Lourens Gerhard Marinus Baas Becking (4 January 1895 in Deventer – 6 January 1963 in Canberra, Australia) was a Dutch botanist and microbiologist. He is known for the Baas Becking hypothesis, which he originally formulated as ''"Everything is everywhere, but the environment selects"''.

Biography

Baas Becking was born in Deventer on 4 January 1895. Baas Becking studied microbiology at

Delft University Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

before studying

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

with a focus on botany. de Wit and Bouvier (2006) p. 756 In between completing his studies in Utrecht and submitting his thesis, Baas Becking worked in the laboratory of

Thomas Hunt Morgan Thomas Hunt Morgan (September 25, 1866 – December 4, 1945) was an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist, embryologist, and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries elucidating the role that ...

in the

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. In 1923, Baas Becking accepted the position of professor at Stanford, where he taught economic botany and plant physiology. Baas Becking's studies at Stanford heavily influenced his later work by introducing him to research on

extremophile An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme temper ...

s, research he conducted himself as the director of the

Jacques Loeb Jacques Loeb (; ; April 7, 1859 – February 11, 1924) was a German-born American physiologist and biologist. Biography Jacques Loeb, firstborn son of a Jewish family from the German Eifel region, was educated at the universities of Berlin, Munic ...

Marine Laboratory in Pacific Grove. In particular, Baas Becking studied the salt lakes and methane-rich reservoirs in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Baas Becking returned to the Netherlands in 1930 as a professor of general botany at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

Quispel (1998) p. 69 and prefect (director) of the Hortus Botanicus Leiden. It was in Leiden that Baas Becking formulated the hypothesis known by his name. In 1934 he published the book ''Geobiology'' after a series of lectures in Pulchri Studio in The Hague. While in Leiden in 1940, he was appointed Director of the state-financed Botanical Garden of Buitenzorg in present-day Bogor, on the island of

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, with the intention of restoring the garden to its former glory Under his leadership, a new botanic garden branch for dry-tropical plants was opened in the town of Purwodadi in 1941. Although his family moved to Java in 1940, the Battle of the Netherlands prevented his leaving, and he remained in the Netherlands during the five-year occupation. During this time, he was twice imprisoned for trying to escape to

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. During his imprisonment, Baas Becking studied the

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spreading through his prison camp. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Baas Becking was initially prevented from beginning his work in Bogor due to the

Indonesian Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcoloni ...

. Until November 1946 he was head, with the rank of colonel, of the mobile units of the Red Cross. He moved to New Caledonia in 1948, after being appointed president of the scientific council of the South Pacific Commission. Baas Becking later worked for the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...

and Canberra. The Bureau of Mineral Resources in Canberra recognized Baas Becking's contributions by opening the Baas Becking Geobiological Laboratory. Baas Becking became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1932 and resigned in 1942. In 1945 he once again became member, in 1949 he became foreign member.

Baas Becking hypothesis

Based on his research in California's salt lakes, as well as work by others on salt lakes worldwide, Baas Becking (1934) concluded, ''"Everything is everywhere, but the environment selects"''. Baas Becking attributed the first half of this hypothesis to his colleague

Martinus Beijerinck Martinus Willem Beijerinck (, 16 March 1851 – 1 January 1931) was a Dutch microbiologist and botanist who was one of the founders of virology and environmental microbiology. He is credited with the discovery of viruses, which he called "'' ...

(1913). Staley and Gosink (1999) p. 193 Some years before, Schewiakoff (1893) also theorized about the cosmopolitan habitat of free-living protozoans. The application of this hypothesis to microorganisms, specifically to the dependence of their geographic distribution over the earth on their metabolic properties, formed the basis of Baas Becking's research program at the Hortus Botanicus Leiden. Baas Becking presented a series of lectures on the subject to the Diligentia in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, which he published as a book titled ''Geobiology'' in 1934. Quispel (1998) p. 70 Baas Becking's hypothesis is often misquoted, with the "but" missing or replaced with "and". de Wit and Bouvier (2006) p. 755

Notes

References

*Quispel (1998
"Lourens G. M. Baas Becking (1895-1963), Inspirator for many (micro)biologists"
''International Microbiology'' 1: 69-72 *Staley and Gosink (1999
"Poles Apart: Biodiversity and Biogeography of Sea Ice Bacteria"
''Annual Review of Microbiology'' 53: 189-215 *de Wit and Bouvier (2006
'Everything is everywhere,''but'', the environment selects'''; what did Baas Becking and Beijerinck really say?"">"'''Everything is everywhere,''but'', the environment selects'''; what did Baas Becking and Beijerinck really say?"
''Environmental Microbiology'' 8:4 755-758 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baas Becking, Lourens 1895 births 1963 deaths Dutch microbiologists 20th-century Dutch botanists Delft University of Technology alumni Utrecht University alumni Leiden University faculty People from Deventer Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of Teylers Tweede Genootschap Dutch expatriates in New Caledonia Dutch expatriates in France