The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

This chapter examines the intellectual paradigms and rationales that influenced Joseph Banks in his thinking and actions. It explains his disinterest with architectural and landscape fashions and his dislike of a grandiose neoclassical pile on grounds laid out by the architect Capability Brown. It also analyses Banks as an empiricist for his adaption of the Baconian method of investigative science that forms the basis of the scientific method as a means of observation and induction. The chapter explores Banks' beliefs on the outcomes of science that should be applied knowledge and that theoretical speculation should be moderated by practical observation. It talks about Banks as the Liberal Patron of Science and the Enlightened Cultivator of Natural Knowledge and how he held a deep and ingrained belief in “progress.”

Newfoundland and Labrador 1766

This chapter describes Joseph Banks' life, in which he displayed a talent for recognising advantageous opportunities, grasping initiatives, and melding outcomes to his advantage. It talks about Banks' voyage in the HMS Niger, which was sent as a vessel of the Fishery Protection Squadron in order to take Marines to Newfoundland and Labrador. It also looks at Constantine Phipps, who joined Banks at the Niger and listed on the ship's manifest as supernumeraries. The chapter highlights Banks' voyage at the Niger as the first big test of his abilities, where he would put all his theoretical knowledge into practice and conduct scientific research in the field, without the network of academics in London. It also mentions Peter Ellis who had explored the West Indies and undertaken two plant hunting expeditions in Lapland.

HMS Endeavour 1768–71

This chapter points out Joseph Banks's participation in determining the places to properly observe the ensuing transit of Venus. It explains that the transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event during which the planet passes across the face of the sun. It also describes the twenty-five-year-old Banks who desperately wanted the opportunity to collect, study, and record both natural history specimens and knowledge from mostly unexplored part of the world, the South Seas. The chapter highlights Banks's preparation for the first southern circumnavigation of HMS Dolphin and take full advantage of the voyage's natural history potential. It also talks about Alexander Dalrymple, a distinguished hydrographer who joined Banks in the South Seas.

The Scientist-Enabler

This chapter talks about the most prestigious office Joseph Banks held, which was president of the Royal Society for an unbroken forty-one and a half years from November 1778. It points out that the Royal Society was founded on 28 November 1660 by a committee of twelve natural philosophers following a lecture by Sir Christopher Wren at Gresham College. The chapter recounts how Banks devoted his presidency to the “Scientific Service of the People.” It explores Bank's advocacy of the Baconian ideal about a strong partnership between government and science. It also highlights Banks's efforts to advance governmental patronage of science by demonstrative applications of the usefulness of science to the state's advantage.

The Hero and the Egotist 1771–72

This chapter analyzes events after Joseph Banks's return from his three-year voyage on the HMS Endeavour. It looks into Banks's accomplished examination of the natural history of lands and the anthropology of people previously unstudied, in which he returned triumphant and bore a wealth ofspecimens and knowledge. The chapter describes the peak of Banks's fame when he was presented by Lord Beauchamp to King George III at the Court of St James's and accompanied by Daniel Solander, who became known as the first Swede to circumnavigate the globe. It mentions Banks's cold attitude towards Harriet Blosset, his former betrothed, when he returned to London. It also talks about how Harriet behaved with far more decorum and maturity than Banks throughout the unpleasantries.

The Father of Australia

This chapter explores how Joseph Banks earned his sobriquet of “Father of Australia.” It examines projects and activities with which Banks was involved in the 1770s and scrutinize his significant domestic transformation. It talks about the alternative “rebel” club that Banks and seven friends formed because of the petty way the Club of the Royal Philosophers invited guests. The chapter discusses Bank's unofficial guardianship of Mai, a young Raiatean whom he and James Cook had met at Tahiti in 1769 and whom Cook encountered again on his second voyage. It also mentions Mai as the second Pacific Islander visitor to Europe and the first to Britain, where he was considered quite the society celebrity.

The Last Two Decades

This chapter recounts the last two decades of Joseph Banks's life since his 75th birthday in 1800. It describes how Banks was getting older and suffered the incapacities and endured the torments of chronic gout. It talks about Banks's management of his estates and land interests, as well as the overall management of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew and supervision of his scientific and engraving teams in the rooms behind 32 Soho Square. The chapter describes how it became painful and hard for Banks to write and how he was forced to dictate to his ever-faithful assistant, Robert Brown. It mentions Banks's last purchase for his collection and acquisition of the herbarium that Jean François Berger made in 1814.

The Banks Family and the Young Joseph

This chapter begins with Joseph Bank's birth on 13 February 1743 in Soho, London to William and Sarah Banks. It mentions the wedding of Banks' parents on 26 September 1741 and their first residence in one of the four Argyll Buildings in Bruton Street. It also discusses the life of Banks' great grandfather, Joseph I, who had begun the family's wealth accumulation and social elevation. The chapter also looks at Louise Grenville, Bank's first cousin, who was a significant point of contact for him into an important circle of political and societal figures of power and influence. It also emphasizes on Botany that will remain Banks' chief delight for the rest of his long life, including all aspects of natural history and philosophy.

To Iceland: The Independent Explorer

This chapter talks about Joseph Banks's expedition from Iceland to a part of the Danish kingdom, which was suggested by Daniel Solander or Uno von Troil, a Swedish gentleman antiquarian and scientist. It discusses how popularity of vulcanology has possibly influenced Banks's decision for the expedition. It also mentions Bank's meeting with Johann Gerhard König, a Baltic–German botanist and physician, who botanised extensively in the same island as Bank's expedition. The chapter discusses naturalist-surgeon Bjarni Pálsson and Eggert Ólafsson who made a detailed study of the natural history of Iceland between 1752 and 17572. It describes Bank's visit to the Islay in the Hebridean island where he focused his expedition on antiquaries, culture and geology.