Person

Forster, Johann Reinhold (1729 - 1798)

FRS

Born
22 October 1729
Prussia, Prussia, Germany
Died
9 December 1798
Halle, Saxony, Germany
Occupation
Naturalist

Summary

Johann Forster was the scientist on James Cook's second expedition to the Pacific on board the "Resolution" 1772-1775. He was the father of J.G.A. Forster.

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Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Australian Botanists - Biographies, MS 064; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details
  • Johann Georg Adam Forster and Johann Reinhold Forster - Records, 1772 - 1775, MS 051; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Joseph Banks - Records, 1766 - 1820, ML MSS 743; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Johann Reinhold Forster - Records, 1745 - 1820, MS 688; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Joseph Banks - Records, 1745 - 1820, MS 9; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • Hoare, Michael E., The tactless philosopher: Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-98) (Melbourne: Hawthorn Press, 1976), 419 pp. Details
  • Mariss, Anne, Johann Reinhold Forster and the making of natural history on Cook's second voyage 1772 - 1775 (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2019), 240 pp. Details
  • Williams, Glyn, Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin (New Haven, Connecticut/London: Yale University Press, 2013), 309 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Dippel, Horst, 'Conflicting Anthropological Concepts: Georg Forster and Johann Reinhold Forster on New Zealand' in Ferdinand Hochstetter and the Contribution of German-Speaking Scientists to New Zealand Natural History in the Nineteenth Century, Braund, James, ed. (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2012), pp. 29-46. Details
  • Shaw, A G. L., 'Forster, Johann Reinhold (1729-1798), author and naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 403-404. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forster-johann-reinhold-2057. Details

Edited Books

  • Hoare, Michael E. ed., The 'Resolution' Journal of Johann Reinhold Forster, 1772-1775, 4 vols (London: Hakluyt Society, 1982), 873 pp. Details
  • Weber, Therese and Watson, Jeanie eds, Cook's pacific encounters: the Cook-Forster Collection of the Georg-August University of Gottingen (Canberra: National Museum of Australia, 2006), 110 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Carolin, R. C., 'J. R. and J. G. A. Forster and Their Collections', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 88 (1963), 108-111. Details
  • Grapes, Rodney, 'First reports of in-situ "jade" (pounamu) in New Zealand: Johannes and George Forster (1777, 1778; 1783), James Hector (1863), Arthur Dieseldorf (1901), west coast Maori tradition', Journal of the Historical Studies Group, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 70 (2021), 22-42. Details
  • Hoare, M. E., ''A Strange and Eventful History': the Scientific Correspondents of J. R. Forster (1729-98)', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 2 (3) (1972), 7-17. https://www.publish.csiro.au/hr/HR9720230007. Details
  • Iredale, T., 'J. R. and G. Forster, Naturalists', Emu, 37 (1937), 95-99. Details
  • Palma, Ricardo L., 'Two bird lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) collected during Captain Cook's 2nd voyage around the world', Archives of natural history, 18 (2) (1991), 237-47. Details

Resources

See also

  • Bodi, Leslie, 'Forster, Johann Georg(e) Adam (1754-1794), writer, traveller and revolutionary' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 402-403. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forster-johann-georg-adam-2056. Details
  • Maiden, J. H., 'Records of Australian botanists:- (a) general; (b) New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, 42 (1908), 60-132. Details

Gavan McCarthy

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 29 May 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P000418b.htm

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