Robert Brown FRS (21 December 1773 – 10 June 1858) was a Scottish botanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope. His contributions include the discovery of the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming; the first observation of Brownian motion; early work on plant pollination and fertilisation, including being the first to recognise the fundamental difference between gymnosperms and angiospe...
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Robert Brown FRS (21 December 1773 – 10 June 1858) was a Scottish botanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope. His contributions include the discovery of the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming; the first observation of Brownian motion; early work on plant pollination and fertilisation, including being the first to recognise the fundamental difference between gymnosperms and angiosperms; and some of the earliest studies in palynology. He also made numerous contributions to plant taxonomy, including the erection of a number of plant families that are still accepted today; and numerous Australian plant genera and species, the fruit of his exploration of that continent with Matthew Flinders.
Brown was born in Montrose, Scotland on 21 December 1773. He was the son of James Brown, a minister in the Scottish Episcopal Church with Jacobite convictions so strong that in 1788 he defied his church's decision to give allegiance to...
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