign academies, including the French Academy of Sciences.

Family

In 1887 he married Henderina Victoria Klaassen (d.1929), who had been one of his first students (d.1929). She continued to carry out research after their marriage, and also provided illustrations and indexes for some of his books and catalogued his collection of fossil slides. They had seven children, one of whom died in infancy..

Selected publications

*Scott, Dukinfield Henry (1894, 1896.) ''An Introduction to Structural Biology''. (2 volumes). * *

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Dukinfield Henry 1854 births 1934 deaths Botanists active in Kew Gardens Royal Medal winners Dukinfield Henry Wollaston Medal winners Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala