Wilhelm Philippe Schimper

Wilhelm Philippe Schimper (January 12, 1808 – March 20, 1880, in Lichtenberg) was an Alsatian botanist with French, later German citizenship. He was born in Dossenheim-sur-Zinsel, but grew up in Offwiller, a village near the Vosges mountain range in Alsace.

Schimper made important discoveries about plants and how they grow. His work helped scientists understand more about the natural world. He was also the father of another botanist, Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper, and was related to two other famous scientists, Karl Friedrich Schimper and Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Schimper.

Life

Wilhelm Philippe Schimper studied at the University of Strasbourg and later worked at the Natural History Museum there, becoming its director in 1839. From 1862 to 1879, he was a professor of geology and natural history at the same university.

Schimper was known for his work in studying mosses and ancient plant fossils. He traveled across Europe to collect plant samples and worked with other scientists to publish important books about European mosses. He also helped create a new way to divide geological time in 1874, calling it the "Paleocene Era".

Honours

Wilhelm Philippe Schimper was recognized by many important groups for his work. In 1854, he became a Corresponding Member of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. Later, in 1862, he joined the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and in 1866, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. By 1872, he was also a Corresponding Member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Today, a street in Strasbourg is named after him to honor his contributions.

Writings

Wilhelm Philippe Schimper wrote many important books about plants. Some of his well-known works include "Bryologia europaea" from 1836 to 1855, "Monographie des plantes du fossiles grès bigarré de la chaine des Vosges" in 1841, and "Recherches sur les mousses anatomiques et morphologiques" in 1850. He also wrote about mosses and plant fossils, with books like "Mémoire pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des Sphagnum" in 1854 and "Synopsis muscorum europaeorum" in 1860. His big work "Traité de Paléontologie végétale" came out between 1869 and 1874.

When scientists mention his work, they use the name Schimp. to show he was the author.