East African Plant Collectors |
East African Plant Collectors: Journal Reviews As the title suggests, this book presents information on all 2,700 botanical collectors known to have worked in East Africa, in alphabetical order. What the title does not tell you is the sheer staggering volume of information presented: personal histories, stories behind collecting trips, who travelled with whom and why, exact collecting localities and the corresponding number series, lists of species named after each collector, publication lists, all interspersed with line drawings of species named after each collector, snapshots of book covers and photographs and route maps….Work towards this book …. grew into a labour of love that really deserves a title like ‘Encyclopaedia of East African botany, told through the stories of plant collectors, and plants that bear their names’. Maria S. Vorontsova in Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 279: 545 (2015). Plant taxonomists and other botanists working on plant species and herbarium material from East Africa should buy the East African Plant Collectors and consult it to properly understand the material they work with. Diana and Roger Polhill are to be congratulated on the publication of such a useful and fascinating book, written after the detailed scrutiny of so many sources. For herbarium taxonomists, for those with an interest in East African exploration and those with a general interest in the history of botany, this book is essential. Ib Friis in Kew Bull. (2015) 70:59. The completion of the FTEA was a remarkable accomplishment and one that should make Kew and its collaborators proud. ….East African plant collectors is a fitting capstone to this amazing project but also hopefully is a beginning for learning more about the East African flora. Laurence J. Dorr in Taxon 64: 1085–1086 (2015). |
Some Personal Tributes
I read through the book last night and really enjoyed it, like catching up with old friends. I was amazed at just how many people I know or had known since starting at Kew 41 years ago …..sincere congratulations on a marvellous production. Dr Phil Cribb, Research Fellow and formerly Deputy Keeper of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Congratulations on a fine piece of work! It is a wonderful record and I shall look forward to reading about all those I remember from the old days in East Africa. Do hope the publication does well. Jocelyn Hemming, former wife of Chris Hemming, both of Desert Locust Survey, East Africa.
I am amazed at the amount of research you have put into it and it is a beautifully presented book. John Leonhardt, former Head of Biology Department, St Joseph’s College, Chidya, Tanzania.
And what a superb publication to celebrate! The mind boggles at the amount of work that has gone into it. It's one of those books that one can dip into and then be led on to other pieces almost ad infinitum. Dr Mike Lock, Research Fellow, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
I have spent many nostalgic hours reading my way through from front to back, reawakening so many wonderful memories of so many friends and characters we have all had the pleasure to know and work with over the years. It has been a feast of pleasure and laughs of so many times. You have both given us all a most 'loving and caring' image of a bygone age sadly never likely to return, but now recorded for ever in your careful pen pictures! Thank you, on all our behalfs! Professor Gren Lucas, formerly Keeper of the Herbarium and Acting Director of Kew.
The book is beautifully produced and is a true labour of love on your parts. I have edited several books and know what’s involved. But I have never edited anything as comprehensive as this one. Congratulations. As we read it we discover many of our friends and colleagues which is very gratifying. Professor Vernon Reynolds, Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford
It is an honour to be included with such a number of illustrious collectors. The book must represent a massive amount of work and I have found many of the entries intriguing and highly informative. The 19th and early 20th century contributors were fascinating, and it was good to see so many and such a lot of detail on the East African collectors (some of whom I am pleased to see were my ex-students). Well done. Ian Thomas, formerly Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow, University of Dar es Salaam.
I read through the book last night and really enjoyed it, like catching up with old friends. I was amazed at just how many people I know or had known since starting at Kew 41 years ago …..sincere congratulations on a marvellous production. Dr Phil Cribb, Research Fellow and formerly Deputy Keeper of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Congratulations on a fine piece of work! It is a wonderful record and I shall look forward to reading about all those I remember from the old days in East Africa. Do hope the publication does well. Jocelyn Hemming, former wife of Chris Hemming, both of Desert Locust Survey, East Africa.
I am amazed at the amount of research you have put into it and it is a beautifully presented book. John Leonhardt, former Head of Biology Department, St Joseph’s College, Chidya, Tanzania.
And what a superb publication to celebrate! The mind boggles at the amount of work that has gone into it. It's one of those books that one can dip into and then be led on to other pieces almost ad infinitum. Dr Mike Lock, Research Fellow, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
I have spent many nostalgic hours reading my way through from front to back, reawakening so many wonderful memories of so many friends and characters we have all had the pleasure to know and work with over the years. It has been a feast of pleasure and laughs of so many times. You have both given us all a most 'loving and caring' image of a bygone age sadly never likely to return, but now recorded for ever in your careful pen pictures! Thank you, on all our behalfs! Professor Gren Lucas, formerly Keeper of the Herbarium and Acting Director of Kew.
The book is beautifully produced and is a true labour of love on your parts. I have edited several books and know what’s involved. But I have never edited anything as comprehensive as this one. Congratulations. As we read it we discover many of our friends and colleagues which is very gratifying. Professor Vernon Reynolds, Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford
It is an honour to be included with such a number of illustrious collectors. The book must represent a massive amount of work and I have found many of the entries intriguing and highly informative. The 19th and early 20th century contributors were fascinating, and it was good to see so many and such a lot of detail on the East African collectors (some of whom I am pleased to see were my ex-students). Well done. Ian Thomas, formerly Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow, University of Dar es Salaam.