Robert Brown was born in Montrose, Scotland, in December 1773, the son of an Episcopalian priest, and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. However, he failed to get his degree and was elected as assistant surgeon to a Scottish infantry regiment, before discovering that his true passion lay in the field of botany.

In 1790 he was introduced to the famous botanist Joseph Banks, who allowed him free use of his library and collections. In 1791 Brown published his first paper which he submitted to the Natural History Society. It was this first paper, a detailed compilation of plants he had collected in Scotland, which introduced him to the eminent scientists of the day.

Brown resigned his army post in order to take the position of naturalist on the Investigator, captained by Matthew Flinders, which was detailed to survey the coastline of the newly discovered Australia.

He travelled with the expedition from 1801 to 1805, and when he returned home to England he published a book on his studies of the native Australian flora.

The book, published in 1810, did not sell well and he became discouraged, refusing to publish the rest of his findings. The same year he was appointed by Sir Joseph Banks as Librarian, a post he held until Bank's death in 1820.

In 1827, having had Banks' entire library bequeathed to him, he transferred the material to the British Museum and became curator of botanical collections there. In 1828 Brown published a paper entitled :

"A brief account of microscopical observations made in the months of June, July and August 1827 on the particles contained in the pollen of plants, and on general existence of active molecules in organic and inorganic bodies."

It was from this paper that Brown postulated the theory of "Brownian Motion" or "movement" which was to make a significant impact on the theories of kinetics. He also studied the reproductive organs of orchids, and published other papers on the anatomy of various plant species. In 1831 he discovered what he referred to as a "nucleus", or controlling body, in plant cells. To this day the term "nucleus" is still used in cell biology.

Robert Brown died on the 10th of June 1858.

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