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Robert Brown (21 December 1773 – 10 June 1858) was a Scottish botanist and paleobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope. His contributions include one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the
cell nucleus The cell nucleus (pl. nuclei; from Latin or , meaning ''kernel'' or ''seed'') is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, h ...
and cytoplasmic streaming; the observation of Brownian motion; early work on plant
pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an Stamen, anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by Anemophily, wind. Pollinating agents can ...
and
fertilisation Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Pro ...
, including being the first to recognise the fundamental difference between gymnosperms and
angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants ...
; and some of the earliest studies in palynology. He also made numerous contributions to plant taxonomy, notably erecting a number of plant families that are still accepted today; and numerous
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
n plant genera and species, the fruit of his exploration of that continent with Matthew Flinders.


Early life

Robert Brown was born in Montrose on 21 December 1773, in a house that existed on the site where Montrose Library currently stands. He was the son of James Brown, a minister in the
Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...
with Jacobite convictions so strong that in 1788 he defied his church's decision to give allegiance to
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. His mother was Helen Brown ''née'' Taylor, the daughter of a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
minister. As a child Brown attended the local Grammar School (now called
Montrose Academy Montrose Academy is a coeducational secondary school in Montrose Angus. The School now teaches people from ages 11–18. It became a comprehensive school in the mid-fifties and was one of a pair of Scottish schools which formed a country-wide tr ...
), then
Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on lon ...
at
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
, but withdrew in his fourth year when the family moved to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
in 1790. His father died late the following year. Brown enrolled to study pp
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...
, but developed an interest in
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
, and ended up spending more of his time on the latter than the former. He attended the lectures of John Walker; made botanical expeditions into the
Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...
, alone or with nurserymen such as
George Don George Don (29 April 1798 – 25 February 1856) was a Scottish botanist and plant collector. Life and career George Don was born at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 29 April 1798 to Caroline Clementina Stuart and George Don (b.1756), ...
; and wrote out meticulous botanical descriptions of the plants he collected. He also began corresponding with and collecting for
William Withering William Withering FRS (17 March 1741 – 6 October 1799) was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and first systematic investigator of the bioactivity of digitalis. Withering was born in Wellington, Shropshire, the son of a surg ...
, one of the foremost British botanists of his day. Highlights for Brown during this period include his discovery of a new species of grass, ''Alopecurus alpinus''; and his first botanical paper, " The botanical history of Angus", read to the Edinburgh Natural History Society in January 1792, but not published in print in Brown's lifetime.Mabberley (1985) ''pp.'' 18–28. Brown dropped out of his medical course in 1793. Late in 1794, he enlisted in the Fifeshire Fencibles, and his regiment was posted to Ireland shortly after. In June 1795 he was appointed
Surgeon's Mate A surgeon's mate was a rank in the Royal Navy for a medically trained assistant to the ship's surgeon. The rank was renamed assistant surgeon in 1805, and was considered equivalent to the rank of master's mate/mate. In 1807, first-rate would ...
. His regiment saw very little action, however, he had a good deal of leisure time, almost all of which he spent on botany. He was frustrated by his itinerant lifestyle, which prevented him from building his personal library and specimen collection as he would have liked, and cut him off from the most important herbaria and libraries.Mabberley (1985) ''p.'' 28–60. During this period Brown was especially interested in cryptogams, and these would be the subject of Brown's first, albeit unattributed, publication. Brown began a correspondence with James Dickson, and by 1796 was sending him specimens and descriptions of mosses. Dickson incorporated Brown's descriptions into his ''Fasciculi plantarum cryptogamicarum britanniae'', with Brown's permission but without any attribution. By 1800, Brown was firmly established amongst Irish botanists, and was corresponding with a number of British and foreign botanists, including Withering, Dickson, James Edward Smith and
José Correia da Serra José Francisco Correia da Serra (6 June 1750 – 11 September 1823) was a Portuguese Abbot, polymath – philosopher, diplomat, politician and scientist. In some circumstances, he was also known as '' Abbé Correa.'' The plant genus Correa, ...
. He had been nominated to the
Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...
; had contributed to Dickson's ''Fasciculi''; was acknowledged in a number of other works; and had had a species of algae, ''Conferva brownii'' (now '' Aegagropila linnaei'') named after him by Lewis Weston Dillwyn. He had also begun experimenting with microscopy. However, as an army surgeon stationed in Ireland there seemed little prospect of him attracting the notice of those who could offer him a career in botany.


