Joseph Hooker (1817 - 1911)
Hooker was a particular
friend of Charles Darwin, and repeatedly urged him to publish
his theory of evolution by natural selection. He was
instrumental in having Darwin's sketch along with Alfred
Wallace's letter read before the Linnean Society in 1858, as a
prelude to Darwin's composition of the "Origin of Species"
in 1859. Hooker supported Darwin's theory with examples from
Botany, along with the American biologist Asa Gray.
Kew Gardens
Sir
Joseph was Director of Kew for twenty years. The large
green house includes a number of plants originally
imported by Sir Joseph Banks
on the 1770's Cook expeditions, including the world's
largest house plant.
Text material ©2018 by Steven M. Carr