He returned with thousands of specimens of plants and animals, generating enormous interest in Europe, while the racy accounts of his amorous adventures in Tahiti made him one of the most famous and notorious men in England.Īs the longest-serving president of Britain's Royal Society, Banks was perhaps the most important man in the scientific world for more than half a century. Financing his own team of scientists and artists, Banks battled high seas, hailstorms, treacherous coral reefs and hostile locals to expand the world's knowledge of life on distant shores. In 1768, as a galivanting young playboy, he joined Captain James Cook's Endeavour expedition to the South Pacific. A fearless adventurer, his fascination with beautiful women was only trumped by his obsession with the natural world and his lust for scientific knowledge.įabulously wealthy, Banks was the driving force behind monumental voyages and scientific discoveries in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and the Arctic. Sir Joseph Banks was a man of passion whose influence spanned the globe.
The extraordinary life of one of the world's most famous and notorious adventurers Lust, science, adventure - Joseph Banks and his voyages of discovery
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