View source for Daniel Solander

{{Short description|Swedish botanist (1733–1782)}}
{{Distinguish|Daniel Rolander}}
{{redirect|Sol.|other uses|Sol (disambiguation){{!}}Sol}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Daniel Solander
| image             = Omai_(Mai),_Sir_Joseph_Banks_and_Daniel_Charles_Solander_by_William_Parry.jpg
| caption        = Painting by [[William Parry (artist)|William Parry]] made after Captain Cook's second voyage ({{circa|1775–1776}}). This depicts [[Omai]], a Tahitian, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander (seated).
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1733|2|19|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Piteå]], [[Norrbotten]], Sweden
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1782|5|13|1733|2|19|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[London]], England
| nationality       = [[Swedish people|Swedish]] 
| ethnicity         = 
| fields            = [[Botany]]<br>[[Zoology]]
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = [[Uppsala University]]
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = 
| author_abbrev_bot = Sol.
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = 
| signature         = 
| signature_alt     = 
}}

'''Daniel Carlsson Solander''' or '''Daniel Charles Solander''' (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[naturalist]] and an [[Apostles of Linnaeus|apostle of Carl Linnaeus]].<ref name=adb>
{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Gilbert|first=L. A.|year=1967|volume=2|id=A020421b |pp=456-457|title=Solander, Daniel (1733 - 1782)|access-date=25 February 2010}}</ref> Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot on [[Australia|Australian soil.]]

==Career==

===Education===
Solander was born in [[Piteå]], [[Norrbotten]], Sweden, to Rev. Carl Solander<ref name=adb/> a Lutheran principal, and Magdalena (née Bostadia).<ref name=adb/> Solander enrolled at [[Uppsala University]] in July 1750 and initially studied languages, the [[humanities]] and law. The professor of botany was the celebrated [[Carl Linnaeus]], who was soon impressed by young Solander's ability and accordingly persuaded his father to let him study [[natural history]]. Solander travelled to [[England]] in June 1760 to promote the new Linnean system of classification. In February 1763, he began [[librarian|cataloguing]] the natural history collections of the [[British Museum]], and was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]] in June the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27solander,%20daniel%27%29|title=Fellow Details|publisher=The Royal Society|date=2019|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-date=8 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708073537/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27solander,%20daniel%27%29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===British Museum===
{{Solander, Banks, Cook, Hawkesworth and Earl Sandwich by John Hamilton Mortimer|size=250px|align=left}}

In 1768, Solander gained leave of absence from the [[British Museum]] and with his assistant [[Herman Spöring]] accompanied [[Joseph Banks]] on [[James Cook]]'s first voyage to the [[Pacific Ocean]] aboard the ''[[HM Bark Endeavour|Endeavour]]''. They were the botanists who inspired the name ''Botanist Bay'' (which later became [[Botany Bay]]) for the first landing place of Cook's expedition in [[Australia]]. Solander helped make and describe an important collection of Australian plants while the ''Endeavour'' was beached at the site of present-day [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown]] for nearly seven weeks, after being damaged on the [[Great Barrier Reef]]. These collections later formed the basis of [[Banks' Florilegium]].

Solander also wrote a manuscript describing all the species collected from [[New Zealand]] during the six months the [[First voyage of James Cook|1768 expedition]] spent there. It was called ''Primitiae Florae Novae Zelandiae'' ('beginnings of a New Zealand flora'),<ref>{{cite web|title=Primitiae Florae Novae Zelandiae [First Fruits of the Flora of New Zealand]|url=http://www.otago.ac.nz/library/exhibitions/botany/#one|series=Celebrating Botany (1924-2014)|publisher=University of Otago|access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> and was to be illustrated with the plates prepared by Banks. It was never published, but it was available for study by anyone interested, first at Banks' London home, then at the Natural History section of the British Museum.<ref>{{cite web|title=Topic: Banks' Florilegium|url=http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/576|website=Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa|publisher=Museum of New Zealand|access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Daniel Solander Grave Brookwood 2016.jpg|thumb|160px|right|Solander's grave in [[Brookwood Cemetery]]]]
Solander's return to Britain with Cook and Banks made him the first [[Swedes|Swede]] to circumnavigate the globe. On their return in 1771, Solander resumed his duties at the British Museum but also collaborated with Banks on the Florilegium. In 1772, he accompanied Banks on his voyage to [[Iceland]], the [[Hebrides]] and the [[Orkney Islands]]. Between 1773 and 1782 he was Keeper of the Natural History Department of the British Museum. In 1773, he was elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].

Solander died at Banks' home in Soho Square of a [[stroke]], aged 49, on 13 May 1782.  An autopsy was performed the next day, and revealed a [[brain hemorrhage]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-5rQMHKLi8C&pg=PA81|title=The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, 1768-1820|publisher=Imperial College Press|isbn=1860942040|editor-last=Chambers|editor-first=Neil|location=London|pages=81|year=2000}}</ref> He is buried in the Swedish Section at [[Brookwood Cemetery]].

==Legacy==
[[File:Dr Daniel Charles Solander, by John Flaxman Jr, c. 1778, pale blue jasper, darker blue dip, white relief, ormolu frame by Matthew Boulton - Wedgwood Museum - Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, England - DDSC09625.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Solander, by [[John Flaxman]] Jr., {{circa|1778}}, [[Wedgwood]] [[jasperware]]]]
Solander's reputation has been profoundly influenced by his limited number of publications and his premature death.  Although he had detailed descriptions prepared for most of the botanical specimens he collected on the ''Endeavour'' voyage, in deference to Joseph Banks, Solander held off publication waiting for the completion of over 700 engravings. However, after Solander's death, Banks, now President of the Royal Society, failed to publish his projected ''Florilegium''. Had he done so, he would have secured Solander's posthumous reputation. It has been claimed that Banks treated Solander, and [[Jonas Dryander]], as his servants rather than as botanists of equal standing to others in the botanical establishment. However, Banks clearly had a strong emotional bond with Solander, met his expenses and even supported his relatives in Sweden.  In 1784, when he wrote to Johan Alströmer of Solander's death, Banks declared: 'This too early loss of a friend, whom I during my more mature years have loved and whom I will always miss, makes me wish to draw a veil over his death, as soon as I have ceased to speak of it. I can never think of it without feeling a mortal pain.'  Solander remained an employee of the British Museum for the last decade of his life but was also paid by Banks to assist him with his collections.  Banks' relationship with [[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose)|Robert Brown]] was more formal.<ref name="Barker 1990">{{cite book |author1=Barker, R. M.  |author2=Barker, W. R. | year = 1990 | chapter = Botanical contributions overlooked: the role and recognition of collectors, horticulturists, explorers and others in the early documentation of the Australian flora | editor = Short, P. S. | title = History of systematic botany in Australia | publisher = Australian Systematic Botany Society | isbn = 0-7316-8463-X | pages = 37–86}}</ref>

Solander invented the book-form box known as the [[Solander box]] which is still used in libraries and archives as the most suitable way of storing prints, drawings, [[herbarium]] materials and some manuscripts.

Solander Gardens in the east end of London is named after him, as are the [[Solander Islands]] off New Zealand's South Island and Cape Solander in the Kamay [[Botany Bay National Park]], also in the suburb of Redfern near Sydney NSW the housing commission towers include a Daniel Solander building.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-07/daniel-solander-garden-opens-at-swedish-embassy/8874994 |title=18th-century naturalist Daniel Solander honoured with new garden at Swedish embassy |last=Maher |first=Louise |date=September 7, 2017 |website=ABC News |access-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907093847/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-07/daniel-solander-garden-opens-at-swedish-embassy/8874994 |archive-date=September 7, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/daniel-solander-a-linnaean-disciple-on-hms-endeavour.html |title=Daniel Solander: a Linnaean disciple on HMS Endeavour |last=Osterloff |first=Emily |website=Natural History Museum |access-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824151039/https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/daniel-solander-a-linnaean-disciple-on-hms-endeavour.html |archive-date=August 24, 2018}}</ref> Also Solander Island, off the NW coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. One of the many plants named in his honour is ''[[Fuscospora solandri]]'' (black beech). Solander was associated with Banks in ''Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook's Voyage Round the World'', and his ''The Natural History of Many Curious and Uncommon Zoophytes, Collected by the late John Ellis'', (1786) was published posthumously. The 'Daniel Solander Library' in Sydney's [[Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney|Royal Botanic Garden]], established in 1852, is the oldest botanical research library in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science-conservation/library|title=Daniel Solander Library|website=Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney|access-date=10 October 2016|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201043706/https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science-conservation/library|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The scientific name of the [[Providence Petrel]], ''Pterodroma solandri'', was given in his honour by ornithologist [[John Gould]].

