The Greek philosopher and naturalist Theophrastos of Eresos (370-287 BC) was born on the island of Lesbos. A student of Aristotle (384-322 BC), he is considered the first natural scientist to deal with the most important areas of botany, such as the physiology and morphology of plants, and to create a taxonomy (plant systematics) in his writings "Natural History of Plants" (Historia Plantarum, Causae Plantarum). The work was written between 350 and 287 BC and comprised ten volumes, nine of which have survived. Theophrastus describes the plants on the basis of their uses. A Latin translation was published in 1483. The French botanist Charles Plumier (1646-1704) named a genus of plants "Eresia" in Theophrastus' honour. Carl von Linné (1707-1778) later changed this name to "Theophrasta". In 1973, the lunar crater Theophrastus. was named after him.
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