Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Henry Allan Gleason and the individualistic hypothesis: The structure of a botanist’s career

  • Published:
The Botanical Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed account of Henry Allan Gleason’s career in ecology, paying particular attention to the development of his controversial individualistic hypothesis of the plant community. It is noted that Gleason developed and maintained a high level of skill in floristic botany. The argument is advanced that the individualistic hypothesis embodies a floristic perspective on vegetation. His pioneering papers on the quantitative analysis of vegetation are carefully examined and it is argued that they too reflect floristic and individualistic concerns. The overall shape of Gleason’s career is interpreted in terms of acquired skills, pedagogical inputs, institutional contexts, and professional and social interests. It is suggested that the characteristics of the work of many of his ecological colleagues may likewise be explained in terms of skills and interests, particularly those gained in other fields, such as physiography and physiology. The reasons for the generally hostile initial reaction to Gleason’s individualistic concept are examined. As well as providing historical background to the long and continuing debate over the nature of the plant community, an examination of Gleason’s career sheds important light on the cognitive development of American plant ecology during a formative period for the discipline. Other historians have not fully realised the extent of Gleason’s involvement in ecology during this time.

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Artikel gibt eine detaillierte Beschreibung der ökologischen Laufbahn Henry Allan Gleasons, mit besonderer Beachtung der Entwicklung seiner umstrittenen, individualistischen Hypothese über die Pflanzengesellschaft. Unter Berücksichtigung von Gleasons grossen Fähigkeiten in floristischer Botanik wird argumentiert, dass seine individualistische Hypothese eine floristische Perspektive der Vegetation verkörpert. Seine bahnbrechenden Arbeiten zur quantitativen Analyse der Vegetation werden sorgfältig untersucht und es wird der Standpunkt vertreten, dass auch sie floristische und individualistische Ansichten widerspiegeln. Die Gesamtkarriere Gleasons wird in Himblick auf erworbene Fähigkeiten, pädagogische Einflüsse, institutionelle Zusammenhänge, sowie professionelle und soziale Interessen zu verstehen versucht. Es wird darauf hingewiressen, dass die charakteristischen Züge in den Arbeiten vieler seiner Kollegen ebenfalls unter dem Blickwinkel von Fähigkeiten und Interessen erklärt werden können—insbesondere sofern diese auf anderen Gebieten wie Zb. Physiographie und Physiologie erworben wurden. Zusätzlich werden die Gründe für die anfangs im allgemeinen feindselige Reaktion auf Gleasons individualistischen Ansatz untersucht. Eine Untersuchung von Gleasons Laufbahn beleuchtet wesentliche Aspekte in der cognitiven Entwicklung der amerikanischen Plan zenökologie während der Gründerzeit dieser Disziplin und trägt ausserdem zu dem geschichtlichen Hintergrund der langdauernden Debatte über das Wesen der Pflanzengesellschaft bei. Bis jetzt wurde das Ausmass von Gleasons Beteiligung in den ökologischen Fragestellungen seiner Zeit von Historikern nicht voll gewürdigt.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Adams, C. C. 1902. Southeastern United States as a center of geographical distribution of flora and fauna. Biol. Bull.3: 115–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1905. The post-glacial dispersal of the North American biota. Biol. Bull.9: 53–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • — &G. D. Fuller. 1940. Henry Chandler Cowles, physiographic plant ecologist. Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr.30: 39–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, D. E. 1978. The naturalist in Britain: A social history. Allen Lane, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonius, O. 1921. Species and area. J. Ecol.9: 95–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben-David, J. &R. Collins. 1971. Social factors in the origins of a new science: The case of psychology. Amer. Soc. Rev.31: 451–465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergman, H. F. &H. Stallard. 1916. The development of climax formations in northern Minnesota. Minn. Bot. Studies4: 333–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W. D. 1980. American deserts and their mountains; an ecological frontier. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Amer.61: 203–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, F. F. &A. G. Tansley. 1905. Ecology in its physiological and phytotopographical aspects. New Phytol.4: 199–203; 232–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloor, D. 1973. Wittgenstein and Mannheim on the sociology of mathematics. Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci.4: 173–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1976. Knowledge and social imagery. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowers, W. L. 1974. The Country Life movement in America 1900–1920. Kennikat, Port Washington, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun-Blanquet, J. 1932. Plant sociology: A study of plant communities. Trans. G. D. Fuller and H. S. Conard. McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, P. L. 1977. The Ecological Society of America—Historical data and some preliminary analyses.In F. N. Egerton (ed.), History of American ecology. Arno, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, S. A. 1936. Synusiae as a basis for plant sociological field work. Amer. Midl. Nat.17: 665–672.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1939. The climax and its complexities. Amer. Midl. Nat.21: 146–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1944. Foundations of plant geography. Harper, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1947. Characteristics of natural areas and factors in their development. Ecol. Monogr.17: 187–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1959. Henry Allan Gleason: Eminent ecologist, 1959. