{"title":"Lothar Becker’s contributions to anthropology","authors":"H. Howes","doi":"10.1071/HR19004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19004","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Warning\u0000Readers of this article are warned that it may contain terms, descriptions and opinions that are culturally sensitive and/or offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. \u0000Silesian traveller-naturalist Lothar Becker’s two visits to Victoria in 1849–52 and 1855–65 brought him into contact with Aboriginal people living in Western Victoria, Melbourne, the Murray River at Albury, and Gippsland. His travels took him to areas now recognised as the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai, Wathaurung, Wiradjuri and Wurundjeri peoples. Becker’s publications include scattered observations on Aboriginal appearance, lifeways, diet, skills, and beliefs. Although these observations were limited by his inability to speak any Aboriginal languages and coloured by his assumptions about the inferiority of Aboriginal culture, they nevertheless document small but significant fragments of what has recently been termed ‘Aboriginal Biocultural Knowledge’.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45872124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lothar Becker: a German naturalist in Victoria, 1849–52, 1855–65","authors":"T. A. Darragh","doi":"10.1071/HR18020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18020","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Warning\u0000Readers of this article are warned that it may contain terms, descriptions and opinions that are culturally sensitive and/or offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.\u0000Lothar Becker (1825–1901?), an unpretentious Silesian naturalist, twice visited the colony of Victoria and published rich and original observations on its natural history and Indigenous people on his return to Germany. On his first visit, 1849 to 1852, Becker recorded his encounter with Black Thursday, a devastating bushfire, its aftermath, and the, by then, still relatively uncleared landscape. He also related his experiences living for a time with an Indigenous family in the Omeo district. After adding to his store of natural history observations on a second visit, 1855 to 1865, Becker tried to make money from writing articles on diverse Australian topics such as ant nests, the sequence and timing of flowering, the distribution of weeds, the natural history of fungi and the world history of tobacco, in all but the latter characterised by a remarkable proto-ecological approach. Becker’s publications have been overlooked by subsequent scientific researchers, in part because he wrote for the popular press, and because his language was German. The life and work of Lothar Becker is introduced here for the first time, and translations provided of six of his articles on Victorian natural history, botany, mycology, horticulture, and anthropology. Reflections on Becker’s contribution to anthropology and to mycology are published in two associated articles by Howes, and May and Darragh.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41951109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The significance of mycological contributions by Lothar Becker","authors":"T. May, T. A. Darragh","doi":"10.1071/HR19005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19005","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Warning\u0000Readers of this article are warned that it may contain terms, descriptions and opinions that are culturally sensitive and/or offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. \u0000Silesian-born Lothar Becker spent two periods in Australia, during which he made observations on a range of natural history topics, including fungi—a group of organisms rarely noticed by contemporary naturalists. Becker compiled notes, sketches and collections of Australian fungi that he sent to Elias Fries in Sweden for identification. Unfortunately, this material has not survived, but Becker’s accounts of his time in Australia, especially that published in Das Ausland in 1873, contain remarkable first-hand observations, including some on exotic fungi. Becker’s article is one of the earliest stand-alone analyses of the affinities of the Australian mycota. Remarks on the use of fungi by Aboriginal peoples of south-eastern Australia are particularly significant, due to inclusion of a word presumed to be from Aboriginal language and the suggestion of gendered roles in the collection of edible fungi.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48882121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hugh Bryan Spencer Womersley 1922–2011","authors":"S. Maroske","doi":"10.1071/HR19003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19003","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Hugh Bryan Spencer Womersley disliked the word ‘seaweed’, and objected every time it was spoken in his presence. To him algae were not ‘weeds’ but beautiful organisms, well worthy of making the subject of a lifetime of scientific study. As was common in the middle of the twentieth century, Womersley did not begin his career as a phycologist, but rather found himself specialising in this life form after discovering how richly represented and little known it was along the coast of southern Australia. In his seventy-year association with the University of Adelaide, Bryan transformed the study of phycology in Australia, attracting a pool of talented students to contribute to his grand project of a marine benthic flora of southern Australia, and to carry the study of algae forward into the next generation. Being a pioneer in the field gave him opportunities for ground-breaking research and an overview of the discipline as it developed, positioning him as the leading expert on Australian algae in the international phycological community.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42496168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Anthony William Linnane 1930–2017","authors":"P. Nagley","doi":"10.1071/HR19001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19001","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Anthony (Tony) Linnane isolated mitochondria from bakers’ yeast during his doctoral studies at the University of Sydney in the 1950s. He subsequently pioneered research into the biogenesis of mitochondria, covering enzymology, membrane biochemistry, and molecular biology and genetics, over more than two decades until the mid-1980s. These discoveries were made mostly at Monash University and earned him election as FAA (1972) and FRS (1980). Linnane thereafter broadened his research towards medical topics, especially the role of mitochondria in human ageing, together with studies on interferon and cancer-specific mucinous antigens. After retirement from Monash in 1996, Linnane worked towards ameliorating disease through bioenergetic strategies, based at the Centre for Molecular Biology and Medicine in Melbourne. He played significant roles in the Australian Biochemical Society and the International Union of Biochemistry.