Bower, Frederick Orpen (1855-1948: botanist, Professor of Botany, Glasgow University 1885-1925)

Frederick Orpen Bower ( 1855-1948 ), researched and published widely on the Pteridophyta, particularly ferns and was one of the principal exponents of the "interpolation theory" of alternation in their life-cycle.

After graduating with a first class degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, England, Bower attended the Universities of Würzburg, Germany, and Strasbourg, France. He returned to take up the position of lecturer in botany at the University College, London, where he made anatomical studies of plants. He was appointed Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow in 1885 . He actively enjoyed teaching and under his 40 year direction, the school gained a world-wide reputation for morphological botany. He nurtured an active interest in the new field of palaeobotany highlighting the relationship between modern and fossil plants. He continued to publish after his retirement and his major publications include: The Origin of a Land Flora (1908), The Ferns (1923-1928) and Primitive Land Plants (1935). He acted as Dean of Faculties for the University from 1929-1940.

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