1-149-004 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

John Ray, English naturalist, 1680s. Illustrated plate from the 1703 edition of Methodus Pantarum Nova by John Ray, first published in 1682. Ray was a naturalist and the pioneer of plant taxonomy. He toured Europe extensively, studying flora and fauna - his botanical work includes the study of some 18,600 species. Ray had the view that fossils were the petrified remains of animals and plants, although this was not actually accepted until a century later.