Elizabeth Gilbert Quote
Alma wrote in depth about laurel, mimosa, and verbena. She wrote about grapes and camellias, about the myrtle orange, about the cosseting of figs, She published under the name A. Whittaker. Neither she nor George Hawkes believed that it would much benefit Alma to announce herself in print as female. In the scientific world of the day, there was still a strict division between botany (the study of plants by men) and polite botany was often indistinguishable from botany- except that one field was regarded with respect and the other was not- but still, Alma did not wish to be shrugged off as a mere polite botanist.Of course, the Whittaker name was famous in the world of plants and science, so a good number of botanists already knew precisely who A. Whittaker was. Not all of them, however. In response to her articles, then, Alma sometimes received letters from botanists around the world, sent to her in care of George Hawkes's print shop. Some of these letters began, My dear Sir. Other letters were written to Mr. A. Whittaker. One quite memorable missive even came addressed to Dr. A. Whittaker. ( Alma kept that letter for a long time, tickled by the unexpected honorific.)
Alma wrote in depth about laurel, mimosa, and verbena. She wrote about grapes and camellias, about the myrtle orange, about the cosseting of figs, She published under the name A. Whittaker. Neither she nor George Hawkes believed that it would much benefit Alma to announce herself in print as female. In the scientific world of the day, there was still a strict division between botany (the study of plants by men) and polite botany was often indistinguishable from botany- except that one field was regarded with respect and the other was not- but still, Alma did not wish to be shrugged off as a mere polite botanist.Of course, the Whittaker name was famous in the world of plants and science, so a good number of botanists already knew precisely who A. Whittaker was. Not all of them, however. In response to her articles, then, Alma sometimes received letters from botanists around the world, sent to her in care of George Hawkes's print shop. Some of these letters began, My dear Sir. Other letters were written to Mr. A. Whittaker. One quite memorable missive even came addressed to Dr. A. Whittaker. ( Alma kept that letter for a long time, tickled by the unexpected honorific.)