Key inquiry questions
• Why was Joseph Banks on board HMB Endeavour?
• What were the contributions of Banks and Solander to 18C science?
Banks and Botany
A man of influence Banks used his position and contacts in the Royal Society to join the Endeavour's voyage of exploration to pursue knowledge in the natural history of new lands. A wealthy man, Banks paid £10,000 for the ship to be refitted for his needs. He brought with him a team of eight men and their servants and took over the Great Cabin for their study and work. His vast amount of equipment included a comprehensive library of over 150 books, special equipment for dissecting and preserving, microscopes, a new sea telescope, paper for drying plants, tin and wooden trunks for storage, beads and mirrors.
Dr Daniel Solander, a Swedish Botanist was hired by Banks for £440 to assist him in collecting and describing plant specimens using the new classification system developed by Solander's teacher, Carl Linnaeus. Linnaean Classification groups like with like using the binomial nomenclature, Latin two-term name system we still use today. Engage with the Linnaean Classification pages at Virtual Endeavour Teacher Resources.
'Discoveries'
During the Enlightenment there was great interest in the study of the natural world. Banks was a disciplined and dedicated scientist and was described as intensely interested in everything. Banks and his colleagues collected natural history specimens including plants, reptiles, fish, shellfish and insects, sketched and made drawings and kept detailed journals of the lands they encountered. Banks and Solander catalogued over 30,000 new plant species. This increased the number of species known to Western science by 10%.
Question: How would scientific ‘discoveries' have been different if Europeans had recognised the valuable scientific knowledge held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
Main image: View of the Great Cabin showing table covered in green felt. Various items sit on top of the table including tea set, writing quills, books, and botanical specimens in baskets.