Godwin, Harry (1901-1985)

English botanist whose primary research was on the distribution of pollen deposits in the peat of the English Fens. He also made contributions to the science of carbon dating ancient material and the physiology of plants.

Godwin was born in Rotherham, Yorkshire and in 1919, won a scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge, where he graduated in natural sciences 1922. He worked as a research student with the British botanist Frederick Frost Blackman studying the mechanisms of plant respiration and obtaining a PhD 1926. In 1927, he joined the staff of the botany department at Cambridge and began a distinguished career researching the factors controlling the level of pollen in Britain using tree pollen initially as his model. He also made a significant contribution to the science of radiocarbon dating (method of dating ancient organic material using the radioactive isotope carbon-14).

His first book, Plant Biology 1930, was popular for its emphasis on plant physiology rather than simply the anatomy and evolution of plants. He also published The History of the British Flora 1956, which included most of his research on the distribution of pollen deposits in fenland peat. He was made professor of botany 1960, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society 1945 and was knighted 1970.