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Rudolf Mathias Schuster | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 8, 1921 |
| Died | November 16, 2012 (aged 91) |
| Other names | Rudy Schuster |
| Occupation(s) | botanist, bryologist |
| Scientific career | |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | R.M.Schust. |
Dr. Rudolf Mathias Schuster was a German-born U.S. botanist, bryologist and scholar. He has contributed greatly to the study of liverworts, having created a classification of them that was considered standard for many years, described many bryophyte taxa of different levels, published over 250 scientific articles and collected over 80000 specimens for his herbarium on every continent. One of his most notable works is his illustrated liverwort manual of eastern North America titled "The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America, east of the hundredth meridian", in 6 volumes and covering almost 6000 pages.
Biography edit
R.M.Schuster was born in 1921 in Altmuhldorf, near Munich in Bavaria, southern Germany. He has been interested in natural history since his childhood. His father Mathias owned a small cabinet-making business, but due to the severe economical depression immigrated to New York, US in 1929. A year later in 1930, the rest of the family, including Rudy Schuster, followed.
He received American citizenship in 1937. As a teenager Rudy started working as cabinet-maker's assistant to his father while studying in Stuyvesant High School, and completed his schooling in 1939. In 1942, he was accepted into Cornell University in Ithaca, where he took up a study of a genus of parasitic wasps and gained his bachelor's and master's degrees in science. In 1946, he began studying at University of Minnesota where his focus shifted from entomology to hepaticology (a subset of bryology focusing on liverworts), which had only been a hobby until then.
He worked at the Mississippi University as an Assistant Professor from 1950 to 1953, then moved to Duke University in North Carolina for three years. For most of his career, Dr. Schuster taught and conducted his botanical research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. There, he was appointed Associate Professor in 1957, became a full professor a year later and taught until his retirement in 1983. Rudolf Schuster himself stated that he didn't like teaching and avoided it at the slightest opportunity, but loved travelling. However, his six-volume flora and encyclopedia "The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America" is now considered an essential book for modern hepaticologists, so in a way all of them are more or less his students.
Personal life edit
During his Cornell days, Rudolf Schuster met his future wife Olga Marguerite Schuster, whom he married in 1943. He named two taxa of liverworts after her, including the genus Rudolgaea (a combination of his and his wife's names). She was his constant companion and assistant, curating his herbarium and typing and editing his books and articles until her death in 2005. Their daughters Erica and Hilda were born in 1948 and 1951, respectively. Later, Rudolf Schuster got married again to Marlene Schuster, who contributed to his later bryological works.
Death edit
Rudolf Schuster peacefully passed away on Friday, November 16th in 2012, surrounded by his family.
Research edit
Bibliography edit
Rudolf Schuster's bibliography includes over 250 scientific articles, some of them lengthy and almost book-like, as well as several books.
Boreal Hepaticae, a Manual of the Liverworts of Minnesota and Adjacent Regions (1953-1958) edit
From 1946 to 1948, he focused on "Boreal Hepaticae, a Manual of the Liverworts of Minnesota and Adjacent Regions", which would eventually become his first major liverwort flora. He carried out most of the field work for this flora himself. It consists of three volumes, all published in The American Midland Naturalist journal.
- SCHUSTER, R.M. Boreal hepaticae, a manual of the liverworts of Minnesota and adjacent regions. –The American Midland Naturalist 49(2): 257–684. https://doi.org/10.2307/2422089 (1953)
- SCHUSTER, R.M. Boreal hepaticae, a manual of the liverworts of Minnesota and adjacent regions. II. Ecology. – The American Midland Naturalist 57(1-2): 203–299. (1957)
- SCHUSTER, R.M. Boreal hepaticae, a manual of the liverworts of Minnesota and adjacent regions. III. Phytogeography. – The American Midland Naturalist 59(2): 257–332. (1958)
The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America, east of the hundredth meridian (1966-1992) edit
R.M.Schuster's biggest and most celebrated project, which became colloquially known as "The Big Green Book". It is both a flora and an encyclopedia that introduces the reader to morphology and anatomy of bryophytes. Since Rudolf Schuster was of German descent, he could read the 19th century German botanical literature, which contributed to his knowledge.
- SCHUSTER, R.M. The hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America east of the hundredth meridian. Vol. I. –New York, Columbia University Press, 1–802 pp. (1966)
- SCHUSTER, R.M. The hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America east of the hundredth meridian. Vol. II. –New York, Columbia University Press, 1–1062 pp. (1969)
- SCHUSTER, R.M. The hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America east of the hundredth meridian. Vol. III. – New York, Columbia University Press, 1–880 pp. (1974)
- SCHUSTER, R.M. The hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America east of the hundredth meridian. Vol. IV. – New York, Columbia University Press, 1–1334 pp. (1980)
- SCHUSTER, R.M. The hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. Vol. V. – Chicago, Field Museum, 1–854 pp. (1992)
- SCHUSTER, R.M. The hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. Vol. VI. – Chicago, Field Museum, 1–937 pp. (1992)
Austral Hepaticae edit
R.M.Schuster's unfinished book series on liverworts, consisting of 3 books, which he kept actively working on. The third and last volume was published in 2021 after his death.
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