To Australia on the ''Investigator''

In 1798, Brown heard that Mungo Park had withdrawn from a proposed expedition into the interior of New Holland (now
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
), leaving a vacancy for a naturalist. At Brown's request, Correia wrote to Sir Joseph Banks, suggesting Brown as a suitable replacement: He was not selected, and the expedition did not end up going ahead as originally proposed, though
George Caley George Caley (10 June 1770 – 23 May 1829) was an English botanist and explorer, active in Australia for the majority of his career. Early life Caley was born in Craven, Yorkshire, England, the son of a horse-dealer. He was educated at the ...
was sent to
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
as a botanical collector for Banks. In 1800, however, Matthew Flinders put to Banks a proposal for an expedition that would answer the question whether New Holland was one island or several. Banks approved Flinders' proposal, and in December 1800 wrote to Brown offering him the position of naturalist to the expedition. Brown accepted immediately.Mabberley (1985), ''pp.'' 59–63.


Preparations

Brown was told to expect to sail at the end of 1800, only a few weeks after being offered the position. A succession of delays meant the voyage did not get under way until July 1801. Brown spent much of the meantime preparing for the voyage by studying Banks' Australian plant specimens and copying out notes and descriptions for use on the voyage.Mabberley (1985), ''pp.'' 66–72. Though Brown's brief was to collect scientific specimens of all sorts, he was told to give priority to plants, insects, and birds, and to treat other fields, such as
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...
, as secondary pursuits. In addition to Brown, the scientific staff comprised the renowned botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer; the gardener
Peter Good Peter Good (date of birth unknown, died 12 June 1803) was the gardener assistant to botanist Robert Brown on the voyage of HMS ''Investigator'' under Matthew Flinders, during which the coast of Australia was charted, and various plants collected. ...
, whose task was to collect live plants and viable seed for the use of Kew Gardens; the miner John Allen, appointed as mineralogist; the
landscape artist Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...
William Westall William Westall (12 October 1781 – 22 January 1850) was a British landscape artist best known as one of the first artists to work in Australia. Early life Westall was born in Hertford and grew up in London, mostly Sydenham and Hampstead. ...
; and the
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
John Crosley, who would fall ill on the voyage out and leave the ship at the Cape of Good Hope, being belatedly replaced at Sydney by James Inman. Brown was given authority over Bauer and Good, both of whom were instructed to give any specimens they might collect to Brown, rather than forming separate collections. Both men would provide enthusiastic and hard-working companions for Brown, and thus Brown's specimen collections contain material collected by all three men.


Desertas, Madeira and the Cape of Good Hope

''Investigator'' sailed from London on 18 July. They made brief landfalls at Bugio Island ( Desertas Islands) and
Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
, but Brown was disappointed to collect almost nothing of note from either site. They arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 16 October, staying a little over two weeks, during which time Brown made extensive botanical expeditions, and climbed Table Mountain at least twice. Many years later he would write to William Henry Harvey, who was considering emigrating there, that "some of the pleasantest botanizing he ever had was on Devil's Mountain, near
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, and he thought I could not pitch on a more delightful field of study." Amongst the plants collected at the Cape were two new species of ''
Serruria ''Serruria'', or spiderhead is a genus of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa. Names ''Serruria'' was named in honor of Joseph Serrurier, a professor of botany at the Utrecht University early in the eighteent ...
'' ( Proteaceae), '' S. foeniculacea'' and '' S. flagellaris''.Mabberley (1985), ''pp.'' 73–79.


Australia

arrived in King George Sound in what is now
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...
in December 1801. For three and a half years Brown did intensive botanic research in Australia, collecting about 3400 species, of which about 2000 were previously unknown. A large part of this collection was lost when was wrecked ''en route'' to England. Brown remained in Australia until May 1805. He then returned to Britain where he spent the next five years working on the material he had gathered. He published numerous species descriptions; in Western Australia alone he is the author of nearly 1200 species. The list of major Australian genera that he named includes: Livistona, Triodia, Eriachne,
Caladenia ''Caladenia'', commonly known as spider orchids, is a genus of 350 species of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Spider orchids are terrestrial herbs with a single hairy leaf and a hairy stem. The labellum is fringed or toothed in most s ...
, Isolepis,
Prasophyllum ''Prasophyllum'', commonly known as leek orchids, is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae and is found in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian species are found in all states but have not been r ...
, Pterostylis, Patersonia,
Conostylis ''Conostylis'' is a genus of perennial herbs in the Haemodoraceae family, commonly known as cone flowers. All species are endemic to the south west of Western Australia. Taxonomy The genus is the most speciose of the Haemodoraceae family, ...
,
Thysanotus ''Thysanotus'' is a genus of perennial herbs in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae Lomandroideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales, according to the APG III system of 20 ...
,
Pityrodia ''Pityrodia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae and is endemic to Australia, most species occurring in Western Australia, a few in the Northern Territory and one in Queensland. Plants in this genus are shrubs ...
, Hemigenia, Lechenaultia, Eremophila, Logania,
Dryandra ''Banksia'' ser. ''Dryandra'' is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus ''Banksia''. It was considered a separate genus named ''Dryandra'' until early 2007, when it was merged into ''Banksia'' on the basis of extensi ...
,
Isopogon ''Isopogon'', commonly known as conesticks, conebushes or coneflowers, is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, and are endemic to Australia. They are shrubs with rigid leaves, bisexual flowers in a dense ...
, Grevillea,
Petrophile ''Petrophile'' is a genus of evergreen shrubs, in the family Proteaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia. Commonly known as conebushes, they typically have prickly, divided foliage and produce prominently-displayed pink, yellow or cream flow ...
, Telopea, Leptomeria, Jacksonia, Leucopogon, Stenopetalum,
Ptilotus ''Ptilotus'' R.Br. is a genus of approximately 120 species of annual and perennial herbs and shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. All species are native to mainland Australia, although one species, '' Ptilotus spathulatus'' (R.Br.) Poir., also oc ...
,
Sclerolaena ''Sclerolaena '' is a genus of annuals or short-lived perennials in the family Chenopodiaceae (''sensu stricto''), which are included in Amaranthaceae (''sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number ...
and
Rhagodia ''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classific ...
.


