EH - Agriculture and Agronomy

2006

EH — Agriculture and Agronomy

Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte der Pflanzenzüchtung [Biographical Dictionary of the History of Plant Breeding]. Ed. Gerhard Röbbelen. Göttingen: Gesellschaft für Pflanzenzüchtung. 24 cm. (Vorträge für Pflanzenzüchtung, ...). (Gesellschaft …, Von-Siebold-Str. 8, D-37075 Göttingen, e-mail: info@gpz-online.de) [06-2-387]

Part 1. 2000. 362 p. ill. (... , 50). EUR 22.50

Part 2. 2002. 392 p. ill. (... , 55). EUR 25

Part 3. With a cumulative index to all biographies of parts 1-3. 2004. x, 268 p. ill. (... , 66). EUR 22.50

This three-volume biographical dictionary contains approximately 1,100 short biographies of plant breeders of the German-speaking countries from the 18th century onward. Most, of course, lived in the 20th century and many supplied their own biographies (these are designated with the initials of the writer). Each article attempts to cover the following categories for the scientist: name, job title, birth and death dates (and places), a black-and-white photo, education, career path, key accomplishments, honors and awards received, publications. Sources for this information, if not supplied by the scientists themselves, were festschriften, obituaries or in the case of the most important scientists, the Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte des Pflanzenbaus (München, 1997—see RREA 9:355). Some entries are not very complete, and in fact the cumulative index in Part 3 contains 270 names that have no entry at all due to insufficient data. The index is more than just a finding aid: it is made up of several columns listing in tabular form the scientists’ dates, main location or final location of their activity, type of activity (practical, research, sponsor), and plant varieties. It would have been useful also to have an index of the plant names keyed to the responsible breeder. [sh/hh]

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