GREW, Nehemiah.

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The Anatomy of Plants. First complete edition of the first textbook on the subject. It is "the chief work which gained [Grew] the reputation of one of the most distinguished scientists of the 17th century" (Hunt). These observations were among the earliest to employ a microscope to investigate internal plant anatomy.This edition combines and revises three of Grew's treatises: The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun (1672), An Idea of a Phytological History Propounded (1673), and The Comparative Anatomy of Trunks (1675). "Grew's pioneering investigations into how organs and tissues are formed during plant growth led to the conception of the plant as a coordinated developing structure and marked the beginning of efforts to link structure and development. He related plant morphology to underlying principles of anatomical structure [and] demonstrated that plants have a characteristic ordered inner structure (illustrated in his accurate and beautiful plates)" (Norman). Grew also correctly conjectured that stamens were the male organs of plants and provided the first microscopic description of pollen.Along with his Musaeum Regalis Societatis (1681), The Anatomy of Plants "marked the climax of Grew's active career as a scientist; both books were lavishly illustrated with engravings paid for by subscription, and they were among the first scientific books to be published in England in this way" (ODNB).

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