Joseph Banks

Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet ( born February 2, 1742jul / February 13 1743greg in London. . † June 19, 1820 ) was an English naturalist, botanist particular, the mid-18th century, James Cook on his first voyage and circumnavigation (1768-1771) accompanied and made numerous scientific discoveries. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Banks ".

Life and work

Joseph Banks came in Westminster, England, the only son of William Banks (1719-1761) and Sarah Banks, nee Bate (1720-1804) to the world. The family home in Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire had been bought in 1714 by the great-grandfather.

The young Banks was initially taught at home. From April 1752 he attended the Harrow School and moved in September 1756 Eton College. In December 1760 he joined Oxford in Christ Church College. Already at Eton Banks discovered his passion for botany and continued his studies at Oxford continued. Since he came from affluent circumstances, the twenty-five -year-old headed to the financing of James Cook 's first expedition of the HMS Endeavour in the same amount as the crown.

In 1766 he left England and went with Constantine John Phipps to Newfoundland and Labrador to there natural history studies carried out. He described the plants and animals of northeastern North America. Banks described 34 species of birds including the Great Auk ( Alca impennis ), which became extinct in 1844.

Banks was appointed by the Royal Navy as well as by the Royal Society as a participant for the scientific expedition of James Cook to the South Pacific from 1768 to 1771. Banks had to participate in this expedition of 1768 well organized. He selected a staff of ten people. The 39 -year-old botanist Daniel Solander, was a student of Carl Linnaeus and also a member of the Royal Society. With Solander he formed a lifelong friendship. Two artists should the discoveries of the expedition hold: Sydney C. Parkinson and Alexander Buchan, the plants of the countryside. From this expedition he first brought the eucalyptus, acacia and mimosa to Europe. The Voyage of the Endeavour led first to Brazil, then in other parts of South America. In Brazil, the scientific description of the bougainvillea was ( named after the French botanist Louis Antoine de Bougainville ). The trip took then to Tahiti, where the transit of Venus should be observed, the actual task of this mission. It was followed by New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, where James Cook anchored in Botany Bay. Here the expedition spent almost seven weeks ashore while the ship was overhauled. During her stay Australia Banks, the Swedish botanist Daniel Solander and the Finnish botanist Herman Spöring (1733-1771) put on their first major collections of Australian flora and described many new species.

Further research trips led Banks among others to Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia ( Botany Bay, Port Jackson (now Sydney duly ) ) and Brazil. In 1772, he undertook with Solander with the St. Lawrence an expedition to Iceland.

Since 1773 he was the unofficial director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, which experienced a boom under its influence. In 1774 he was inducted into the Society of Dilettanti. He was a founding member and life is the driving force behind the African Association. After his election as President of the Royal Society, he was raised in 1781 by awarding the title of Baronet as the hereditary knights in the lower nobility and was allowed to " Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. [ or Bt ] " call. In 1795 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath ( Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath ). In March 1779 he married Dorothea Hugessen ( 1758-1828 ). They had no children.

As the longest serving president of the Royal Society of 1778-1820 he was in contact with leading researchers of his time. He initiated the breadfruit expedition of the Bounty Lieutenant William Bligh led by. Bligh sailed as mate on the Resolution on Cook's third voyage around the world.

With the German naturalist and travel writer Georg Forster, who accompanied Cook on his second Pacific voyage, he stood for years in the correspondence. 1785 Banks was an honorary member of the Royal. Bavarian Academy of Sciences appointed. In 1789 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

With the assistance of Robert Brown in 1819 he introduced John Lindley as the auxiliary librarian. Lindley completed after his death his writings. The correspondence from Banks ' estate is largely kept in Australia.

Honors

Banks Island in the Canadian Northwest Territories, the fifth largest island in Canada, was named in his honor. A New Zealand Peninsula, Banks Peninsula, as well as the district appearing on this have been named after him. In the district of Botany in Sydney a park, a street and an industrial area are named after Banks. The plant genus Banksia of the family silver tree plants ( Proteaceae ) is named in his honor.

His portrait is located since 1967 on the 5 dollar bill in Australia.

Writings (selection )

• The Propriety of Allowing a Qualified Exportation of Wool. Printed for P. Elmsly, 1782 - Anonymous
• Account of Staffa. In: Thomas Pennant. A tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides, 1772, Volume 1, London 1774, pp. 299-309 (online). likewise In: Uno by Troil: Letters on Iceland. London 1780, pp. 288-293 (online).