The first book-length biography of Matthias Jakob Schleiden in English. The career of Matthias Jakob Schleiden, who was to transform botany into a rigorous scientific discipline, began with a gunshot. As a youth he had loved art and learning languages, and was not sure what he should do with his life. Under pressure from his parents, he had gone to law school in 1824 and returned to his hometown. Now, four years later, his practice was failing,...