Subsequent career

In early 1809 he read his paper called ''
On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae ''On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae'', also published as "On the Proteaceae of Jussieu", was a paper written by Robert Brown on the taxonomy of the plant family Proteaceae. It was read to the Linnean Society of London in the first q ...
'' to the
Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...
. This was subsequently published in March 1810 as ''On the Proteaceae of Jussieu''. It is significant for its contribution to the systematics of Proteaceae, and to the floristics of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, and also for its application of palynology to systematics. This work was extensively plagiarised by Richard Anthony Salisbury, who had memorised much of the Linnean reading and then inserted it in Joseph Knight's 1809 publication ''
On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae ''On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae'' is an 1809 paper on the family Proteaceae of flowering plants. Although nominally written by Joseph Knight as a paper on cultivation techniques, all but 13 pages con ...
''. In 1810, he published the results of his collecting in his famous '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'', the first systematic account of the Australian flora. Over half of New Zealand's orchid genera were first described in the work. That year, he succeeded
Jonas C. Dryander Jonas Carlsson Dryander (5 March 1748 – 19 October 1810) was a Swedish botanist. Biography Dryander was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was the son of Carl Leonard Dryander and Brita Maria Montin. He was a pupil of Carl Linnaeus at Uppsa ...
as Sir Joseph Banks' librarian, and on Banks' death in 1820 Brown inherited his
library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
and
herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (calle ...
. This was transferred to the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in 1827, and Brown was appointed Keeper of the Banksian Botanical Collection. In 1818 he published '' Observations, systematical and geographical, on the herbarium collected by Professor Christian Smith, in the vicinity of the Congo''. In 1822, he was elected a
Fellow of the Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1827 he became correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, three years later he became associated member. When the institute became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1851 Brown joined as foreign member. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1849. In a paper read to the Linnean society in 1831 and published in 1833, Brown named the
cell nucleus The cell nucleus (pl. nuclei; from Latin or , meaning ''kernel'' or ''seed'') is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, h ...
. The nucleus had been observed before, perhaps as early as 1682 by the Dutch microscopist
Leeuwenhoek Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " the F ...
, and Franz Bauer had noted and drawn it as a regular feature of plant cells in 1802, but it was Brown who gave it the name it bears to this day (while giving credit to Bauer's drawings). Neither Bauer nor Brown thought the nucleus to be universal, and Brown thought it to be primarily confined to Monocotyledons. After the division of the Natural History Department of the British Museum into three sections in 1837, Robert Brown became the first Keeper of the Botanical Department, remaining so until his death. He was succeeded by John Joseph Bennett. He served as President of the Linnean Society from 1849 to 1853. Brown died at 17 Dean Street, Soho Square in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, on 10 June 1858. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London. Brown's name is commemorated in the Australia
herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
'' Brunonia'' as well as numerous Australian species such as '' Eucalyptus brownii'', ''
Banksia brownii ''Banksia brownii'', commonly known as feather-leaved banksia or Brown's banksia, is a species of shrub that grows in southwest Western Australia. A plant with fine feathery leaves and large red-brown flower spikes, it usually grows as an upri ...
'' and the moss Brown's Tetrodontium Moss (''Tetrodontium brownianum''), a species which he discovered growing at Roslin near
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
whilst still a student. The plant can still be found at the site of its discovery."Bryology (mosses, liverworts and hornworts)"
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
Passing through the suburb of Kingston, south of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly Van Diemen's Land, is Brown's River, named in his honor, upon the banks of which, he collected botanical samples. In South Australia, Mount Brown and Point Brown (near Smoky Bay) were named for him by Flinders during the ''Investigator'' expedition. Mount Brown in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
, Canada was named for him by David Douglas. In 1938 the
London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...
commemorated Brown, as well as botanists Joseph Banks and David Don, and meetings of the Linnean Society, with a rectangular stone plaque at 32 Soho Square. A small New Zealand tree Pisonia brunoniana was named in recognition of him, and
Cape Brown (Greenland) Cape Brown ( da, Kap Brown) is a headland in the Greenland Sea, east Greenland, Sermersooq municipality. History This headland was named "Cape Brown" by William Scoresby (1789 – 1857) in 1822 to honour Scottish botanist Robert Brown (1773 ...
was named by William Scoresby (1789–1857) in 1822 in his honour.Place names, NE Greenland
/ref>


