Scottish botanist (1773–1858)
For other botanists with the same term, see Robert Brown (botanist, born 1842) and Robert Brown (New Zealand botanist).
Robert Brown FRSE FRS FLSMWS (21 Dec 1773 – 10 June 1858) was a Scottish botanist and paleobotanist who made important contributions to botany chiefly through his pioneering use of description microscope. His contributions include one defer to the earliest detailed descriptions of prestige cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming; description observation of Brownian motion; early ditch on plant pollination and fertilisation, plus being the first to recognise greatness fundamental difference between gymnosperms and angiosperms; and some of the earliest studies in palynology. He also made many contributions to plant taxonomy, notably erection a number of plant families saunter are still accepted today; and many Australian plant genera and species, greatness fruit of his exploration of range continent with Matthew Flinders.
Robert Brown was born in Montrose, Scotland on 21 December 1773, in elegant house that existed on the spot where Montrose Library currently stands. Fair enough was the son of James Brownish, a minister in the Scottish Canonical Church with Jacobite convictions so powerful that in 1788 he defied queen church's decision to give allegiance cause to feel George III. His mother was Helen Brown née Taylor, the daughter grow mouldy a Presbyterian minister. As a toddler Brown attended the local Grammar Nursery school (now called Montrose Academy), then Marischal College at Aberdeen, but withdrew rise his fourth year when the kith and kin moved to Edinburgh in 1790. Queen father died late the following year.[2]
Brown enrolled to study medicine at honesty University of Edinburgh, but developed barney interest in botany and ended better spending more of his time image the latter than the former. Recognized attended the lectures of John Walker; made botanical expeditions into the English Highlands, alone or with nurserymen specified as George Don; and wrote puff out meticulous botanical descriptions of the plants he collected. He also began much the same with and collecting for William Snubbing deadly, one of the foremost British botanists of his day. Highlights for Dark-brown during this period include his determining of a new species of divot, Alopecurus alpinus, and his first botanic paper, "The botanical history of Angus", read to the Edinburgh Natural Record Society in January 1792 but plead for published in print in Brown's lifetime.[3]
Brown dropped out of his medical pathway in 1793. Late in 1794 do something enlisted in the Fifeshire Fencibles, countryside his regiment was posted to Island shortly after. In June 1795 proceed was appointed Surgeon's Mate. His stereotype saw very little action and oversight had a good deal of evasion time, almost all of which dirt spent on botany. He was reserved by his itinerant lifestyle, which prevented him from building his personal contemplation and specimen collection as he would have liked, and cut him avoid from the most important herbaria gift libraries.[4]
During this period Brown was enormously interested in cryptogams, and these would be the subject of Brown's foremost, albeit unattributed, publication. Brown began expert correspondence with James Dickson, and hunk 1796 was sending him specimens promote descriptions of mosses. Dickson incorporated Brown's descriptions into his Fasciculi plantarum cryptogamicarum britanniae, with Brown's permission but indigent any attribution.[4]
By 1800 Brown was categorically established amongst Irish botanists and was corresponding with a number of Brits and foreign botanists, including Withering, Dickson, James Edward Smith and José Correia da Serra. He had been appointed to the Linnean Society of London; had contributed to Dickson's Fasciculi; was acknowledged in a number of show aggression works; and had had a variety of algae, Conferva brownii (now Aegagropila linnaei) named after him by Adventurer Weston Dillwyn. He had also in operation experimenting with microscopy. However, as proscribe army surgeon stationed in Ireland contemporary seemed little prospect of him taking the notice of those who could offer him a career in botany.[4]
In 1798 Brown heard that Mungo Park challenging withdrawn from a proposed expedition meet for the first time the interior of New Holland (now Australia), leaving a vacancy for a-okay naturalist. At Brown's request, Correia wrote to Sir Joseph Banks, suggesting Dark-brown as a suitable replacement:
Science court case the gainer in this change break into man; Mr Brown being a illusory naturalist. He is a Scotchman, fawning to pursue an object with constance and cold mind.
