ARCHER HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING
November 15th Thursday
7 p.m. at Archer’s United Methodist Church,
17121 S.W. 137th Avenue, Archer
WORM THAT ATE ARCHER: Presented by Bill Zettler Phd. Another lesson regarding Archer’s historical past. Dr. Zettler will talk about James Clinton Neal, whose local agricultural research on the “root knot” disease of plants had world wide implications. Unfortunately however his seminal work published in 1888 has largely been forgotten even among scientists. Originally from Indiana and an associate of local horticulturist W.B. Lipsey, Neal’s work explained why so many of Archer’s formerly bountiful crops were suddenly declining precipitously, wreaking havoc to the local economy as the 19th century was drawing to a close. Light refreshments will be served. Please join us.
Bill Zettler Phd. Bill has had a life long interest in the subjects of biology and history. A native of Pennsylvania, he was a faculty member for 37 years at the University’s College of Agriculture before retiring in 2003, and has continued to teach on an ad hoc basis ever since then. One of his most popular courses was “Biohistory: Plants, Plagues, and People”. He is also the author of the book, “The Biohistory of Alachua County, Florida.” He and his wife, Carol, continue to live near Archer itself rich in both biology and history.
Thank you Bill for a wonderful presentation!
