Banks
About This Book
Sir Joseph Banks was an adventurer whose influence reached around the globe. He was driven by passion, a fascination with beautiful women, an obsession with the natural world and a hunger for scientific knowledge. Fabulously wealthy, he became the driving force behind major voyages and scientific discoveries in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and the Arctic. In 1768, as a young playboy, Banks joined Captain James Cook's Endeavour expedition to the South Pacific. He financed his own team of scientists and artists, and they faced high seas, hailstorms, treacherous coral reefs and hostile locals to add to the world's knowledge of life on distant shores. He came home with thousands of plant and animal specimens, which stirred great interest in Europe. Racy accounts of his amorous adventures in Tahiti also made him one of the most famous and notorious men in England. Banks went on to serve as president of Britain's Royal Society for longer than anyone else, and for more than half a century he was perhaps the most important figure in the scientific world. As one of the first Europeans to set foot on Australia's east coast, he advised Britain to set up a remote penal settlement and strategic base at Botany Bay. He eventually became the foremost authority on all things Australian. Early governors of the colony answered to him as he worked to unlock Australia's potential in agriculture and minerals. For decades, major British voyages of exploration sailed only with his backing. This biography by Grantlee Kieza follows Banks through his voyages, his science and his scandals.
ISBN: 9780733340505
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