| Activity | Frederick Bower decided early on that botany would become the central focus of his life. By the age of thirty he held an endowed chair at the University of Edinburgh, and remained there until his retirement. Bower was one of the foremost plant morphologists of his generation; from this starting point he pursued productive research programs in paleobotany, systematics, plant anatomy, and evolutionary biology. A man who did not shy away from theorizing, one of his most productive "working hypotheses" was his application of the alternation of generations model to explaining the way the land was colonized by early plants. This subject was explored most completely in his book The Origin of a Land Flora in 1908. Bower was highly respected by his many students and colleagues alike, and was the recipient of many honorary doctorates and other awards.
Appointed assistant at University College, London 1880, he held the regius chair of botany at the university of glasgow 1885 - 1925. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1886 and of the Royal Society of London 1891and in 1910 he received the Royal Medal. From 1919 - 1924 he was president of the Royal Society, Edinburgh. In 1925 he retired and in 1938 he received the Darwin Medal from the Royal Society, London. |