William Whigham Fletcher (11 August 1918 – 4 April 2001) was a Scottish biologist and academic author. He was Professor of Botany at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. He specialised in crop protection and was one of the first to study the environmental impact of herbicides.

Life

Fletcher was born on 11 September 1918. He was brought up in

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Airdrie (; sco, Airdrie; gd, An t-Àrd Ruigh) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft (130 m) above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow city centre. , the town had a ...

and was both school captain and

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

of Airdrie Academy. In 1937 he went to

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

to study Botany. As with many his studies were interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He saw the war coming and joined the Territorial Army in the summer of 1939. Due to this he was immediately mobilised at the outbreak of war and served in first the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

and then the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, serving in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. He resumed his studies in 1945 and graduated in 1947. He then did postgraduate studies at both Glasgow University under Prof Carl Browning, Lodz University in central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in USA, gaining his doctorate (PhD). In 1952 he was appointed Head of Botany at the West of Scotland Agricultural College and in 1962 became Senior Lecturer at Glasgow's Royal College of Science and Technology (later renamed Strathclyde University). In 1966 he became their first Professor of Botany. In 1967 he was elected a 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 ...

. His proposers were John Hawthorn,

Peter Pauson Prof Peter Ludwig Israel Pauson FRSE FRIC (1925–2013) was a German–Jewish emigrant who settled in Britain and who is remembered for his contributions to chemistry, most notably the Pauson–Khand reaction and as joint discoverer of ferrocene ...

Donald Pack Prof Donald Cecil Pack CBE FRSE FEIS FIMA (1920–2016) was a 20th-century British mathematician who worked on supersonic airflows. He was one of the persons responsible for Strathclyde University receiving its university status and was its V ...

and Patrick Dunbar Ritchie. He served as the Society's Vice President 1983 to 1986. He died on 4 April 2001.

Publications

*''The Pest War'' (1974) *''Flowers of Glasgow'' *''Poisonous Plants of South-West Scotland'' *''The Flora of

Great Cumbrae Great Cumbrae ( sco, Muckle Cumbrae; gd, Cumaradh Mòr; also known as Great Cumbrae Island, Cumbrae or the Isle of Cumbrae) is the larger of the two islands known as The Cumbraes in the lower Firth of Clyde in western Scotland. The island is s ...

Island'' *''Herbicides and Plant Growth Regulators'' *''Bracken and its Control'' *''Modern Man Looks at Evolution'' (1974) *''Energy Resources and the Environment'' (1976) *''Food, Agriculture and the Environment'' (1976) *''Health and the Environment'' (1976) *''Reclamation'' (1976) *''Marine Environment'' (1977) *''Built Environment'' (1978) *''Chemical Environment'' (1978) *''Economics of the Environment'' (1979) *''Biological Environment'' (1979)

References

1918 births 2001 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish biologists Scottish non-fiction writers People educated at Airdrie Academy People from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire 20th-century biologists British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Military personnel from Lanarkshire {{biologist-stub