What did Joseph Banks do on the Endeavour?
The naturalist’s observations
Banks’ time on the Endeavour proved endlessly fruitful. Indeed, during the ship’s stay in a wide, shallow bay south of the present-day Sydney from 28 April to 5 May 1770, he added so many previously unrecorded specimens to his botanical collections that Cook named the area ‘Botany Bay’.
What was Joseph Banks job on the expedition?
Appointed as the expedition’s official botanist, a 25-year-old Joseph Banks travelled on Captain Cook’s first great voyage to the South Pacific in 1768.
What was Joseph Banks best known for?
He was the first person to introduce the Western world to acacia, mimosa, eucalyptus and Banksia, a genus named after him. About 80 other species of plants were also named after him. He also established the fact that marsupial mammals were more primitive than placental mammals. Joseph Banks was knighted in 1781.
What food did Joseph Banks eat in 1770?
In 1770, visiting Australia’s east coast aboard Captain Cook’s Endeavour, the botanist Joseph Banks thought the coastal soil north of Botany Bay barren. He tasted what he called Indian kale or spinach, parsley, fruits including figs, and seeds and nuts from cabbage and other palms.
What animals did Joseph Banks discover?
Banks also documented 34 species of birds, including the great auk, which became extinct in 1844. On 7 May, he noted a large number of “penguins” swimming around the ship on the Grand Banks, and a specimen he collected in Chateau Bay, Labrador, was later identified as the great auk.
What happened to Joseph Banks?
Joseph Banks died in London in 1820 at the age of 77. On his death, his collections and library were left to Robert Brown, his librarian and an eminent natural scientist. In 1827 they were transferred to the British Museum, where Brown was appointed to the position of Keeper of the Banksian Botanical Collections.
How did Joseph Banks famous?
24 February 1743 (13 February O.S.) Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James Cook’s first great voyage (1768–1771), visiting Brazil, Tahiti, and after 6 months in New Zealand, Australia, returning to immediate fame.