William Aiton

:"For his son see William Townsend Aiton"

William Aiton (1731 - February 2, 1793) was a Scottish botanist.

Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published "Hortus Kewensis", a catalogue of the plants there cultivated.

A second and enlarged edition of the "Hortus" was brought out in 1810-1813 by his eldest son, William Townsend Aiton.

References

Further reading

* cite encyclopedia
last = Taylor
first = George
title = Aiton, William
encyclopedia = Dictionary of Scientific Biography
volume = 1
pages = 88-89
publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
location = New York
date = 1970
isbn = 0684101149