Women Scientists

Beatrix Potter 1866-1943

At a glance:

author of Peter Rabbit and respected mycologist

Beatrix Potter was typical of her time in that she was expected to keep house when she left school, rather than pursue further education. She was always interested in fauna and flora but was rejected as a student at the Royal Botanical Gardens because she was a woman. However she continued to make observations and drawings, particularly of fungi, being one of the first to suggest that lichens were a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. She recorded her microscopical observations in exquisite paintings and had a considerable reputation and respect as a mycologist (one who studies fungi). An uncle attempted to present her work on the germination of spores to the Linnaen Society who turned it down because she was a woman. The Royal Society also turned down her work. She occupied her time instead with writing stories about animals.
Beatrix Potter

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