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Amer.40:105–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cittadino, E. 1980. Ecology and the professionalization of botany in America, 1890–1905. Stud. Hist. Biol.4: 171–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clements, E. S. 1960. Adventures in ecology: Halfa million miles from mud to macadam. Pageant Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clements, F. E. 1902. A system of nomenclature for phytogeography. Bot. Jahr. Beiblatt.31: 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1904. The development and structure of vegetation. Bot. Surv. Nebraska7: 3–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1905. Research methods in ecology. University Publishing Company, Lincoln, Nebraska.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1908. An ecologic view of the species conception. Amer. Nat.42: 253–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1916. Plant succession: An analysis of the development of vegetation. Carnegie Institution Publ.242, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1936. Nature and structure of the climax. J. Ecol.24: 252–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • — &V. E. Shelford. 1939. Bioecology. Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, W. S. 1913. The climax forest of Isle Royale, Lake Superior and its development. Bot. Gaz.55: 1–44; 115–240; 189–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1923. The recent ecological history of Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ecology4: 93–128; 223–246; 355–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1926. The fundamentals of vegetational change. Ecology7: 391–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulter, J. H., C. R. Barnes &H. C. Cowles. 1911. A textbook of botany, II: Ecology. American Book, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowles, H. C. 1899. The ecological relations of the vegetation on the sand dunes of Lake Michigan. Bot. Gaz.27: 95–117; 162–202; 281–308; 361–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1901. The physiographic ecology of Chicago and vicinity: A study of the origin, development and classification of plant societies. Bot. Gaz.31: 73–108; 145–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1908. An ecological aspect of the conception of species. Amer. Nat.42: 265–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1911. The causes of vegetative cycles. Bot. Gaz.51: 161–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronquist, A. 1976. Dr. H. A. Gleason, an appreciation. Garden J.26: 56–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, J. T. &R. P. McIntosh. 1951. An upland forest continuum in the prairie-forest border region of Wisconsin. Ecology32: 476–496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, W. M. 1909. Geographical essays. Ginn, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean, J. 1979. Controversy over classification: A case study from the history of botany. Pages 211–230in B. Barnes & S. Shapin (eds.), Natural order: Historical studies of scientific culture. Sage, Beverly Hills and London.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1980. A naturalistic model of classification and its relevance to some controversies in botanical systematics, 1900–1950. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drury, W. H. &I. C. T. Nisbet. 1971. Inter-relations between developmental models in geomorphology, plant ecology and animal ecology. General Systems16: 57–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duff, A. 1975. Organismic and mechanistic styles of thought in ecology. Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis. University of Manchester, Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1980. The institutionalisation of ecology in Britain and the United States 1890–1918. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Manchester, Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egler, F. E. 1947. Arid southwest Oahu vegetation, Hawaii. Ecol. Monogr.17: 383–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forbes, S. A. 1880. On some interactions of organisms. Bull. Illinois Stat. Lab. Nat. Hist.1: 3–17, reprintedin F. E. Egerton (ed.), Ecological investigations of Stephen Alfred Forbes. Arno, New York (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1887. The lake as a microcosm. Bull. Illinois Stat. Lab. Nat. Hist.15: 537–550, reprintedin F. E. Egerton (ed.), Ecological investigations of Stephen Alfred Forbes. Arno, New York (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1907. On the local distribution of certain Illinois fishes—An essay in statistical ecology. Bull. Illinois Stat. Lab. Nat. Hist.7: 273–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, D. (ed.). 1963. Limnology in North America. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, G. D. 1911. Evaporation and plant succession. Bot. Gaz.52: 193–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1918. Units of vegetation and their classification. Bot. Gaz.66: 385–388.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1939. Henry Chandler Cowles. Science90: 363–364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleason, H. A. 1901. The flora of the prairies. Unpublished B.S. Thesis. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1904. The vegetation of the Ozark region in southern Illinois. Unpublished M.S. Thesis. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1907. A botanical survey of the Illinois River Valley Sand Region. Bull. Illinois Stat. Lab. Nat. Hist.7: 149–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1908. Resting plants. Amer. Bot.14: 35–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1909a. Some unsolved problems of the prairies. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club36: 265–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1909b. The vegetational history of a river dune. Trans. Illinois Acad. Sci.2: 19–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • -. 1909c. The ecological relations of the invertebrate fauna of Isle Royale, Michigan. Report Mich. Geol. Serv. 1908, pp. 57–78.

