Johann George Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. He accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook’s second voyage to the Pacific. He was a central figure of the Enlightenment in Germany, and corresponded with most of its adherents. His ideas and personality influenced Alexander von Humboldt, one of the great scientists of the 19th century.
About Georg Forster in brief
Johann George Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. He accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook’s second voyage to the Pacific. His report of that journey, A Voyage Round the World, contributed significantly to the ethnology of the people of Polynesia. He was a central figure of the Enlightenment in Germany, and corresponded with most of its adherents, including his close friend Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. His ideas and personality influenced Alexander von Humboldt, one of the great scientists of the 19th century. Forster died in Paris of illness in early 1794. He is buried in the Mainz Cathedral, Mainz, Germany, where he was buried with his wife and three children. He died on November 27, 1754, in the village of Nassenhuben, near Danzig, in what is now the state of Hessen-Dortmund, Germany. He had a son, Georg, who was also a naturalist and ethnologist. He also worked as a draughtsman for his father on the second voyage of Cook. He wrote many books about travel and exploration, including a German translation of Cook’s diaries. In 1772, Forster’s father became a member of the Royal Society. This and the withdrawal of Joseph Banks resulted in his invitation by the British admiralty to join James Cook’s second expedition to thePacific. Georg Forster joined his father in the expedition again and was appointed as a draftsman to his father.
He learned the languages of the Polynesian islands quickly and quickly became an expert in comparative geography and ethnology. His reports on the islands are well regarded today, though they describe the inhabitants of the southern islands without empathy or sympathy for the Western inhabitants. However, Georg also pursued his own interests, which led to completely independent explorations in geography, ethnology, and botany. His father took up teaching at the Dissenter’s Academy in Warrington and also translation work. They went further south south than anybody before them, almost discovering the Terrais Incognita, which conclusively disproved the big continent theory, which claimed there was a habitable continent in Australis. They returned to England in 1775, returning on July 30, 1775. They embarked HMS Resolution on July 13, 1772,. The ship’s route led first to the South Atlantic, then through the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean to the islands ofPolynesia and finally around Cape Horn back to England, returning to England. The Forsters claimed they had not received fair payment for their work and had to move house. They chose to settle in England in1766. At the age of only thirteen, the young Forster published his first book: an English translation of Lomonosov’s history of Russia, which was well received in scientific circles. He later became head librarian at the University of Mainz.
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