Brownian motion

In 1827, while examining grains of pollen of the plant ''
Clarkia pulchella ''Clarkia pulchella'' also known as pinkfairies, ragged robin, and deerhorn clarkia is a species of flowering plant in the family Onagraceae. Description An herbaceous perennial plant, it is the type species of ''Clarkia''. This plant is , erect ...
'' suspended in water under a
microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisi ...
, Brown observed minute particles, now known to be amyloplasts (starch organelles) and spherosomes (lipid organelles), ejected from the pollen grains, executing a continuous jittery motion. He then observed the same motion in particles of inorganic matter, enabling him to rule out the hypothesis that the effect was life-related. Although Brown did not provide a theory to explain the motion the phenomenon is now known as Brownian motion. In recent years controversy arose over whether Brown's microscopes were sufficient to reveal phenomena of this order. Brown's discoveries were denied in a brief paper in 1991. Shortly thereafter, in an illustrated presentation, British microscopist
Brian J. Ford Brian J. Ford HonFLS HonFRMS (born 1939 in Corsham, Wiltshire) is an independent research biologist, author, and lecturer, who publishes on scientific issues for the general public. He has also been a television personality for more than 40 ...
presented to Inter Micro 1991 in Chicago a reprise of the demonstration using Brown's original microscope. His video sequences substantiated Brown's observations, suggesting Brown's microscope was sufficient to allow him to see motion. Physicist Phil Pearle and colleagues presented a detailed discussion of Brown's original observations of particles from pollen of ''
Clarkia pulchella ''Clarkia pulchella'' also known as pinkfairies, ragged robin, and deerhorn clarkia is a species of flowering plant in the family Onagraceae. Description An herbaceous perennial plant, it is the type species of ''Clarkia''. This plant is , erect ...
'' undergoing Brownian motion, including the relevant history, botany, microscopy, and physics.Pearle, P., Collett, B., Bart, K., Bilderback, D., Newman, D., and Samuels, S. (2010
What Brown saw and you can too
''Am. J. Phys.'' 78: 1278–1289. See als

/ref>


Publications

For a list of Brown's publications, see Wikisource.


See also

* Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen * Brown's taxonomic arrangement of ''Banksia'' * List of Australian plant species authored by Robert Brown * European and American voyages of scientific exploration *
Character and description of Kingia ''Character and description of Kingia, a new genus of plants found on the south-west coast of New Holland, with observations on the structure of its unimpregnated ovulum, and on the female flower of Cycadeae and Coniferae'' is an 1826 paper by b ...
* Taxa named by Robert Brown


Notes


Further reading

* * * * Mabberley, David (2002), 'Brown, Robert', in R. Aitken and M. Looker (eds), ''Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens'', South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, pp. 108–10. * Moore, D. T. and Groves, E.W . A catalogue of plants written by Robert Brown (1773–1858) in New South Wales: first impressions of the flora of the Sydney region. ''Archives of Natural History'' 24 (2): 281–293 (June 1997). * Munster, P., (2002), 'Robert Brown at Swan Bay', ''Australian Garden History'', 14 (3), p. 10.


External links


''Classic papers by Robert Brown''
PDFs of several original papers by Robert Brown are available from this webpage.
''Robert Brown’s Australian Botanical Specimens, 1801–1805 at the British Museum (BM)''
A comprehensive database.
Robert Brown's work on orchids.


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Robert Botanical collectors active in Australia Botanists active in Australia Scottish botanists 1773 births 1858 deaths British pteridologists British taxonomists Bryologists Botany in Western Australia Paleobotanists Probability theorists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the Royal Society Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Presidents of the Linnean Society of London Recipients of the Copley Medal Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish curators Scottish librarians Scottish mycologists Scottish naturalists Scottish soldiers Scottish surgeons People from Montrose, Angus 19th-century British botanists 19th-century Latin-language writers 18th-century Scottish medical doctors Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery