1627-1705

British Botanist and Zoologist

Afounding figure in British botany and zoology, John Ray made extensive classifications of flowering and nonflowering plants and laid the groundwork for the field of taxonomy and other evolutionary studies. The seventeenth-century naturalist is often referred to as the father of natural history in Britain.

Ray was born on November 29, 1627, in the village of Black Notley, Essex, England. His father was a village blacksmith. Many speculate that Ray gained his love of plants from his mother, who was an herbalist. After studying at Cambridge and Trinity universities, Ray traveled throughout England and once to Europe to collect plants, animals, and rocks. He began to document his samples and established specimens in his college garden. The naturalist conducted experimental work in embryology and plant physiology and proved that the wood of a living tree conducts water. Ray's fascination with living and extinct...