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Correspondence

Nature 434, 137 (10 March 2005) | doi:10.1038/434137c; Published online 9 March 2005

There is an Erratum (24 March 2005) associated with this document.

Brown knew particles were smaller than pollen

David M. Wilkinson1

  1. Biological and Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK

In your Year of Physics supplement (Nature 433, 213–257; 2005), several authors repeat the mistaken idea that the botanist Robert Brown observed the motion that now carries his name while watching the irregular motion of pollen grains in water. The microscopic particles involved in the characteristic jiggling dance Brown described were much smaller clay particles.

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