- Aristotle: Over two thousand years ago, he said that plant absorbs all the inorganic and organic material directly from the soil.
- Jan Baptista Von Helmont: In the year 1648, he conducted an experiment. In this experiment, He grew a weighed mass of willow tree in a pot with the weighed amount of soil. He covered the soil with the lid with small the small hole. The lid allows only rainwater to pass. After five years, he discovered that the mass of the tree and soil more than it did at the start. He concluded that major substance for plant growth is water.
- Stephan Hales: He described that plant exchanges gases with the surroundings.
- Priestley: He demonstrates that plant has the ability to reserve air.
- Igenhouz: He discovered that plants has the ability use carbon dioxide only in the presence of sunlight.