- This article is about the German botanist, not to be confused with Ernst Mayr, German Communist leader Ernst Meyer (German politician) (1887-1930), or Swedish politician Ernst Meyer (Swedish politician) (1847-1925).
Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer (1 January 1791
Hanover,
Brunswick-Lüneburg – 7 August 1858
Königsberg,
East Prussia) was a German
botanist and botanical historian. Born in
Hanover, he lectured in
Göttingen and in 1826 became a professor of botany at the
University of Königsberg, as well as Director of the Botanical Garden. His botanical specialty was the
Juncaceae, or family of rushes. His major work was the four-volume
Geschichte der Botanik (“History of Botany,” 1854–57). His history covered ancient authorities such as
Aristotle and
Theophrastus, explored the beginnings of modern botany in the context of
15th- and 16th-century intellectual practice, and offered a wealth of biographical data on
early modern botanists.
Julius von Sachs pronounced him “no great botanist” but admitted that he “possessed a clever and cultivated intellect.”
