George Newton Best
George Newton Best | |
---|---|
Born | October 16, 1846 Round Valley, Clinton Township, New Jersey |
Died | June 18, 1926 (1926-06-19) (aged 79) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
Known for | Plant taxonomy |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Bryology, Medicine |
Institutions | Riegelsville High School |
Author abbrev. (botany) | Best |
George Newton Best (October 16, 1846 – June 18, 1926) was an American bryologist, expert on moss taxonomy, and second president of the Sullivant Moss Society.[1][2]
Biography
Best attended Lafayette College for three years before leaving to teach high school in Riegelsville, Pennsylvania. He resumed his education at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in medicine in 1875. He took up his medical practice in the Rosemont section of Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.[2]
Best was also a prominent bryologist, contributing often to Torrey Botanical Club publications. He was instrumental in revising and reclassifying many moss genera, including Thuidium, Claopodium, Heterocladium, Leskea, and Pseudoleskea.[3]
Best served as associate editor of The Bryologist from 1911 until his death, and as president of the Sullivant Moss Society from 1901 to 1902.[1][4] Best was also a member of the Medical Society of New Jersey, American Medical Association, and Torrey Botanical Club. He died on June 18, 1926.[5]
Legacy
Best's personal herbarium of mosses and publications were absorbed into the collection of the New York Botanical Garden.[5]
In 1906, botanist Broth. published Bestia, which is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Lembophyllaceae and it was named in George Newton Best's honour.[6]
Selected publications
- Best, G. (1896). Revision of the North American Thuidiums. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 23(3), 78–90. doi:10.2307/2478118
- Best, G. (1897). Revision of the Claopodiums. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 24(9), 427–432. doi:10.2307/2477924
- Best, G. (1900). Revision of the North American Species of Pseudoleskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 27(5), 221–236. doi:10.2307/2485378
- Best, G. (1901). Revision of the North American Species of Heterocladium. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 28(2), 123–131. doi:10.2307/2477888
- Best, G. (1901). Vegetative Reproduction of Mosses. The Bryologist, 4(1), 1º3. doi:10.2307/3238870
- Best, G. (1903). Revision of the North American Species of Leskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 30(9), 463–482. doi:10.2307/2478535
The standard author abbreviation Best is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[7]
References
- ^ a b Presidents of ABLS, The American Bryological and Lichenological Society, retrieved 2019-09-28.
- ^ a b Snell, James P., and Franklin Ellis. History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey: with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Everts & Peck, 1881.
- ^ Leonard, John W., and Albert N. Marquis. Who's who in America, Volumes 2-4. Marquis Who's Who, 1906.
- ^ Smith, Annie Morrill. The Early History of the Bryologist and the Sullivant Moss Society. The Bryologist, vol. 20, no. 1, 1917, pp. 1–8. JSTOR 3238019
- ^ a b Beals, A. T. Dr. George N. Best, 1846-1926. The Bryologist, vol. 30, no. 2, 1927, pp. 20–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3238332
- ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. S2CID 246307410. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Best.
- v
- t
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- Abel Joel Grout (1899–1900)
- George Newton Best (1901–1902)
- John Michael Holzinger (1903–1904)
- Edward Blanchard Chamberlain (1905–1907)
- Theodore Christian Frye (1908–1909)
- Bruce Fink (1910)
- Alexander William Evans (1911–1915)
- Elizabeth Gertrude Britton (1916–1919)
- Annie Morrill Smith (1920–1921)
- Albert LeRoy Andrews (1922–1923)
- Robert Statham Williams (1924–1930)
- Edwin Bunting Bartram (1931–1932)
- Aaron John Sharp (1933–1935)
- William Campbell Steere (1936–1937)
- George Elwood Nichols (1938–1939)
- Hugo Leander Blomquist (1940–1941)
- Henry Shoemaker Conard (1942–1945)
- Richard T. Wareham (1946–1947)
- Paul Morrison Patterson (1948–1949)
- Lewis Edward Anderson (1950–1951)
- Geneva Sayre (1952–1953)
- Winona H. Welch (1954–1955)
- Ruth Schornherst Breen (1956–1957)
- John Walter Thomson (1958–1959)
- Roy Franklin Cain (1960–1961)
- Betty Wilson Higinbotham (1962)
- Howard Alvin Crum (1962–1963)
- Harvey A. Miller (1964–1965)
- Seville Flowers (1965–1967)
- Wilfred B. Schofield (1967–1969)
- William Alfred Weber (1969–1970)
- Paul Leslie Redfearn (1971–1973)
- Emanuel David Rudolph (1974–1975)
- Ronald A. Pursell (1975–1977)
- Irwin M. Brodo (1977–1979)
- William D. Reese (1979–1981)
- Thomas Hawkes Nash III (1981–1983)
- Norton G. Miller (1985–1987)
- William Louis Culberson (1987–1989)
- Dale H. Vitt (1989–1991)
- Vernon Ahmadjian (1992–1993)
- Barbara J. Crandall-Stotler (1993–1995)
- Chicita Frances Culberson (1995–1997)
- Brent D. Mishler (1997–1999)
- Robert S. Egan (1999–2001)
- William Russel Buck (2001–2003)
- James Donald Lawrey (2003–2005)
- Nancy G. Slack (2005–2007)
- Theodore Lee Esslinger (2007–2009)
- Karen S. Renzaglia (2009–2011)
- Roger Rosentreter (2011–2013)
- A. Jonathan Shaw (2013–2015)
- Larry L. St. Clair (2015–2017)
- Catherine La Farge (2017–2019)
- Doug Ladd (2019–2021)
- Scott Schuette (2021-2023)