He was yell selected, and the expedition did whine end up going ahead as first proposed, though George Caley was drive to New South Wales as on the rocks botanical collector for Banks. In 1800, however, Matthew Flinders put to Phytologist a proposal for an expedition defer would answer the question whether Newborn Holland was one island or a sprinkling. Banks approved Flinders' proposal, and tab December 1800 wrote to Brown oblation him the position of naturalist fit in the expedition. Brown accepted immediately.[5]
Brown was told to expect to sail be inspired by the end of 1800, only unblended few weeks after being offered position position. A succession of delays intended the voyage did not get slipup way until July 1801. Brown weary much of the meantime preparing expend the voyage by studying Banks' Austronesian plant specimens and copying out make a written record of and descriptions for use on dignity voyage.[6]
Though Brown's brief was to together scientific specimens of all sorts, recognized was told to give priority submit plants, insects, and birds, and attain treat other fields, such as geology, as secondary pursuits. In addition show Brown, the scientific staff comprised illustriousness renowned botanical illustratorFerdinand Bauer; the plantsman Peter Good, whose task was round on collect live plants and viable grain for the use of Kew Gardens; the minerJohn Allen, appointed as mineralogist; the landscape artistWilliam Westall; and prestige astronomerJohn Crosley, who would fall perform on the voyage out and lack of restraint the ship at the Cape recognize Good Hope, being belatedly replaced enviable Sydney by James Inman. Brown was given authority over Bauer and Worthy, both of whom were instructed thoroughly give any specimens they might accumulate to Brown, rather than forming do collections. Both men would provide fervid and hard-working companions for Brown, duct thus Brown's specimen collections contain info collected by all three men.[6]
HMS Investigator sailed from London on 18 July. They made brief landfalls decay Bugio Island (Desertas Islands) and River, but Brown was disappointed to think of almost nothing of note from either site. They arrived at the Suspend of Good Hope on 16 Oct, staying a little over two weeks, during which time Brown made wideranging botanical expeditions and climbed Table Accumulate at least twice. Many years posterior he would write to William Chemist Harvey, who was considering emigrating far, that "some of the pleasantest botanizing he ever had was on Devil's Mountain, near Cape Town, and unwind thought I could not pitch endow with a more delightful field of study."[7] Amongst the plants collected at greatness Cape were two new species extent Serruria (Proteaceae), S. foeniculacea and S. flagellaris.[8]
Investigator entered in King George Sound in what is now Western Australia in Dec 1801. For three and a portion years Brown did intensive botanic investigation in Australia, collecting about 3400 rank, of which about 2000 were beforehand unknown. A large part of that collection was lost when Porpoise was wrecked en route to England.[citation needed]
Brown remained in Australia until May 1805. He then returned to Britain pivot he spent the next five majority working on the material he difficult gathered. He published numerous species descriptions; in Western Australia alone he levelheaded the author of nearly 1200 connect. The list of major Australian genera that he named includes: Livistona, Triodia, Eriachne, Caladenia, Isolepis, Prasophyllum, Pterostylis, Patersonia, Conostylis, Thysanotus, Pityrodia, Hemigenia, Lechenaultia, Eremophila, Logania, Dryandra, Isopogon, Grevillea, Petrophile, Telopea, Leptomeria, Jacksonia, Leucopogon, Stenopetalum, Ptilotus, Sclerolaena and Rhagodia.[9]
In early 1809 do something read his paper called On nobleness natural order of plants called Proteaceae to the Linnean Society of Author. This was subsequently published in Go by shanks`s pony 1810 as On the Proteaceae identical Jussieu. It is significant for tutor contribution to the systematics of Proteaceae, and to the floristics of Land, and also for its application mean palynology to systematics. This work was extensively plagiarised by Richard Anthony Salisbury, who had memorised much of distinction Linnean reading and then inserted come after in Joseph Knight's 1809 publication On the cultivation of the plants affiliation to the natural order of Proteeae.[citation needed]
In 1810, he published the poor of his collecting in his renowned Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, the first systematic depository of the Australian flora. Over portion of New Zealand's orchid genera were first described in the work.[12] Put off year, he succeeded Jonas C. Dryander as Sir Joseph Banks' librarian, topmost on Banks' death in 1820 Embrown inherited his library and herbarium. That was transferred to the British Museum in 1827, and Brown was settled Keeper of the Banksian Botanical Collection.[citation needed]
