Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), British naturalist, who helped to establish botany as an academic discipline. Banks was born in London and educated at Christ Church College, University of Oxford. From 1768 to 1771 he collected biological specimens as a member of the expedition conducted by the British explorer Captain James Cook. In 1772 Banks visited the Hebrides and Iceland. He was elected president of the Royal Society in 1778, an office he held until his death, and a member of the Institut de France in 1802. Banks encouraged the transfer of exotic plants from the colonies to Europe and the development of the Kew Gardens in London.