Historical Records of Australian Science最新文献

The American, Roger Tory Peterson, has been the single most influential figure in the evolution of birding field guides around the world. He was also a major contributor to the awakening of an environmental consciousness among the wider public in the second half of the twentieth century. In Australia, he provided a powerful impetus to the renovation of the field guide genre from the 1960s onward; and his Australian followers, like Peterson himself, were driven by a conviction that field guides are potent contributors to the conservationist cause. This article explores the myriad ways in which Peterson helped shape Australian birding field guides, including an exposition of his personal friendship with one of Australia’s major field guide authors, Graham Pizzey.

Australian astronomy has undergone huge changes since the middle of the twentieth century, when astronomers generally only had access to the observing facilities of their own institution. In this paper, we look at the changes in the context of the membership of the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA), since its formation in 1966. Initially, the dominant institutions were the Australian National University, the University of Sydney and the CSIRO, with each of these having more than twice the members of any other Australian institution. Access to world-class national facilities provided by the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT, an optical telescope) from 1975 and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA, a radio telescope) from 1991, led to increases in astronomer numbers at institutions other than the three dominant ones. More recently, to stay internationally competitive, astronomers need access to even larger observing facilities. One of these facilities is the Square Kilometre Array project (SKA). This radio telescope is to be split between Southern Africa and Australia with SKA-Low, observing in low frequency radio waves, to be sited at a remote location in Western Australia. That plan, and two new SKA precursor instruments, has boosted the number of astronomers in the state, making Western Australia one of the major centres of astrophysical research in Australia.

Acclimatisation has been a profoundly important force in Australia’s history, yet scholars have routinely ignored or denigrated it, leaving it under-studied and misunderstood. Most accounts frame acclimatisation as a fad, briefly flourishing around the 1860s; scholars typically blame the spread of animal pests such as the rabbit for the sudden loss of interest in this branch of science. This article attempts to revise such accounts, demonstrating, on the contrary, that settler Australians continued to exhibit favourable attitudes towards acclimatisation and acclimatised wildlife well into the twentieth century. Focusing on wild birds, the article argues that acclimatisation was not consistently opposed by Australian naturalists until the second half of the 1930s, and indeed, that attempts to acclimatise non-native birds continued into the 1960s. Settler nationalism and xenophobia—rather than improved ecological theories or field data—are identified as the underlying motivation for the opponents of acclimatisation. The implications for present-day research into and management of non-native wildlife species are briefly considered.

As a geographically isolated and island continent, Australia has historically been protected from the impact of many damaging plant pests found overseas. However, the advent of modern transport systems and greater global trade in live plants, seed and plant products is increasing the movement of pests including invertebrates, pathogens, and weeds. Exclusion of these threats through an effective biosecurity system is essential to support and protect Australia’s agricultural producers and unique flora. Biosecurity measures must balance risk-based regulation with successful trade of goods, including live plants, seed and plant products. Although achievement of zero biosecurity risk is not a broadly practical outcome, geographic exclusion of threats is an effective approach to support and protect Australia’s unique environment. This is particularly important in the trade of live plants as nursery stock. Latent infection presents a significant hurdle for detection of plant pathogens in border inspections to exclude their entry with imported plants. Post-entry plant quarantine enables latent infection to be expressed as visible symptoms, while providing sufficient time for targeted testing of asymptomatic plants. Here we provide a synopsis of the pivotal role plant quarantine has and continues to play in Australia’s biosecurity system.

When myxoma virus was first released in Australia it was seen not only as a means of controlling rabbits but also an opportunity to understand the evolution of a disease in a new host. The virus quickly attenuated into less virulent variants while simultaneously rabbits built heritable resistance to the disease. Nonetheless, rather than rabbits quickly outstripping virus virulence, myxoma viruses have adapted and kept pace with increases in rabbit resistance by increasing in virulence and other attributes necessary for remaining highly transmissible. As well as benefitting the biological control of pest rabbits, this previously unrevealed chapter details the evolution of myxomatosis while also documenting the delays in reaching a consensus on the coevolution of myxoma virus virulence and rabbit resistance.

Peter Pringsheim, best known as professor of physics at the University of Berlin, has an unusual connection with Australia. His attendance at the 1914 conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which was held in Melbourne, coincided with the outbreak of World War 1, and he was interned as an enemy alien at the Trial Bay Internment Camp in New South Wales from October 1914 until July 1919. However, with the support of key Australian and New Zealand scientists, Pringsheim used his time at Trial Bay to write a scientific paper on fluorescence and phosphorescence which established him as a world authority on this branch of atomic physics. On his return to Berlin, he was promoted to professor and it seemed that nothing could now stand in the way of his career. In a grim twist of fate, however, political developments in Germany in the 1930s then forced him into exile in Belgium and the United States.

David Cooper was an internationally renowned immunologist and HIV clinician who spearheaded Australia’s world-leading HIV response. Known for advocacy and community engagement, he made several world-first discoveries on HIV pathogenesis and treatment. He was involved in the development of every HIV drug used in Australia and drove the introduction of antiretroviral pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in NSW. He established, then led, the Kirby Institute for thirty-two years, remaining at the forefront of communicable disease research in Australia and internationally.

Dr Angus McEwan FAA FTSE who died on 5 September 2018, aged 81, was a renowned Australian fluid dynamicist, specialising in designing and conducting experimental studies in geophysical fluid dynamics, and providing outstanding leadership of national and international research programs in oceanography and meteorology.

William Roderick (Bill) Blevin graduated from the University of New England (UNE) with First Class Honours in science in 1950, completed a Diploma of Education in 1951 and a Master of Science degree in 1952. He joined the CSIRO Division of Physics in 1953 as a research scientist and became the leader of the Optical Radiometry and Pyrometry Group. In 1972, he was awarded a DSc from the University of New England and in 1976 became a chief research scientist within CSIRO. In 1988, he was appointed chief of the CSIRO Division of Applied Physics. For much of his distinguished research career his focus was on improving measurement standards for optical radiometry and photometric measurement. Among his many achievements was an independent experimental determination of the Stefan–Boltzmann constant which advanced the accuracy of agreement with theoretical determinations by more than an order of magnitude. His work on the Stefan–Boltzmann constant and his determination in the face of international opposition eventually led to the redefinition of the candela, the SI (International System) unit for light intensity, in terms of the unit for power. His work was widely recognised internationally and brought great credit to CSIRO as well as gaining great respect for metrology in Australia. Bill served as president of the International Consultative Committee for Photometry and Radiometry (CCPR) for some twelve years and served as a member, secretary and vice-president of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM). He received many awards and honours throughout his illustrious career, including recognition as a Member of the Order of Australia.

Jeremy Pickett-Heaps was a biologist whose acute observational powers were fed by a deep fascination for how cells work; he had an affinity for the myriad diversity of algae and other protists in general and for what they could teach us about all cells. An early adopter of the electron microscope, he made fundamental discoveries in plant cell division and green algal phylogeny that developed into studies on cell division in general: first with the highly-ordered diatoms and other protists, and later with animal cells. In the latter part of his career, Jeremy mastered time-lapse micro-cinematography to document the dynamic lives of cells and, through the resultant movies and his enthusiastic teaching, introduced many to the wonders of microscopic life.