1. John Torrey was an American botanist, chemist, and physician.
20 Facts About John Torrey
1. 2.
John Torrey's most renowned works include studies of the New York flora, the Mexican Boundary, the Pacific railroad surveys, and the uncompleted Flora of North America.
3.
John Torrey showed a fondness for mechanics, and at one time planned to become a machinist.
4.
John Torrey thus learned the elements of botany and something of mineralogy and chemistry.
5.
John Torrey opened a medical practice in New York City, while devoting his leisure to botany and other scientific pursuits.
6.
John Torrey found the medical profession uncongenial, and on August 5,1824, he entered the United States Army as an assistant surgeon and became acting professor of chemistry and geology at West Point military academy.
7.
John Torrey resigned from his Army position on August 31,1828.
8.
John Torrey was frequently consulted by the treasury department on matters pertaining to the coinage and currency, and was sent on special missions at various times to visit the different mints.
9.
John Torrey was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1856.
10.
In 1856, John Torrey was chosen a trustee of Columbia College, and in 1860, having presented the college with his herbarium, numbering about 50,000 specimens, he was made emeritus professor of chemistry and botany.
11.
John Torrey's advice was frequently sought on scientific subjects by various corporations.
12.
John Torrey was the first president of the Torrey Botanical Club in 1873.
13.
John Torrey died at his home in New York City on March 10,1873; he was buried in the family plot at Long Hill Cemetery, Stirling, New Jersey.
14.
John Torrey married Eliza Shaw on April 20,1824; they had three daughters and a son, Herbert, who became United States Assayer.
15.
John Torrey's report was the earliest treatise of its kind in the United States that was arranged on the natural system.
16.
John Torrey's report, consisting of two quarto volumes, was issued in 1843, and was for a long time the most comprehensive for any state in the United States.
17.
John Torrey reported on the Botany of the Mexican Boundary Survey, that of the expedition upon the Colorado River under Lieutenant Joseph C Ives, and, in association with Asa Gray, the botanical collections of the Wilkes exploring expedition.
18.
John Torrey's bibliography is extensive, including contributions on botanical subjects to scientific periodicals and to the transactions of the societies of which he was a member.
19.
John Torrey first described the carnivorous plant Darlingtonia californica, which he named after his friend Dr William Darlington.
20.
In 2017, the Torrey Botanical Society, started by colleagues of John Torrey, celebrated its 150th birthday.