  • —. 1910. The vegetation of the inland sand deposits of Illinois. Bull. Illinois Stat. Lab. Nat. Hist.9: 20–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1912. An isolated prairie grove and its phytogeographical significance. Bot. Gaz.53: 38–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1913a. Some interesting plants from the vicinity of Douglas Lake. Ann. Rep. Mich. Acad. Sci.15: 147–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1913b. The relation of forest distribution and prairie fires in the Middle West. Torreya13: 173–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1913c. Studies on the West Indian Vernonieae, with one new specimen from Mexico. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club40: 305–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1915a. Botanical sketches from the Asiatic tropics. I. Japan. Torreya15: 93–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1915b. Botanical sketches from the Asiatic tropics. II. The Philippines. Torreya15: 117–133; 139–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1915c. Botanical sketches from the Asiatic tropics. III. Java. Torreya15: 161–175; 187–202; 233–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1916. Botanical sketches from the Asiatic tropics. IV. Ceylon. Torreya16: 1–17; 33–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1917a. A prairie near Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rhodora19: 163–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1917b. Some effects of excessive heat in northern Michigan. Torreya17: 176–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1917c. The structure and development of the plant association. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club44: 463–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1918a. The local distribution of introduced species near Douglas Lake, Michigan. Torreya18: 81–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1918b. Notes on the introduced flora of the Douglas region. Ann. Rep. Mich. Acad. Sci.20: 153.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1918c.Scirpus validus, for demonstrating procambium. Ann. Rep. Mich. Acad. Sci.20: 153.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1918d. On the development of two plant associations of northern Michigan. Plant World21: 151–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1918e.Echinacea purpurea. Addisonia3: 67–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1920. Some applications of the quadrat method. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club47: 21–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1922a. On the relation between species and area. Ecology3: 158–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1922b. The vegetational history of the Middle West. Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr.12: 39–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1923. Evolution and geographical distribution of the genusVernonia in North America. Amer. J. Bot.10: 187–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1924. The structure of the maple-beech association in northern Michigan. Papers Mich. Acad. Sci.4: 285–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1925. Species and area. Ecology6: 66–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1926a. The individualistic concept of the plant association. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club53: 7–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1926b. Plant associations and their classification: A reply to Dr. Nichols. Proc. Int. Congr. Plant Sci. Ithaca1: 643–647.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1927. Further views on the succession-concept. Ecology8: 299–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1929. The significance of Raunkiaer’s law of frequency. Ecology10: 406–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • -. 1931. The fundamental principles in the classification of vegetation. Proc. Fifth Int. Bot. Congr. Cambridge 1930, pp. 77–78.

  • —. 1933a. Braun-Blanquet’s “Plant Sociology”. Ecology14: 70–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1933b. On concepts in phytosociology. Science78: 238–239.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1936a. Twenty-five years of ecology, 1910–1935. Brooklyn Bot. Gard. Mem.4:41–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1936b. Is the synusia an association? Ecology17: 444–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1939. The individualistic concept of the plant association. Amer. Midl. Nat.21: 92–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • -. 1944. Autobiography. Unpublished typescript in the possession of the New York Botanical Garden.

  • —. 1952. The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Penn, Lancaster.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1953. Biographical letter. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Amer.34: 40–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • -. 1961. Thumbnail sketches. Unpublished typescript. New York Botanical Garden.

  • -. 1963–1964. The short and simple annals of Henry Allan Gleason, 3 vols. Unpublished typescript in the possession of Henry Allan Gleason, Jr.

