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Edward Joseph Lowe FRS FGS FRAS FLS (11 November 1825 – 10 March 1900) was a British
botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
,
meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...
and
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
, who published papers on a wide variety of subjects, including luminous
meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...
s,
sunspot Sunspots are temporary spots on the Sun's surface that are darker than the surrounding area. They are one of the most recognizable Solar phenomena and despite the fact that they are mostly visible in the solar photosphere they usually aff ...
s, the
zodiacal light The zodiacal light (also called false dawn when seen before sunrise) is a faint glow of diffuse sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Brighter around the Sun, it appears in a particularly dark night sky to extend from the Sun's direct ...
, meteorological observations during the 1860 solar eclipse (at Fuente del Mar, near Santander),
conchology Conchology, from Ancient Greek κόγχος (''kónkhos''), meaning "cockle (bivalve), cockle", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of mollus ...
,
fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
s,
grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
es and other plants. (Obituary.)


Biography

Lowe was born in Highfield House, University Park,
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
, into a well-off family. The son of Alfred Joseph Lowe, he began his scientific observations at the age of 15. His father had a keen scientific interest, especially in relation to astronomy and meteorology, enthusiasms he passed on to his son. Lowe's interest in ferns led to his studying them. His most noted work was ''Ferns: British and Exotic'' and consisted of eight illustrated volumes published in London by Groombridge and Sons in 1856. The bookplates of which were drawn by A. F. Lydon and engraved by Benjamin Fawcett. He collaborated on observations of luminous meteors with Professor Baden Powell of Oxford. Lowe invented the dry powder test for
ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...
in the atmosphere. He was one of the founders and original Fellows of the Meteorological Society and a Fellow of the
Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...
, the
Geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...
, the Linnean, the Royal Astronomical and other learned Societies. His candidature citation for the Royal Society read: ''The Author of "A Treatise on Atmospheric Phenomena" "Prognostications of the weather or signs of atmospheric changes." "a paper on 278 thunderstorms" & the Conchology of Nottingham, & various Papers on zodiacal light, meteors, 'Solar spots, Lana & Freshwater shells &c published in the Transactions of the British Association, Royal Astronomical Society, Zoological Society- &c – The discoverer of a new method of propagating cuttings of plants by the application of collodium. Distinguished for his acquaintance with the sciences of Meteorology & Natural History. Eminent asa Meteorologist – Having Published works on that Science. – and being actively employed in the cultivation of it'' After the
Great Exhibition of 1851 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...
, plans were launched for a public observatory in Nottingham.
Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period ...
offered his collection of astronomical telescopes, but the project failed through lack of government funding. Lawson persuaded Lowe to accept the instruments for an observatory at his home in
Beeston, Nottinghamshire Beeston () is a town in the Borough of Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, England, it is 3 miles south-west of Nottingham. To its north-east is the University of Nottingham's main campus, Campuses of the University of Nottingham#University Park Campus, ...
built in 1849. Broadgate House opened as an observatory 1855, and had a rotating cupola roof. The Beeston Observatory was mainly for meteorological observations. As well as the usual meteorological instruments it included an Earthquake Pendulum, which ascended 33 ft to the top of the building. The pendulum rod was of deal wood and terminated in a loaded bulb of brass and lead of 2 lbs in weight with a steel point which acted upon a smooth surface of hard baked chalk. When the top of the building was distributed by the shock of an earthquake, the steel point would inscribe a result in the chalk. At the top of the house, he installed Electrometers with lighting wires conducted from trees around the building. These were fed to two gilded balls and cylinders for determining the negative and positive character of the electricity and the relative amount. Lowe's father, Alfred also built another observatory in Beeston behind 9 Lilac Grove near Beeston railway station. This survived until it was demolished in 1965. A Government expedition was despatched to Spain to observe the solar eclipse of 18 July 1860 and Lowe was placed in charge of the meteorological department in Santander. In 1866 he was the local secretary to the
British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...
at the Nottingham meeting, and in 1868 president of the Nottingham Literary and Philosophical Society. As a botanist he is denoted by the author abbreviation E.J.Lowe when citing a
botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or cultivar group, Group epithets must conform t ...
. He married Anne Allcock (1829-1911), daughter of George Allcock, in
St Mary's Church, Nottingham The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest parish churchDomesday Book: A Complete Translation (Penguin Classics) of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. The church is Grade I listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Spo ...
on 2 January 1849. They had the following children: *Major Alfred Edward Lawson Lowe (1849–1888) *Hugh Lee Peyton Lowe (1857–1933) In 1882 he moved from Beeston to Shirenewton Hall, near
Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...
,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
, where he died on 10 March 1900.


Bibliography

*''Our Native Ferns, or a History of the British Species and their Varieties.'' Groombridge, London 1845. *''A Treatise on Atmospheric Phaenomena.'' Longman, London 1846. *''The Conchology Of Nottingham, or a Popular History Of The Recent Land and Fresh Water Mollusca Found in the Neighbourhood.'' Bartlett, London 1853. * *''A Natural History of British Grasses.'' Groombridge, London 1857. *''Beautiful-Leaved Plants, being a Description of the Most Beautiful-Leaved Plants in Cultivation in this Country.'' Groombridge, London 1861.


Gallery

File:Edward Joseph Lowe03.jpg, '' Asplenium viride'' File:Edward Joseph Lowe01.jpg, Fern


References


External links


Ferns and Pteridomania in Victorian Scotland

Ferns:British and Exotic"> Ferns:British and Exotic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Edward Joseph 1825 births 1900 deaths People from Beeston, Nottinghamshire Botanists with author abbreviations English botanists English writers Fellows of the Royal Society 19th-century British astronomers Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society