Bringing science to the public: Ferdinand von Mueller and botanical education in Victorian Victoria

Abstract

Ferdinand von Mueller (1825_/96), the German-born Government Botanist of Victoria from 1853 until his death, and concurrently Director of the Melbourne Botanic Garden from 1857 until 1873, was a prolific systematic botanist, but also heavily involved in public educational activities. He conceived of the Garden as an educative place of recreation, but ultimately lost control over it. His loss did not stop his popular writing and lecturing, especially in areas related to the application of botany in horticulture, agriculture, and forestry. The structure of his introductory school text*/very different from the intensely logical grammarlike botany texts of the period*/owed much to his political ..