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Justus Liebig and the Plant Physiologists

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Abstract

In his book Organic Chemistryin its Application to Agriculture andChemistry, Justus Liebig attacked ``the plantphysiologists'' for their support of the humustheory and for their general ignorance ofchemistry. Two leading botanists, MatthiasSchleiden and Hugo von Mohl, responded bysharply criticizing Liebig for his lack ofknowledge of plants and his misrepresentationof the views of plant physiologists. The originand character of this debate can be understoodin part through the temperaments of Liebig andSchleiden, but can be viewed also as a contestfor control between the well-establisheddiscipline of chemistry and a potentialdiscipline of plant physiology that had as yetacquired no stable institutional foundations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Humboldt-Research-Group, Berlin-Brandenburgian Academy of Science, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Petra Werner

  2. Section of the History of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CJ, 06520-801, U.S.A

    Frederic L. Holmes

Authors
  1. Petra Werner
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  2. Frederic L. Holmes
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Werner, P., Holmes, F.L. Justus Liebig and the Plant Physiologists. Journal of the History of Biology 35, 421–441 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021182316792

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