Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw (7 April 1902 – 1985) was a notable

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

botanist and

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. Airy Shaw was born at The Mount, Grange Road,

Woodbridge, Suffolk Woodbridge is a port and market town in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of Ipswich and forms part of the wider Ipswich built-up area. The town is close to some major ar ...

to a father serving as Second Master at the Woodbridge Grammar School and a mother descended from

George Biddell Airy Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the ...

, Astronomer Royal (1835–1881). In 1921 he entered Corpus Christi College,

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, to read classics, but he switched to natural sciences, taking his degree in 1924 and finishing in 1925, then taking a position at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

. He became an expert on tropical Asian botany and on

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Selected works

* ''The Euphorbiaceae of Borneo'', Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1975. . * ''The Euphorbiaceae of New Guinea'', Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1980. . * ''A Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns'', 8th Edition. Cambridge University Press, 1973.

References

List of Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators

Obituary, H. K. Airy Shaw, 1902–1985, by A. Radcliffe-Smith and R. M. Harley
English botanists English entomologists 1902 births 1985 deaths Botanists active in Kew Gardens Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People from Woodbridge, Suffolk 20th-century British botanists 20th-century British zoologists {{UK-entomologist-stub