Danial Solander (1733-1782)was a Swedish natural scientist..and the first to go to Australia. Solander had been one of Linnaeus' students and in 1760, he went to England to spread Linneaus' classification system. In 1763, he was appointed as the Assitant Librarian here at the British Museum. In 1768, he went with the Museum's great patron, Joseph Banks on Captain Cook's first voyage to the Pacific. He and Banks created an important collection of Australian plants from that trip. He later accompanied Banks on other trips to Iceland, the Faroes and Orkney Islands. He the served as the Keeper of the Natural History Department of the British Museum 1773-1782.
One of the photos accompanying this Waymark posts depicts Linnaeus, Banks and Solander in separate cameos and are exhibted at the British Museum along with other artifacts from Linnaeus, Banks, and Solander.
Wikipedia (
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"It has been claimed that Solander deserves a great deal more recognition than he has received, and that he was denied his legacy by the high standing of Banks, who treated Solander, and Jonas Dryander before him, as his servants rather than as botanists of equal standing to others in the botanical establishment. The treatment and recognition of these two stands in contrast to that of Robert Brown, the third in the succession of Banks' botanists, who was feted as the pre-eminent botanist of his day. This contrast could be due to the fact that Brown was British, whereas the others were foreigners; or because Banks was already in decline by the time he employed Brown.[5]
Solander Gardens in the east end of London is named after him, as are the Solander Islands off New Zealand's South Island. One of the many plants named in his honour is Nothofagus solandri. Solander was associated with Banks in Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook's Voyage Round the World, and his The Natural History of Many Curious and Uncommon Zoophytes, Collected by the late John Ellis, (1786) was published posthumously."
The Museum's webpage (
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"Etruria Factory, Staffordshire, England, AD 1777
Carl Linnaeus (1707-78) laid the foundation of modern taxonomy by creating a biological classification scheme now known as the binomial system.
Linnaeus was trained as a botanist and physician in Uppsala, Sweden. He continued his studies in Holland, where he published the Systema Naturae (1735), a catalogue of plants, animals and minerals that announced his attempt to classify living things. After returning to Sweden and becoming professor of botany at Uppsala University, he elaborated his classification system, which he had fully developed by 1758.
Linnaeus' scheme gave each organism a unique name made up of two Latin terms. The first indicated the organism's genus (a group sharing basic characteristics), the second its individual species within the genus. The system proved easy to use and was soon taken up by amateurs and professionals. It had a revolutionary impact upon Enlightenment thinking and is still in use today.
This jasperware medallion was one of a number of portrait medallions and plaques of eminent men (and some women) produced by the partnership of Wedgwood and Bentley. The series, which they called 'Illustrious Moderns', included scientists, philosophers, doctors and statesmen of the time."
and this (
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"Modern print drawn from the original copperplate, about 1768-1820
Natural historians travelled on many of the voyages of exploration of the eighteenth century in order to find and record plants and animals that were previously unknown in Europe. On Captain James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific (1768-71), for example, Joseph Banks (1743-1820) led a party of trained collectors, including the botanist Daniel Solander (1733-1782).
Banks also employed Sydney Parkinson (1745-71) and other artists to record their discoveries. Parkinson made nearly 1000 drawings of the people, landscapes, animals and plants they found there. In this period before the invention of photography, professional illustrations were the best way of accurately recording the newly discovered plants and their habitats.
Sadly, Parkinson died from fever on the voyage, as did several other members of the crew. He had only completed 238 watercolours, but Banks later employed eighteen engravers to produce 753 plates from Parkinson's drawings and sketches and from dried specimens. Banks intended to publish these in a Florilegium (anthology of flowers). It was never published, however, although he did send proofs to the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-78), who was so impressed that he gave Banks' name to a new genus of plant - Banksia serata."