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Agnes Robertson Arber FRS (23 February 1879 – 22 March 1960) was a British plant morphologist and anatomist, historian of botany and philosopher of biology. She was born in London but lived most of her life in Cambridge, including the last 51 years of her life. She was the first woman botanist to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (21 March 1946, at the age of 67) and the third woman overall. She was the first woman to receive the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society of London (24 May 1948, at the age of 69) for her contributions to botanical science. Her scientific research focused on the monocotyledon group of flowering plants. She also contributed to development of morphological studies in botany during the early part of the 20th century. Her later work concentrated on the topic of philosophy in botany, particularly on the nature of biological research. ==Biography== Agnes Arber was born on 23 February 1879 in London. She was the first child of Henry Robertson, an artist and Agnes Lucy Turner and had three younger siblings, Donald Struan Robertson (who later became Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Cambridge) Janet Robertson who later became a portrait painter and Margaret Robertson (married name Hills) who edited Keats. Her father gave her regular drawing lessons during her early childhood, which later provided her with the necessary skills to illustrate her scientific publications herself.〔Hanshaw Thomas, H. (1960) "Agnes Arber, 1879–1960 ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'' Vol.6 (Nov 1960)〕 At the age of eight Arber began attending the North London Collegiate School founded and run by Frances Buss, one of the leading proponents for girls' education. Under the direction of the school's science teacher Miss Edith Aitken, Arber discovered a fascination with botany, publishing her first piece of research in 1894 in the school's magazine and later coming first in the school's botany examinations, winning a scholarship.〔Packer, K. (1997) ''Notes and records on the Royal Society of London'' Vol.51, No.1〕 It was here that Arber first met Ethel Sargent, a plant morphologist who gave regular presentations to the school science club. Sargent would later become her mentor and colleague, having a profound influence on Arber's research interests and methods.〔〔Schmid, R. (2001) 'Agnes Arber, nee Robertson 1879–1960: Fragments of her life, Including her Place in Biology and Women's Studies' ''Annals of Botany'' 88.〕 In 1897 Arber began studying at University College, London, gaining her B.Sc. in 1899. After gaining an entrance scholarship Arber became a member of Newnham College, Cambridge and took a further degree in Natural Sciences. She gained first class results in every examination at both universities, along with several prizes and medals from University College, London.〔 After finishing her Cambridge degree in 1902 Arber worked in the private laboratory of Ethel Sargent for a year, before returning to University College, London as holder of the Quain Studentship in Biology. She was awarded a Doctorate of Science in 1905. Agnes Arber married paleobotanist Edward Alexander Newall Arber (1870–1918), in 1909 and moved back to Cambridge, where she would remain for the rest of her life. Her only child Muriel Agnes Arber was born in 1913. Arber and her husband had many interests in common, and her marriage was described as 'happy'.〔 Arber was awarded a Research Fellowship from Newnham College in 1912 and published her first book ''Herbals, their origin and evolution'' in the same year. Her husband Newall Arber died in 1918 following a period of ill health.〔 Arber never remarried, but continued with her research. She studied in the Balfour Laboratory for Women from her marriage until the laboratory's closure in 1927. Arber maintained a small laboratory in a back room of her house from then until she stopped performing bench research in the 1940s and turned to philosophical study.〔 Agnes Arber died on 22 March 1960 at the age of 81. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Agnes Arber」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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