Fellow's Tea with Prof. Janet Browne

  


15th October 2012, 3.00pm
Master's Common Lounge, Level 3
Only 30 seats available!
Refreshments will be served.

Register here!

Bio

Prof. Janet Browne’s interests range widely over the history of the life sciences and natural history. At Harvard she teaches an introductory history of Darwinism, from Darwin’s day to now. She is greatly interested in the history of animal and plant collecting, old museums, voyages of exploration, garden history, and the science and religion controversies. Up until six years ago she lived and worked in England, mostly Cambridge and London. During that time she specialised in reassessing Charles Darwin’s work, first as an associate editor of the early volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, and more recently as author of a biographical study that integrated Darwin’s science with his life and times. The biography was received generously both in the UK and USA, and awarded several prizes, including the James Tait Black award for non-fiction in 2004 and the Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society.

The Tembusu (Fagraea fragrans) is a large evergreen tree in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia. Its trunk is dark brown, with deeply fissured bark, looking somewhat like a bittergourd. It grows in an irregular shape from 10 to 25m high. Its leaves are light green and oval in shape. Its yellowish flowers have a distinct fragrance and the fruits of the tree are bitter tasting red berries, which are eaten by birds and fruit bats.