Robert Brown: Born Montrose, 1773 died London 1858
Sailed with Mathew Flinders as botanist on board the Investigator, on the first circumnavigation of the Australian continent from December 1801 – May 1805.
His task was to collect as many plants as possible and write them up in scientific journal form. When published in 1810, the Prodromus did not sell well, as lack of money and the size of the task resulted in a poorly presented volume, but despite this, Brown is remembered as the father-figure or king of plant identification and classification.
Another view of such plant collecting activity uses terms such as “horticultural looting”, “government sanction of plant theft”, global transportation of plants”. Robert Brown was also first to observe the ceaseless movement within pollen grains, in what came to be known as ‘Brownian Movement or Motion’.
I combined these three notions in writing this song.
Acknowledgements:
Brian J. Ford in ‘The Microscope’
ABC 2002 – ‘The Naturalists.’
Song sample
Jupiter Botanicus – Lyrics
Jupiter Botanicus
Bound for Terra Australis
Demand for new knowledge brought from lands far away
The spur for your journey
And a Prodromus Florae Novae HollandiaeCHORUS
Opinions vary, opinions change
Back and forth across the range of thoughts
In perpetual motion, perpetual motion, perpetual motionJupiter Botanicus
Back from Terra Australis
One thousand plants gathered for each year of your stay
Two thousand too many
For the Prodromus Florae Novae HollandiaeCHORUS
Opinions vary, opinions change
Back and forth across the range of thoughts
In perpetual motion, perpetual motion, perpetual motionJupiter Botanicus
Open doors to the populace
Rare specimens plundered
Skilful taxonomy
Imperial forays
Famous Prodromus Florae Novae HollandiaeCHORUS
Opinions vary, opinions change
Back and forth across the range of thoughts
In perpetual motion, perpetual motion, perpetual motion
Perpetual motion, perpetual motion, perpetual motion
© Words and Music by Grace McC. B. Reid