  • — &M. T. Cook. 1927. Plant ecology of Porto Rico. Sci. Survey Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands1: 1–173. New York Academy of Science, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • — &A. Cronquist. 1964. The natural geography of plants. Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • — &F. C. Gates. 1912. A comparison of the rates of evaporation in certain associations in central Illinois. Bot. Gaz.53: 478–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • — &F. T. McFarland. 1914. The introduced vegetation in the vicinity of Douglas Lake, Michigan. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club41: 511–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Godwin, H. 1940. Review of “Plant and animal communities”. New Phytol.39: 430–431.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodall, D. W. 1962. Bibliography of statistical plant ecology. Excerpta Botanica Sec. B,4: 253–322.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, H. M. &F. E. Clements. 1923. The phylogenetic method in taxonomy. Carnegie Institution Publ.326, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewetson, C. E. 1956. A discussion on the “climax” concept in relation to the tropical rain and deciduous forest. Empire Forestry Rev.35: 274–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, L. O. 1931. Stephen Alfred Forbes. Biographical memoirs.15:3–54. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, G. E. 1963. The prospect before us. Pages 683–690in D. E. Frey (ed.), Limnology in North America. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaccard, P. 1901. Etude comparative de la distribution florale dans une portion des Alpes et du Jura. Bull. Soc. Vaud. Sci. Nat.37: 547–579.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellerman, W. A., H. A. Gleason &J. A. Schaffner. 1914. Spring flora for beginners and amateurs. Tooiil, Columbus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kofoid, G. A. 1903. Plankton studies IV: The plankton of the Illinois River. I: Quantitative investigations and general results. Bull. Illinois Stat. Lab. Nat. Hist.6: 95–635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. S. 1962. The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingston, B. E. 1935. Atmometers of porous porcelain and paper, their use in physiological ecology. Ecology16: 438–472.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1948. Some conversational autobiographical notes on intellectual experiences and development: An auto-obituary. Ecology29: 227–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • — &F. Shreve. 1921. The distribution of vegetation in the United States as related to climatic conditions. Carnegie Institution Publ.284, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, P. D. 1976. Amateurs and professionals: The institutional emergence of British plant ecology. J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Hist.7: 517–535.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, D. 1981. Statistics in Britain 1865–1930: The social construction of scientific knowledge. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maguire, B. 1975. Henry Allan Gleason, 1882–1975. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club102: 274–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malin, J. C. 1953. Soil, animal and plant relations of the grassland, historically reconsidered. Sci. Monthly76: 207–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1955. The contriving brain and the skilful hand. Malin, Lawrence, Kansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntosh, R. P. 1967. The continuum concept of vegetation. Bot. Rev.33: 130–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1975. Henry Allan Gleason—Individualistic ecologist 1882–1975—His contributions to ecological theory. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club102: 253–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1976. Ecology since 1900. Pages 353–372in B. J. Taylor & T. J. White (eds.), Issues and ideas in America. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1980. The background and some current problems of theoretical ecology. Synthese43: 195–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1983. Pioneer support for ecology. BioScience33: 107–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1985. The background to ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and London.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMillan, C. 1987. Observations on the distribution of plants along the shore at the Lake of the Woods. Minn. Bot. Stud.1: 949–1023.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medawar, P. B. 1963. Is the scientific paper a fraud? The Listener, September 11.

  • Meyer, B. S. 1956. Awards of certificates of merit at the fiftieth anniversary meeting. Pages 14–19in W. S. Steere (ed.), Fifty years of botany. Botanical Society of the United States, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitman, G. 1988. From the population to society: The cooperative metaphors of W. C. Allee and A. E. Emerson. J. Hist. Biol.21: 173–194.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mullins, N. 1972. The development of a scientific speciality: The phage group and the origins of molecular biology. Minerva10: 51–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols, G. E. 1917. The interpretation and application of certain terms and concepts in the ecological classification of plant communities. Plant World20: 305–319; 341–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1923. A working basis for the ecological classification of plant communities. Ecology4: 11–23; 154–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1926. Plant associations and their classifications. Proc. Int. Congr. Plant Sci. Ithaca1: 629–641.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicolson, M. 1984. The development of plant ecology, 1790–1960. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1988. No longer a stranger? A decade in the history of ecology. Hist. Sci.26: 183–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1989. National styles, divergent classifications: A case study from the history of American and French plant ecology. Pages 139–186in L. Hargen, R. A. Jones & A. Pickering (eds.), Knowledge and society: Studies in the sociology of science, past and present. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.

