Nature as the Laboratory

A 1990 account of the botanical reform movement and its pioneering contribution to ecological science.

Preface; Introduction; 1. Botany in Germany, 1850-80: the making of a science and a profession; 2. Schwendener and Haberlandt: the birth of physiological plant anatomy; 3. Overtures to Darwinism; 4. Schwendener's circle: botanical 'comrades-in-arms'; 5. Physiological anatomy beyond the Reich; 6. Beyond Schwendener's circle: Ernst Stahl; 7. Schimper and Schenck: from Bonn to Brazil; 8. Teleology revisited? natural selection and plant adaptation; 9. The colonial connection: imperialism and plant adaptation; 10. Toward a science of plant ecology; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.