George Smith (15 December 1895 – 29 March 1967) was a British
mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...
. Born in
Great Harwood
Great Harwood is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, located north east of Blackburn and adjacent to the Ribble Valley. Great Harwood is the major conurbation of the 'Three Towns'; the three towns being Great Harwood, Clayton- ...
(
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, England), he graduated from the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
in 1916 with
first-class honours
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
, and received his
Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in chemistry two years later. After starting a laboratory with the textile manufacturing company Boardman and Baron Ltd. in 1919, he began to study the
mildew
Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mould, largely by its colour: moulds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consi ...
and
moulds that grew on goods made from cotton.
Smith began employment as a research assistant to
Harold Raistrick in 1930 with the Biochemistry Department of the
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.
The inst ...
, and worked there until his retirement in 1961. He is known for his
monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
s on the fungal genera ''
Paecilomyces
''Paecilomyces'' is a genus of fungi. A number of species in this genus are plant pathogens.
Several of the entomopathogenic species, such as "'' Paecilomyces fumosoroseus''" have now been placed in the genus ''Isaria'': in the order Hypocreale ...
'' and ''
Scopulariopsis
''Scopulariopsis'' is a genus of teleomorph, anamorph and holomorph, anamorphic fungi that are saprobic and pathogenic to animals. The widespread genus contains 22 species. ''Scopulariopsis'' belongs to the group Hyphomycetes. These species are c ...
''. Smith also wrote a popular textbook, ''Introduction to Industrial Mycology'', first published in 1939, that was reprinted six times. Smith was the President of the
British Mycological Society
The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi.
Formation
The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Field ...
in 1945, and its foray secretary in 1947 and in 1951–52.
Selected publications
Articles
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Books and monographs
*
**
**
**
**
*
*
Taxa described
*''
Aspergillus brevipes'' (1952)
*''
Aspergillus parrulus'' (1961)
*''
Aspergillus restrictus'' (1931)
*''
Phialophora calyciformis'' (1962)
*''
Polypaecilum'' (1961)
See also
*
List of mycologists
This is a non-exhaustive list of mycologists, or scientists with a specialisation in mycology, with their author abbreviations. Because the study of lichens is traditionally considered a branch of mycology, lichenologists are included in this lis ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, George
1895 births
1967 deaths
British Mycological Society
English mycologists
Alumni of the University of Manchester