George Caley was a botanist who pioneered studies of Australia’s flora
between 1800 and 1810. He is now mainly remembered as the leader of a failed
expedition into the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Joan Webb’s biography,
George Caley: 19th Century Naturalist (Surrey Beatty & Sons, A$37.95,
ISBN 0 949324 62 0), attempts to restore his reputation. She says Caley’s
eccentricity contributed to this lack of recognition—he was so preoccupied
with cataloguing and preserving his specimens that he never published any
results.
More from 51¶¯Âþ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Physics
The once-impossible black holes that could break thermodynamics
Comment
Life
Darwin proved right about gnat-trapping carnivorous plant
News
Humans
We’re beginning to understand the sudden ‘grief attacks’ that hit mourners
Features
Comment
The best new popular science books of August 2026
Culture
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âþ articles