Robert Brown (Brown Robert)

(1773-1858)
Born December 21, 1773 in Montrose (Scotland). He studied medicine at Aberdeen and Edinburgh University (1789-1795). Within five years he worked as an assistant surgeon in the British Army. In 1798 in London, met Dzh.Benksom, president of the Royal Society, and in 1801 on his recommendation, was invited to take part in the expedition, heading for Australia. In 1805 he returned to England with a collection of plants, with more than 4000 species. In 1810 published a work devoted to the flora of Australia. In the same year became a personal librarian Banks. After his death in 1820 his library and all collections are moved by a bequest in a life possession Brown. In 1827, he handed them to the British Museum and became the guardian of his botanical department. From 1849 to 1853 Brown was president of the Linnean Society.
The main focus of Brown morphology and systematics of plants. Scientist first described the structure of the ovule and the distinction between gymnosperms and angiosperms (1825), found the process of sexual mating (pollination) in higher plants. Observing the microscopic behavior of particles of pollen suspended in water, found that they were committing random zigzag motion (1827). Subsequently, showed that similarly behave in a suspension of any other substances. This phenomenon later became known as Brownian motion. In 1831 Brown studied and described the core of the plant cell. Brown died in London on June 10, 1858.