Robert Kidston

Robert Kidston
Born 29 June 1852
Bishopton, Renfrewshire
Died 13 July 1924
Gilfach Goch, Wales
Residence Stirling
Nationality Scotland
Fields palaeobotany
Institutions University of Edinburgh
Notable awards Murchison Medal
Author abbrev. (botany) Kidst.

Robert Kidston FRS (29 June 1852 - 13 July 1924) was a Scottish palaeobotanist. He studied botany at the University of Edinburgh and later studied the Rhynie chert[1] and worked for the British Geological Survey. Kidston was "arguably the best and most influential palaeobotanist of his day. In over 180 scientific papers he laid the foundations for a modern understanding of the taxonomy and palaeobiology of Devonian and Carboniferous plants."[2]

In the 1880s Kidston was asked to catalogue the Palaeozoic plant collection of the British Museum (Natural History). This work began in February 1883, and was completed in 1886.

Awards

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1902, and won the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1916.

References

  1. Kidston, R. & Lang, W.H. 1917. On Old Red Sandstone Plants showing Structure from the Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire. Part I. Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughani, KIDSTON and Lang. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 51 (24), 761–784.
  2. Christine A. Thomson and Ian P. Wilkinson, "Robert Kidston (1852–1924): biography of a Scottish palaeobotanist", Lyell Collection, Scottish Journal of Geology. v. 45:161-168 (November 2009). doi:10.1144/0036-9276/01-360
  3. "Author Query for 'Kidst.'". International Plant Names Index.

External links