KASS, LEE B. L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 and Natural Sciences, Elmira College, Elmira, NY 14901. - Barbara McClintock, *Botanist, Cytologist, Geneticist.
"Botany in the Age of Mendel" suggests the importance of
classifying biologists as Botanists or even Mendelians. Many
researchers who considered themselves botanists, zoologists, or
physiologists, would today be thought of as Geneticists. Barbara
McClintock, who is currently identified as a geneticist, was starred
in the research subject Botany, in her biographical sketch in the
Biographical Dictionary, AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE, 1944. The subject,
Botany, was one of twelve principle sciences of which the editors
chose "men" whose work was supposed to be the most
important. The star meant that the entrant was one of the leading
students of science of the United States. The first professional
organization McClintock is affiliated with is the Botanical Society of
America. In 1944, McClintock was elected to the National Academy of
Science's Section of Botany. Other notable members of the National
Academy of Science, who might currently be considered Geneticists or
Molecular Biologist, are A.F. Blakeslee, R.A. Brink, G.W. Beadle, R.E.
Clausen, Max Delbruck, E.M. East, and L.J. Stadler, but all were
elected to the Academy's Section of Botany. In 1957, McClintock
received the Botanical Society of America's Merit Award for
Distinguished Achievements in Contributions to Advancement of
Botanical Sciences. I will describe McClintock's undergraduate
and graduate education as a "Botanist." That preparation,
so essential to an understanding of Mendelian heredity in plants, led
to the achievements for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1983.
I will demonstrate McClintock's role as advisor and Instructor of
Botany at Cornell University and as Assistant Professor of Botany at
the University of Missouri.
Key words: Barbara McClintock, Botany, Cytology, Genetics