The Botanic Gardens are one of my favourite places to visit while im in Cambridge. The garden was established by Professor John Henslow in 1846, this man is now best remembered for the role he played inspiring a certain pupil named Charles Darwin. The garden retains the original planting scheme within the 'Systematic beds'. This scheme was based on the book 'Pinax theatre botanici' written by the Swiss botanist Caspar Bauhin and published in 1623. The book is the first comprehensive compilation of all plants known at that time and groups them in their imagined families - the start of taxonomy. Without the aid of genetics many of these families of plants have since been found to be correct.
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