"Plant pathology has become a utilitarian science of vast possibilities."
Joseph Charles Arthur. 1904. An Address on the History and Scope of Plant Pathology. Congress of Arts and Sciences, Universal Exposition, St. Louis, p. 9.
"On the threshold of the twentieth century we stand, knowing our strength and only needing to weld it into harmonious action to make it vital and lasting. Let us join hands and do our best to bring this about."
Beverly T. Galloway. 1904. The twentieth century botany. Science. 19:18.
"It required the plague of the potato disease and the example of the Irish famine finally to focus attention upon the fundamental problem ‑ the relation of the mildew to the sick potato plant, of the smut and rust fungi to the infected grain ‑ the problem of parasitism."
L. R. Jones, L.R. 1914. Problems and progress in plant pathology. American Journal of Botany 1:99.
"Activity is the gage of life, and fullness of life should be the best criterion of progress. But we all recognize that whether or not activity or life in any scientific field does measure progress depends upon whether or not action is directed toward the solution of fundamental problems."
L. R. Jones, L.R. 1914. Problems and progress in plant pathology. American Journal of Botany 1:98.
"This society [the American Phytopathological Society] and the journal it publishes has done more to stimulate and unify the phytopathologic work and workers of this country than any other one thing."
Herbert Hice Whetzel. An Outline of the History of Phytopathology. Philadelphia:W.B. Saunders Company, 1918. p. 111.
"There remain many important problems to be solved, and there is much to be learned about even the best-known diseases. May the oncoming years be fruitful ones and each one of you have some share in the joy of the harvest!"
Erwin Frink Smith. 1929. Fifty Years of Pathology. Proceedings of the International Congress of Plant Sciences. p. 46.
“In fact Phytopathology was soon to become the principal journal in the world exclusively devoted to plant diseases, and the abstractors, trying to keep pace with the world literature on the subject after the war, would have to record more important papers in Phytopathology than in any other single periodical whatsoever.”
E. C. Large. 1940. The Advance of the Fungi. New York: Henry Holt Company, p. 344.
"Plant Diseases are Shifty Enemies."
E. C. Stakman. 1944. Minnesota Farm Home Science 2:8-9, 12.
"Diseases of individual plants usually are relatively unimportant, and plant pathology is therefore essentially a community, or 'plant public health,' science."
E. C. Stakman and J.G. Harrar. 1957. Principles of Plant Pathology. New York: The Ronald Press Company, p. 3.
"The fundamental biological nature of many of man’s problems is too often overlooked; much history is indeed a record of man’s attempt to assure his food supplies."
E. C. Stakman. 1959. The role of plant pathology in the scientific and social development of the world. Page 3, in: Plant Pathology: Problems and Progress, 1908-1958. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press (this is the published version of Stakman’s speech under the same title to APS members during the Golden Jubilee meeting in 1958).
"But, after all, pathologists are very modest men and therefore realize that they are only one guild, albeit a transcendentally important one, in the grand union of biological societies. Accordingly they make take their share of all encomiums so far bestowed upon biology. At this commensal feast, however, they deserve a special share. For plant pathology has come of age."
E. C. Stakman. 1959. The role of plant pathology in the scientific and social development of the world. Page 5, in: Plant Pathology: Problems and Progress, 1908-1958. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press (this is the published version of Stakman’s speech under the same title to APS members during the Golden Jubilee meeting in 1958).
"For better or for worse, plant pathology had its genesis in fields and granaries more than in halls of ivy. Society needed agriculture and agriculture need plant pathology."
E. C. Stakman. 1959. The role of plant pathology in the scientific and social development of the world. Pages 9-10, in: Plant Pathology: Problems and Progress, 1908-1958. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press (this is the published version of Stakman’s speech under the same title to APS members during the Golden Jubilee meeting in 1958).
"Plant pathology has helped reveal profound and useful truths. It was among the pioneers in revealing the vast and variable world of microorganisms and in identifying man’s friends and foes amongst them. It has shown how to combat many of the bad ones and how to utilize some of the good ones."
E. C. Stakman. 1959. The role of plant pathology in the scientific and social development of the world. Page 12, in: Plant Pathology: Problems and Progress, 1908-1958. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press (this is the published version of Stakman’s speech under the same title to APS members during the Golden Jubilee meeting in 1958).
"The American Phytopathological Society has not only witnessed much scientific history but has helped to make it."
