Australian Science in the Making

by Roderick Weir Home

Overview

The Australian Academy of Science celebrates and assesses two centuries of Australian science, as a contribution to the nation's bicentenary. Authors with wide-ranging fields of interest present a group of general surveys and case studies on the development of scientific understanding and research. Topics range from traditional Aboriginal conceptions of the workings of nature to the directions and priorities of the present day. Among issues the book addresses are the place of science in a colonial society; the relationship between science in Australia and elsewhere, especially Britain; the impact of war on the Australian scientific institutions. Published in association with the Australian Academy of Science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521396400
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/28/1990
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	444
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction R. W. Home; Part I. Early Days: 1. Aboriginal conceptions of the workings of nature L. R. Hiatt and Rhys Jones; 2. Philosophical travellers at the ends of the earth: Baudin, Peron and the Tasmanians M. J. Hughes; 3. Cultural transmission: science and society to 1850 S. Jack; Part II. Science in a Colonial Society: 4. The long arm of London: Sir Roderick Murchison and imperial science in Australia R. A. Stafford; 5. Support for the scientific enterprise, 1850–1900 I. Inkster and J. Todd; 6. Baron von Mueller: protege turned patron A. M. Lucas; 7. Gorilla warfare in Melbourne: Halford, Huxley and 'Man's place in nature' B. W. Butcher; 8. 'Sweetness and light': industrial research in the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, 1855–1900 G. Bindon and D. P. Miller; Part III. Passage to Modernity: 9. Cancer, physics and society: interactions between the wars H. Hamersley; 10. Science on service, 1939–45 R. W. Home; 11. Plant introduction in Australia R. L. Burt and W. T. Williams; 12. Research in the medical sciences: the road to national independence F. C. Courtice; 13. Early years of Australian radio astronomy W. T. Sullivan, III; 14. Australian astronomy since the Second World War S. C. B. Gascoigne; 15. The shaping of contemporary scientific institutions R. Johnston and J. Buckley; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Taken together, these essays reflect the range and level of current work on the history of biological and physical sciences in Australia." Science

"All this is impressive, pioneering scholarship." Roy MacLeod, Isis

From the Publisher