Robert Brown
A botanist who discovered the nucleus in plant cells and described Brownian motion, the random movement of particles in a fluid.
Most quoted
"I have, however, been enabled to satisfy myself that the particles or molecules of the pollen of plants, and indeed of many other organic as well as inorganic bodies, when suspended in water, are in a state of constant and rapid oscillatory motion."
— from 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 the General Existence of Active Molecules in Organic and Inorganic Bodies., 1827
"This motion was such as to satisfy me, after frequently repeated observation, that it was not caused either by currents in the fluid, or by its gradual evaporation, but belonged to the particle itself."
— from 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 the General Existence of Active Molecules in Organic and Inorganic Bodies., 1827
"This motion was such as to satisfy me, after frequently repeated observation, that it arose neither from currents in the fluid, nor from its gradual evaporation, but belonged to the particle itself."
— from 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 the General Existence of Active Molecules in Organic and Inorganic Bodies, 1827
All quotes by Robert Brown (343)
Every observation, however small, is a brick in the edifice of natural knowledge.
The microscope reveals not just smaller things, but deeper truths.
Classification is the memory of science; without it, observations are but fleeting impressions.
I have seen the dust of life dance to a tune played by invisible forces.
The pursuit of science requires a mind open to anomaly, for therein lies discovery.
In the structure of a seed, the entire history of a genus is often written.
Do not confuse the map of classification with the territory of living, evolving beings.
The simplest fact, clearly established, is worth a volume of speculation.
Life persists at the boundary between order and chaos, as my moving particles show.
The botanist is a traveler in both space and time, tracing lineages across continents and epochs.
There is grandeur in the constancy of natural law, revealed even in the jostling of a grain of pollen.
To see truly, one must look long and without prejudice.
The cell nucleus: that opaque spot which holds the secret of generation.
Nature's economy is one of infinite variety built upon a few universal patterns.
A plant is not an isolated being; it is a link in a chain of being that encircles the globe.
The motion I observed is not of life, but is the prerequisite for life's processes—the stir of the physical world that life harnesses.
Precision in language is as crucial to science as precision in measurement.
We name to remember, we classify to understand.
The beauty of a flower is a fact of biology as much as of aesthetics.
Doubt is the microscope's focusing knob; it brings clarity.
Contemporaries of Robert Brown
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Robert Brown (1773–1858).