Adanson, Michel

Adanson, Michel
born April 7, 1727, Aix-en-Provence, France
died Aug. 3, 1806, Paris

French botanist.

He studied theology, classics, and philosophy in Paris before traveling to Senegal, where he lived several years. He returned with a large collection of plant specimens, now in the National Museum of Natural History. In Families of Plants (1763), he described his classification system; it was opposed by Carolus Linnaeus, whose system eventually prevailed. He was the first to classify mollusks. He also studied electricity in torpedo fish and the effects of electrical current on regenerating frog legs and heads. He is now known mainly for introducing the use of statistical methods in botanical studies.

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▪ French botanist
born April 7, 1727, Aix-en-Provence, Fr.
died Aug. 3, 1806, Paris

      French botanist who devised a natural system of classification and nomenclature of plants, based on all their physical characteristics, with an emphasis on families.

      In 1749 Adanson left for Senegal to spend four years as an employee with the Compagnie des Indes, a trading company. He returned with a large collection of plant specimens, some of which became part of the French royal collection under the supervision of the naturalist Georges Buffon; most of them now belong to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. He published Histoire naturelle du Sénégal (1757), describing the flora of Senegal, and a survey of mollusks.

      Adanson's Familles des plantes (1763) described his classification system for plants, which was much opposed by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who had proposed his own classification system based on the reproductive organs of plants. Adanson's classification of mollusks, a group that he originally described, was based on anatomical characters. Adanson also introduced the use of statistical methods in botanical classification and studied electricity in torpedo fish and regeneration of limbs and heads in frogs and snails. Although Adanson was well known to European scientists, his system of classification was not widely successful, and it was superseded by the Linnaean system.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Adanson, Michel — Adanson, Michel, geb. 1727, gest. 1806, franz. Naturforscher, besonders Botaniker, ging 1748 an den Senegal und untersuchte diese Gegenden während 5 Jahren; ihm verdankt man die erste genauere Kenntniß jener Gegenden. Nach ihm ist der Boabab oder …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Adanson, Michel — (7 abr. 1727, Aix en Provence, Francia–3 ago. 1806, París). Botánico francés. Estudió teología, a los clásicos y filosofía en París antes de viajar a Senegal, donde vivió varios años. Volvió con una vasta colección de especímenes vegetales, que… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • ADANSON, MICHEL —    a French botanist, born in AIX, the first to attempt a natural classification of plants (1727 1806) …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Michel Adanson — Nacimiento 7 de abril 1727 Aix en Provence …   Wikipedia Español

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  • ADANSON (M.) — ADANSON MICHEL (1727 1806) Né à Aix en Provence et amené à deux ans à Paris par son père, il est élève au collège du Plessis Sorbonne, où il prend conscience de sa passion pour les sciences naturelles. Au Jardin du roi, il travaille sous la… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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  • Adanson — Adanson, Michel, geb. zu Aix 1727; studirte die Naturwissenschaften; 1748–53 bereiste er Afrika, bes. Senegambien. Der Plan, an der WKüste Afrikas eine Colonie anzulegen, u. ohne Negersklaven westindische Producte zu erzeugen, erregte die… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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