E. C. Stakman. 1959. The role of plant pathology in the scientific and social development of the world. Page 12, in: Plant Pathology: Problems and Progress, 1908-1958. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press (this is the published version of Stakman’s speech under the same title to APS members during the Golden Jubilee meeting in 1958).
"The phytopathologists are the trained plant doctors, the ‘medicine men of agriculture,’ whose final goal is successfully to prevent or control plant or crop diseases."
F. D. Heald. 1943. Introduction to Plant Pathology. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, p. 1.
"In the twentieth century, Phytopathology has expanded so far and so rapidly …. This period will, in the future, be distinguished by a broadening of plant pathology into a well-rounded science which in its interrelation with other fields embraces the study of plant disease in its broadest aspects."
J. C. Walker. 1950. Plant Pathology. New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 40.
"We do not regard plant pathology as a disembodied subject but as one of several important approaches to the general problem of supplying mankind with adequate essential plant material."
N. E. Stevens and R. B. Stevens. 1952. Disease in Plants: An Introduction to Agricultural Phytopathology. Waltham, Mass: Chronica Botanica Company, p. 11.
"I am confident that we can provide the adjustments needed in a rapidly changing world--that we can continue to do our bit to help feed a hungry world."
S. E. A McCallan. 1969. A Perspective on Plant Pathology. Annual Review of Phytopathology 7:11.
"Even when experiments by plant disease specialists appear to onlookers most mystifying, they are useful and needed in gaining the knowledge we should have for plant pathology – all for the purpose of insuring human survival."
F. L. Wellman. 1971. Plant Diseases: An Introduction for the Layman. New York: The Natural History Press, p. 2.
"…nonconformity is a great asset to a scientist. We must be curious to see if what we see is what we seem to see. We must analyze it, open it up, turn it over, look underneath it, and look behind."
James G. Horsfall. 1975. Fungi and Fungicides: The Story of a Nonconformist. Annual Review of Phytopathology 13:1.
"Occasionally in recent years I have heard it said that plant pathologists are engaging too much in basic research and are neglecting applied aspects of this science. With this I cannot agree. Both phases are equally important and must be pursued with vigor. Some persons, by training and temperament are happier, and thus more successful, in one phase than in the other. This is good, but plant pathology must remain a well-balanced science, and I am sure that this will continue to be the case."
J. C. Walker. 1975. Some highlights in plant pathology in the United States. Annual Review of Phytopathology 13: 27.
"If my concept of plant pathology is limited, the results of my work in plant pathology will also be limited; whereas, if my concept of plant pathology is unlimited, the potential of my work becomes unlimited, and more stimulating, significant, and rewarding."
William B. Hewitt: 1979, Conceptualizing in Plant Pathology. Annual Review of Phytopathology 17:12.
"Our goal as plant pathologists is to keep plants in good productive health. That goal is important because healthy and productive plants not only are essential but are the very essence of humankind---environment, food, fiber, energy, and general well-being. To reach our goal we plant pathologists must continue to grow not only in knowledge but also in breadth and depth of mind. We need to excel in performance, increase our knowledge, enlarge our scope of concepts in our science, and improve the science and art of plant pathology."
William B. Hewitt: 1979. Conceptualizing in Plant Pathology. Annual Review of Phytopathology 17:1-2.
"Knowledge of the history of one’s subject is an effective antidote to arrogance, since it clearly shows that one’s contributions are small in the total picture, and that their importance bears no relationship to the notice that they may attract at the time."
K. R. Baker. 1982. Meditations on fifty years as an apolitical plant pathologist. Annual Review of Phytopathology 20:23
"Carefully to study a plant-disease problem, which usually involves several disciplines, and see the results translated into improved quantity or quality of food for the world’s populations is to find purpose in research. The proximity of the final judges, the intelligent grower and the completely objective plant, encourages cautious statement. There are, therefore, few journalistic prophets, ivory towers, and brass bands in phytopathology."
K. R. Baker. 1982. Meditations on fifty years as an apolitical plant pathologist. Annual Review of Phytopathology 20:14
"The need for distinction between fundamental (basic, prospecting, pioneering) and applied (mission-oriented, production) research is primarily administrative convenience for allocation of funds."
K. R. Baker. 1982. Meditations on fifty years as an apolitical plant pathologist. Annual Review of Phytopathology 20:20:11
