Editing William Withering (section)

==Botany==
[[File:An account of the foxglove. Wellcome L0000858.jpg|thumb|Illustration from ''An Account of the Foxglove'']]
[[File:1800 circa, folding simple microscope, William Withering, England - Golub Collection of Antique Microscopes - DSC04843.JPG|thumb|Pocket microscope by Withering]]
In 1776, he published ''The botanical arrangement of all the vegetables naturally growing in Great Britain'',{{sfn|Withering|1776a}}{{sfn|Withering|1776b}} an early and influential British [[Flora (publication)|Flora]]. It was the first in English based on the then new [[Linnaean taxonomy]] — a classification of all living things — devised by the Swedish botanist and physician [[Carl Linnaeus]] (1707–1778). At the time he was criticised for having produced a [[bowdlerised]] version of Linnaeus, deliberately omitting any references to sexual reproduction, out of a desire to protect 'female modesty', notably by 'A Botanical Society, at Lichfield' - almost always incorrectly named as The Botanical Society of Lichfield or the [[Lichfield Botanical Society]]. Withering explained on the title page and his introduction that he avoided being explicit to allow his book to be used without any problems by a wider audience and in particular women.{{sfn|Linné|1785|loc=[https://archive.org/stream/systemofvegeta01linn#page/n13/mode/2up preface of the Translators p.&nbsp;ii]}}<ref group=notes>"Dr. Withering...has translated parts of the ''Genera'' and ''Species Plantarum'' of LINNEUS; but has entirely omitted the sexual distinctions, which are essential to the philosophy of the system"</ref> However he found support for his position, and botany was considered a subject suitable for many women during the next century.{{sfn|George|2007}}{{sfn|Fara|2003}} A talented illustrator herself, his wife, Helena, sketched plants he collected.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Withering|title=William Withering {{!}} English physician|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-08-24|language=en}}</ref>

Withering wrote two more editions of this work in 1787 and 1792, in collaboration with fellow Lunar Society member [[Jonathan Stokes]], and after his death his son (also William) published four more.  It continued being published under various authors until 1877. Withering senior also carried out pioneering work into the identification of [[Fungus|fungi]] and invented a folding pocket microscope for use on botanical field trips. He also introduced to the general audience the screw down [[plant press]] and the [[vasculum]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jane Mygatt |title=A Case for Collecting |journal=Iowa Native Plant Society Newsletter |year=2001 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=5–6 |url=http://www.herbarium.iastate.edu/inps/newsletters/October01.pdf |access-date=30 December 2015}}</ref> In 1787 he was elected a Fellow of the [[Linnaean Society]] in recognition of his contribution to botany. Subsequently, the plant ''[[Witheringia]] solanacea'' was named in his honour, and he became known on the continent of Europe as "The English Linnaeus".  The William Withering Chair in Medicine at the [[University of Birmingham Medical School]] is named after him, as is the medical school's annual William Withering Lecture.

{{botanist|With.|William Withering}}