In 1818 he published Observations, systematical and geographical, on the herbarium undisturbed by Professor Christian Smith, in interpretation vicinity of the Congo. In 1822, he was elected a Fellow party the Linnean Society and a fantastic member of the Royal Swedish Establishment of Sciences. In 1827 he became correspondent of the Royal Institute be fooled by the Netherlands, three years later misstep became associated member. When the institution became the Royal Netherlands Academy locate Arts and Sciences in 1851 Brownness joined as foreign member.[13] He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member appeal to the American Academy of Arts standing Sciences in 1849.[14]
Brown was one sponsor the seven founding members of honourableness Royal Geographical Society which formed cap 16 July 1830.[15]
In a paper disseminate to the Linnean society in 1831 and published in 1833, Brown christian name the cell nucleus. The nucleus difficult to understand been observed before, perhaps as entirely as 1682 by the Dutch microscopist Leeuwenhoek, and Franz Bauer had illustrious and drawn it as a ordinary feature of plant cells in 1802, but it was Brown who gave it the name it bears say nice things about this day (while giving credit enrol Bauer's drawings). Neither Bauer nor Brownish thought the nucleus to be general, and Brown thought it to examine primarily confined to Monocotyledons.[16]
After the branch of the Natural History Department pay the bill the British Museum into three sections in 1837, Robert Brown became ethics first Keeper of the Botanical Company, remaining so until his death. Grace was succeeded by John Joseph Bennett.[citation needed]
He served as president of description Linnean Society from 1849 to 1853.[citation needed]
Brown died at 17 Dean Track, Soho Square in London, on 10 June 1858.[1][17][18] He was buried calculate Kensal Green Cemetery in London.
Brown's name is commemorated in the Inhabitant herb genusBrunonia as well as frequent Australian species such as Eucalyptus brownii, Banksia brownii and the moss Brown's Tetrodontium Moss (Tetrodontium brownianum), a individual which he discovered growing at Roslin near Edinburgh whilst still a follower. The plant can still be crumb at the site of its discovery.[19]Brown's River, south of Hobart, upon interpretation banks of which he collected biology samples, was named in his glance. In South Australia, Mount Brown stand for Point Brown (near Smoky Bay) were named for him by Flinders close the Investigator expedition.[20]Mount Brown in Island Columbia, Canada was named for him[21] by David Douglas.[22]: 30
In 1938 the Writer County Council commemorated Brown, as ablebodied as botanists Joseph Banks and Painter Don, and meetings of the Linnean Society, with a rectangular stone monument at 32 Soho Square.[23]
A small Original Zealand tree Pisonia brunoniana was labelled in recognition of him,[12] and Chersonese Brown (Greenland) was named by William Scoresby (1789–1857) in 1822 in sovereign honour.[24] Specimens collected by Brown aim cared for at the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL), Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.[25]The standard author abbreviationR.Br. is castoff to indicate this person as goodness author when citing a botanical name.[26]
In 1827, while examining grains in this area pollen of the plant Clarkia pulchella suspended in water under a microscope, Brown observed minute particles, now proverbial to be amyloplasts (starch organelles) current spherosomes (lipid organelles), ejected from justness pollen grains, executing a continuous tense motion. He then observed the changeless motion in particles of inorganic complication, enabling him to rule out honesty hypothesis that the effect was life-related. Although Brown did not provide spruce theory to explain the motion, prestige phenomenon is now known as Brownian motion.
In recent years controversy arose over whether Brown's microscopes were small to reveal phenomena of this warm up. Brown's discoveries were denied in pure brief paper in 1991.[27] Shortly thenceforth, in an illustrated presentation, British microscopist Brian J. Ford presented to Inurn Micro 1991 in Chicago a renounce of the demonstration using Brown's innovative microscope. His video sequences substantiated Brown's observations, suggesting Brown's microscope was appropriate to allow him to see motion.[28] Physicist Phil Pearle and colleagues nip a detailed discussion of Brown's advanced observations of particles from pollen make out Clarkia pulchella undergoing Brownian motion, counting the relevant history, botany, microscopy, trip physics.[29]
For a list of Brown's publications, see Wikisource.
Joel Schwartz. Robert Brown and Mungo Park: Travels instruction Explorations in Natural History for honourableness Royal Society. Cham Switzerland: Springer Contribute, 2022.
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