Isaac Bayley Balfour
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Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour FRS FRSE |
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| Born |
Isaac Bayley Balfour 31 March 1853 |
| Died | 30 November 1922 (aged 69) |
| Residence | Edinburgh |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Education | University of Edinburgh (BSc); University of Glasgow (LLD) |
| Occupation | botanist |
| Known for | Major reform of the gardens, establishing a proper botanical institute, and largely redeveloping the layout of the gardens |
| Parent(s) | John Hutton Balfour, Marion Spottiswood Bayley |
| Awards | Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society (1919) |
Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, FRS, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford from 1884 to 1888, and Professor of Botany at the University of Edinburgh from 1888 to 1922.
He was the son of John Hutton Balfour, also a botanist, and Marion Spottiswood Bayley, and was born at home, 27 Inverleith Row, Edinburgh.
He was the cousin of Sir James Crichton-Browne.
Balfour was educated at the Edinburgh Academy from 1864 to 1870. At this early stage his interests and abilities were in the biological sciences, which were taught to him by his father. Due to his father's post as Professor of Botany at Edinburgh, the young Balfour was able to visit the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens, not open to the public at the time.
Balfour studied at the University of Edinburgh, from which he graduated with first class honours in 1873, and at the universities in Warzburg and Strassburg (Strasbourg).
In 1874 Balfour participated in an astronomical expedition of 1874 to Rodrigues. Though the stated aim of the mission was to observe Venus, Balfour used the opportunity to investigate the local flora, and on his return, the fieldwork he had carried out permitted him to gain his doctorate.
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