Which botanist published the most popular botany book of his time?
John Gerard John Gerard, also spelt John Gerarde, (c. 1545–1612) was a botanist and herbalist. He maintained a large herbal garden in London. His chief notability is as the author of a large (1,484 pages) illustrated "Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes". First published in 1597, it was the most widely circulated botany book in English in the 17th century. Except for the additions of a number of plants from his own garden and from North America, Gerard's "Herbal" is largely an unacknowledged English translation of Rembert Dodoens's herbal originally published in 1554, itself also highly popular (in Dutch, Latin, French and other English translations).
Experiments on Plant Hybridization "Experiments on Plant Hybridization" (German: "Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden") is a seminal paper written in 1865 and published in 1866 by Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian friar considered to be the founder of modern genetics. The paper was the result after years spent studying genetic traits in "Pisum sativum", the pea plant. Mendel read his paper to the Natural History Society of Brünn. It was published in the "Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Brünn" the following year.