Adam Lonicer was born on October 10, 1528 in Marburg. After his studies in Marburg and Mainz, Lonicer became professor for Mathematics at the University in Marburg in 1553 and Doctor of Medicine in 1554. Lonicer's real interest though was herbs. In 1578 Lonicer's first important work on herbs was published. From 1557 to 1577 he published four more editions of his book on herbs, entitled "Adam Lonicer's Book of Herbs and Artificial Counterfeiting, with the Art of Distillery" ("Adam Loniceri Kräuter Buch und künstliche Conterfeyungen sammt der Kunst zu Destillieren"). Adam Lonicer died on May 29, 1586 in Frankfurt am Main.