The shrub ''[[Banksia solandri]]'' is named after him. Herbarium specimens collected by Solander and Banks are cared for in herbaria, including at the [[National Herbarium of Victoria]] (MEL), [[Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria]]<ref name="MEL">{{Cite web| url = https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?q=collector_text%3A%22Banks%2C+J.%22+AND+collection_uid%3Aco55#tab_recordsView| title = AVH: The Australasian Virtual Herbarium| website = Atlas of Living Australia| access-date = 15 November 2024}}</ref>

{{Botanist|Sol.|Solander, Daniel}}

In Solander's birth town Piteå, the Solander Science Park houses a number of [[cleantech]] companies and research organizations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.solandersciencepark.se/ |title=Solander Science Park website |access-date=17 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208074937/http://www.solandersciencepark.se/ |archive-date=8 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Solander Street in Pelican Waters (a suburb in the Sunshine Coast of south-east Queensland, Australia) is one of several nearby streets with names linked to the round-the-world voyage of Captain James Cook that landed at Botany Bay in 1770.

==See also==
* [[European and American voyages of scientific exploration]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*[[Edward Duyker|Duyker, Edward]] (1998) ''Nature's Argonaut: Daniel Solander 1733-1782: Naturalist and Voyager with Cook and Banks''. Melbourne University Press. {{ISBN|0-522-84753-6}}
* Marshall, John Braybrooke. "Daniel Carl Solander, Friend, Librarian and Assistant to Sir Joseph Banks." Archives of Natural History 11.3 (1984): 451–456.
*Duyker, Edward & Tingbrand, Per (ed. & trans) (1995) Daniel Solander: Collected Correspondence 1753–1782, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, pp.&nbsp;466, {{ISBN|0-522-84636-X}} Scandinavian University Press, Oslo, 1995, pp.&nbsp;466, {{ISBN|82-00-22454-6}}
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Daniel Charles|Last=Solander |shortlink=0-dict-biogSa-Sp.html#solander1}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
*{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Solander, Daniel Charles}}
* [https://rgssa.blogspot.com/2020/04/2020-rgssa-exhibition-great-navigator.html Royal Geographical Society of South Australia] 
* [https://archive.today/20130418102057/http://www.pitea.se/sv/Pitea-kommun/Forskola-och-skola/Vara-enheter/Ojebyomradet/Skolor/Solanderskolan/Skolgemensamt/Vem-var-Daniel-Solander/] biography on the website of his home town Piteå - in Swedish
* [http://www.danielsolander.se The Solander Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080829063439/http://catalogue.mup.com.au/978-0-522-84753-6.html Nature's Argonaut]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080829083102/http://catalogue.mup.com.au/978-0-522-84636-2.html Daniel Solander]
* [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7165458M/natural_history_of_many_curious_and_uncommon_zoophytes The natural history of many curious and uncommon zoophytes : collected ... by the late John Ellis ... Systematically arranged and described by the late Daniel Solander .. (1786)] downloadable text at Open Library
* [http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=(Surname='Solander') Royal Society Archive]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} entry on Solander

{{Carl Linnaeus}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solander, Daniel}}
[[Category:18th-century Swedish botanists]]
[[Category:Swedish librarians]]
[[Category:Swedish phycologists]]
[[Category:Swedish taxonomists]]
[[Category:1733 births]]
[[Category:1782 deaths]]
[[Category:Botanists active in Australia]]
[[Category:Botanists active in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Botanists with author abbreviations]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:People associated with the British Museum]]
[[Category:People from Piteå]]
[[Category:Uppsala University alumni]]
[[Category:Employees of the Natural History Museum, London]]
[[Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery]]
[[Category:Age of Liberty people]]
[[Category:Australian people of Swedish descent]]
[[Category:Participants in James Cook's voyages]]