Schimper, Karl Friedrich (1803–1867)

German naturalist and poet who proposed many of his scientific ideas in poetic form, including botany, geology, and the formation of the Alps during the Ice Age.

Schimper was born in Mannheim, Germany. His parents soon divorced and he had an unhappy childhood. He became interested in botany while he was still at school, collaborating with his teacher F W L Succow on Flora Mannhemiensis. In 1822, he went to the University of Heidelberg and won a scholarship to study theology. In 1826, he began to study medicine. He went to Munich 1827, where he completed his studies 1829.

He returned to Mannheim 1841, because he had been unable to get an academic appointment in Munich. By 1849, he had still not managed to find regular employment and moved to Schwetzingen, where he died of dropsy. He was a lifelong friend of both Alexander Braun and Louis Agassiz.