Biography

Scottish botanist, the son of J.H. Balfour, Professor of Botany at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Isaac Balfour's early education in botany came from his father and he benefitted from unrestricted access to the gardens which were not open to the public at that time. As a young man he participated in the primarily astronomical expedition to Rodriguez (1874-1875), where he carried out fieldwork later submitted to gain his doctorate.

Balfour was appointed Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow in 1879. A major career opportunity arose in 1880 when the British Association for the advancement of Science promoted the first scientific expedition of Socotra led by I.B. Balfour. The team spent 48 days on the island making botanical, zoological and geological collections, resulting in the first detailed botanical account of Socotra and the description of more than 20 genera and 200 species new to science. Balfour's collections are often merely signed 'B.B.' The Collectio Myxomycetum contains material from other collectors.

Balfour was appointed Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford (1884) but later returned to Edinburgh to take up his father's former position as Professor of Botany and Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (1888-1922) and Queen's botanist for Scotland. His father had enlarged the botanical gardens but Balfour embarked on a major renovation, adding the arboretum and laboratories and making the gardens a major international centre of taxonomic research. His personal interests focussed on the floras of China and of the Himalayan region, particularly the genera Primula and Rhododendron. The genus Balfourina Kuntze was named after him.

Biography

Scottish botanist, the son of J.H. Balfour, Professor of Botany at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Isaac Balfour's early education in botany came from his father and he benefitted from unrestricted access to the gardens which were not open to the public at that time. As a young man he participated in the primarily astronomical expedition to Rodriguez (1874-1875), where he carried out fieldwork later submitted to gain his doctorate.

Balfour was appointed Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow in 1879. A major career opportunity arose in 1880 when the British Association for the advancement of Science promoted the first scientific expedition of Socotra led by I.B. Balfour. The team spent 48 days on the island making botanical, zoological and geological collections, resulting in the first detailed botanical account of Socotra and the description of more than 20 genera and 200 species new to science. Balfour's collections are often merely signed 'B.B.' The Collectio Myxomycetum contains material from other collectors.

Balfour was appointed Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford (1884) but later returned to Edinburgh to take up his father's former position as Professor of Botany and Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (1888-1922) and Queen's botanist for Scotland. His father had enlarged the botanical gardens but Balfour embarked on a major renovation, adding the arboretum and laboratories and making the gardens a major international centre of taxonomic research. His personal interests focussed on the floras of China and of the Himalayan region, particularly the genera Primula and Rhododendron. The genus Balfourina Kuntze was named after him.

Biography

Scottish botanist, the son of J.H. Balfour, Professor of Botany at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Isaac Balfour's early education in botany came from his father and he benefitted from unrestricted access to the gardens which were not open to the public at that time. As a young man he participated in the primarily astronomical expedition to Rodriguez (1874-1875), where he carried out fieldwork later submitted to gain his doctorate.

Balfour was appointed Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow in 1879. A major career opportunity arose in 1880 when the British Association for the advancement of Science promoted the first scientific expedition of Socotra led by I.B. Balfour. The team spent 48 days on the island making botanical, zoological and geological collections, resulting in the first detailed botanical account of Socotra and the description of more than 20 genera and 200 species new to science. Balfour's collections are often merely signed 'B.B.' The Collectio Myxomycetum contains material from other collectors.

Balfour was appointed Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford (1884) but later returned to Edinburgh to take up his father's former position as Professor of Botany and Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (1888-1922) and Queen's botanist for Scotland. His father had enlarged the botanical gardens but Balfour embarked on a major renovation, adding the arboretum and laboratories and making the gardens a major international centre of taxonomic research. His personal interests focussed on the floras of China and of the Himalayan region, particularly the genera Primula and Rhododendron. The genus Balfourina Kuntze was named after him.