Botany developed as a scientific discipline gradually — from simple observations of plants in ancient times to advanced research using microscopes and genetics today.
Here’s how it evolved step by step:
1. Ancient beginnings
- Early humans studied plants mainly for food, shelter, and medicine.
- Ancient civilizations like Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, and Chinese recorded plant uses.
- In India, texts like the Rigveda and Charaka Samhita described medicinal plants.
- The Greek philosopher Theophrastus (around 300 BCE), a student of Aristotle, is known as the “Father of Botany”. He wrote books describing plant types, growth, and reproduction.
2. Middle Ages
- During this period, knowledge of plants was preserved mostly in herbal books, which described plants and their healing properties.
- Monks and scholars in Europe copied and illustrated these works to aid medicine.
3. Renaissance period (15th–17th century)
- Scientists began to study plants more carefully and draw them accurately.
- Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) introduced a system of naming and classifying plants (binomial nomenclature), which is still used today.
- The invention of the microscope helped study plant cells and tissues.
4. 19th and 20th centuries
- Botanists discovered photosynthesis, cell structure, and plant reproduction.
- Genetics and the discovery of DNA further deepened understanding of how plants inherit traits.
- New branches like plant physiology, plant ecology, and plant molecular biology developed.
5. Modern botany
- Today, botany uses biotechnology, genetic engineering, and computer modeling to study plants.
- It helps improve agriculture, environment protection, and medicine.
In short:
Botany grew from ancient knowledge of useful plants to a modern science that studies plants at the molecular, cellular, and ecological levels — combining traditional wisdom with modern technology.