    Google Scholar 

  • — &C. McLaughlin. 1988. Social constructionism and medical sociology: A study of the vascular theory of multiple sclerosis. Sociol. Health Ill.10: 234–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavillard, J. 1935. The present status of the plant association. Bot. Rev.1: 210–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, M. D. 1960. The Jeffersonian image in the American mind. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, A. 1980. The role of interests in high-energy physics: The choice between charm and colour. Pages 107–138in K. D. Knorr, R. Krohn & R. Whitley (eds.), The social process of scientific investigation, sociology of the sciences yearbook. 4. Reidel, Dordecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, A.. 1984. Constructing quarks: A sociological history of particle physics. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pound, R. &F. E. Clements. 1898. A method of determining the abundance of secondary species. Minn. Bot. Stud.2: 19–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramensky, L. G. 1930. Zur Methodik der vergleichenden Bearbeitung und Ordnung von Pflanzenlisten und anderen Objekten, die durch mehrere, verschiedenartig wirkende Faktoren bestimmt werden. Beitr. Biol. Pflanz.18: 269–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raup, H. M. 1942. Trends in the development of geographic botany. Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr.32:319–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, P. W. 1952. The tropical rain forest: An ecological study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers, A. D. 1968. American botany 1873–1892: Decades of transition. Hafher, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russett, C. 1966. The concept of equilibrium in American social thought. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydberg, P. A. 1926. Scylla or Charybdis. Proc. Int. Congr. Plant Sci. Ithaca2: 1539–1551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimper, A. F. W. 1898. Pflanzen-geographie auf physiologischer Grundlage. Fischer, Jena.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1903. Plant-geography upon a physiological basis. Trans. W. R. Fisher, revised by P. Green & I. B. Balfour. Clarendon, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, P. J. 1969. Back to nature: The arcadian myth in urban America. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shreve, F. 1914. A montane rain forest: A contribution to the physiological plant geography of Jamaica. Carnegie Institution Publ.199, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1915. The vegetation of a desert mountain range as conditioned by climatic factors. Carnegie Institution Publ.217, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. C. 1951. Dr. H. A. Gleason retires from the New York Botanical Garden. Garden J.1: 53–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, F. 1926. Stephen Alfred Forbes-An appreciation. Audubon Bull. 30–32.

  • Steere, W. C. 1977. North American muscology and muscologists: A brief history. Bot. Rev.43: 285–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tansley, A. G. 1916. “Plant succession” by F. E. Clements. Book review. J. Ecol.4: 198–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1935. The use and abuse of vegetational concepts and terms. Ecology16: 284–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1940. Henry Chandler Cowles. J. Ecol.28: 450–452.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, N. 1912. Some modern trends in ecology. Torreya12: 110–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobey, R. C. 1981. Saving the prairies: The life cycle of the founding school of American plant ecology, 1895–1955. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Transeau, E. N. 1903. On the geographic distribution and ecological relations of the bog plant societies of northern North America. Bot. Gaz.35: 401–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1908. The relation of plant societies to evaporation. Bot. Gaz.45: 217–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasey, G. 1861. Additions to the flora of Illinois. Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc.4: 667.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warming, E. 1896. Lehrbuch der okologischen Pflanzengeographie: Eine Einfuhrung in die Kenntnis der Pflanzervereine. Trans. E. Knoblaugh. Borntraeger, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1909. Oecology of plants: An introduction to the study of plant communities. Trans. P. Green & I. B. Balfour. Clarendon, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, J. E. &F. E. Clements. 1929. Plant ecology, 2nd ed. 1938. McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, J. 1985. The census of plants in vegetation. Pages 33–88in J. White (ed.), The population structure of vegetation. Junk, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford, A. N. 1901. The genetic development of the forest of northern Michigan: A study in physiographic ecology. Bot. Gaz.31: 289–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker, R. H. 1953. A consideration of climax theory: The climax as population and pattern. Ecol. Monogr.23: 41–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1962. Classification of natural communities. Bot. Rev.28: 1–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolgar, S. 1976. Writing an intellectual history of scientific development: the use of discovery accounts. Soc. Stud. Sci.6: 395–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woollett, E., D. Dean &H. Coburn. 1925. Application of Gleason’s formula to aCarex lasiocarpa association, an association of few species. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club52: 23–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worster, D. 1977a. Nature’s economy: The roots of ecology. Sierra Club, San Francisco. 2nd ed. 1985. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and London.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1977b. Grass to dust: The Great Plains in the 1930s. Environ. Rev.3: 3–11.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Malcolm Nicolson

    Present address: Wetenschapsdynamica, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018WV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 183 Euston Road, NW12BP, London, England, UK

    Malcolm Nicolson

Authors
  1. Malcolm Nicolson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nicolson, M. Henry Allan Gleason and the individualistic hypothesis: The structure of a botanist’s career. Bot. Rev 56, 91–161 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858533

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858533

Keywords

Search

Navigation