Botany, plant science(s), or plant biology (from Ancient Greek βοτάνη botane, "pasture, grass, or fodder" and that from βόσκειν boskein, "to feed or to graze"), a discipline of biology, is the science of plant life. Traditionally, the science included the study of fungi, algae, and viruses.
Botany covers a wide range of scientific disciplines including structure, growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, diseases, chemical properties, and evolutionary relationships among taxonomic groups. Botany began with early human efforts to identify edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, making it one of the oldest branches of science. Nowadays, botanists study about 400,000 species of living organisms.
The beginnings of modern-style classification systems can be traced to the 1500s-1600s when several attempts were made to scientifically classify plants. In the 19th and 20th centuries, major new techniques were developed for studying plants, including microscopy, chromosome counting, and analysis of plant chemistry. In the last two decades of the 20th century, DNA was used to more accurately classify plants.
Michael Pollan (born February 6, 1955)[citation needed] is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. A 2006 New York Times book review describes him as a "liberal foodie intellectual."
Pollan was born on Long Island, New York to author and financial consultant Stephen Pollan and columnist Corky Pollan. Pollan received a B.A. in English from Bennington College in 1977 and an M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1981.
In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four basic ways that human societies have obtained food: the current industrial system, the big organic operation, the local self-sufficient farm, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan follows each of these processes—from a group of plants photosynthesizing calories through a series of intermediate stages, ultimately into a meal. Along the way, he suggests that there is a fundamental tension between the logic of nature and the logic of human industry, that the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world, and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships and connections. On December 10, 2006 The New York Times named The Omnivore's Dilemma one of the five best nonfiction books of the year. On May 8, 2007, the James Beard Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for the best food writing. It was the book of focus for the University of Pennsylvania's Reading Project in 2007, and the book of choice for Washington State University's Common Reading Program in 2009-10. An excerpt of the book was published in Mother Jones.
John Dickerson "Jackie" Parker (c. 1932 – November 7, 2006) was an American football player who became an All-American in college football and an outstanding professional football player in the Canadian Football League at the running back, quarterback, defensive back, and kicker positions. He is primarily known for his play with the Edmonton Eskimos. Later in his career, he played for the Toronto Argonauts and the BC Lions, and coached the Eskimos and Lions after his playing career ended.
Parker was named a member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971, and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1976. In November, 2006, Parker was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#3) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Parker played college football for Jones County Junior College in 1950-51 then two seasons as a member of the Bulldogs at Mississippi State University where he was named to the All-Conference and College Football All-America Teams.
André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (born 1 October 1949) is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.
The name Rieu is of French Huguenot origin. He began studying violin at the age of five. His father, of the same name, was conductor of the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra. From a very young age he developed a fascination with orchestra. He studied violin at the Conservatoire Royal in Liège and at the Conservatorium Maastricht, (1968–1973). His teachers included Jo Juda and Herman Krebbers. From 1974 to 1977, he attended the Music Academy in Brussels, studying with André Gertler, getting his degree "Premier Prix" from the Brussels Royal Conservatory.
At University he performed the Gold And Silver Waltz by Franz Lehár. Encouraged by the audience reaction he decided to pursue the waltz form. Rieu formed the Maastricht Salon Orchestra and performed as a violinist with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra. In 1987, he created the Johann Strauss Orchestra and his own production company. Since then, his melodramatic stage performances and rock-star demeanor have for some been associated with a revival of the waltz music category. André Rieu plays a 1667 Stradivarius violin.
Mirusia Louwerse (born 29 March 1985) is a Dutch Australiansoprano. She performs as 'Mirusia' and is seen by the Australian press as "The Unconventional Pop Star".
Louwerse was born in Brisbane, Australia. She graduated in December 2006 from the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane obtaining a Bachelor of Music in Performance in Classical Voice. In 2006, Louwerse became the youngest ever winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award and went on to record a debut album entitled She Walks in Beauty.
Louwerse is a lyric soprano and has performed in such operas as Mozart's The Magic Flute, Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges and Britten's Albert Herring.
Her aunt, who lives in the Netherlands, contacted André Rieu to tell him about her niece's talent. He listened to her voice on her website and phoned her straight away and two days later she was standing before him in his studio ready to sing.
She has been touring with Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu since 2007 as soprano soloist. She is of Dutch descent and can speak Dutch fluently. In May 2008, André Rieu and Louwerse released an album entitled Waltzing Matilda in Australia which made it to the number one position on the Australian music charts and went platinum within ten days. On Rieu's DVD I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg (2009) she sings the title song "Ich hab' mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren", as well as "Zwei kleine Italiener", "In mir klingt ein Lied", and (with Carla Maffioletti and the Berlin Comedian Harmonists) "Adieu, mein kleiner Gardeoffizier".