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42737248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An introduction to the CSIRO Oral History Collection","authors":"H. A. Wolff, T. Healy, T. Spurling","doi":"10.1071/HR18026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18026","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper describes a project to record specialised oral histories of key individuals involved with Australia’s principal scientific research organisation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The oral histories are intended to complement official governance documents in a larger project to write a history of CSIRO. Oral histories typically include perspectives on family backgrounds and childhood, professional training and career histories. Of particular interest in these interviews is the involvement of interviewees in the management of CSIRO and their reflections on the place of CSIRO in the Australian and international scientific environments. The interviews were conducted mainly by two of the authors (Spurling and Healy), both of whom were well known to the interviewees because they were themselves senior managers in CSIRO and familiar with the topics discussed. These histories are intended to illuminate important personal factors that have influenced decision-making in CSIRO. Also covered are plans to use other collections of interview materials in the CSIRO History Project (CHP), including those conducted by CSIRO historian Boris Schedvin, the Australian Academy of Science and the National Library of Australia. Details are provided of preparations for interviews, recording and transcription and preparation of materials for public access through CSIROpedia.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45129979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Anton Linder Hales 1911–2006","authors":"Kurt Lambeck","doi":"10.1071/HR18022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18022","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Anton Linder Hales died in Canberra on 11 December 2006. He was a distinguished geophysicist of international renown who made major contributions to understanding the structure and evolution of the deep Earth through the combination of theoretical developments, field experimentation and laboratory measurements, including in whole-mantle convection, palaeomagnetism, geochronology and seismology. He was also a creative and highly successful builder of research institutions on three continents, in South Africa, the USA and Australia. The last of these was as Foundation Director of the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University, leaving behind one of the leading geoscience research institutions in the world. His career spanned a period in which earth science was undergoing rapid evolution—from a ‘fixist’ view of the planet to the ‘highly dynamic’ view that we have today, an evolution to which he made important contributions both through his own research and his scientific leadership at institutional and international level.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44409937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
G. Keig, R. Hide, S. Cuddy, Heinz Buettikofer, J. Bellamy, P. Bleeker, D. Freyne, J. McAlpine
{"title":"CSIRO and land research in Papua New Guinea 1950–2000: part 2: post-Independence","authors":"G. Keig, R. Hide, S. Cuddy, Heinz Buettikofer, J. Bellamy, P. Bleeker, D. Freyne, J. McAlpine","doi":"10.1071/HR18025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18025","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Following Papua New Guinea (PNG) Independence in 1975, the new administration approached Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) directly concerning the need to address issues related to food security and village-based agriculture. A subsequent series of collaborative research projects between CSIRO and PNG government departments built upon the existing survey information to provide PNG with one of the earliest national-level, computer-based resource information systems, with widespread applications, particularly in agriculture, forestry, environmental management and planning. Part 1 of this historical review discussed the evolution, conduct and outcomes of the CSIRO integrated surveys over the period 1950–75, while Part 2 describes the subsequent research projects that arose from the surveys and concluded in 2000. In addition, the legacy of CSIRO involvement in land research in PNG is examined in relation to advances made both within individual scientific disciplines and in other relevant technological fields, and to operational challenges and structural change within the organisation.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1071/HR18025","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47236047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Corrigendum to: An introduction to the CSIRO Oral History Collection","authors":"H. A. Wolff, T. Healy, T. Spurling","doi":"10.1071/hr18026_co","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/hr18026_co","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes a project to record specialised oral histories of key individuals involved with Australia's principal scientific research organisation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The oral histories are intended to complement official governance documents in a larger project to write a history of CSIRO. Oral histories typically include perspectives on family backgrounds and childhood, professional training and career histories. Of particular interest in these interviews is the involvement of interviewees in the management of CSIRO and their reflections on the place of CSIRO in the Australian and international scientific environments. The interviews were conducted mainly by two of the authors (Spurling and Healy), both of whom were well known to the interviewees because they were themselves senior managers in CSIRO and familiar with the topics discussed. These histories are intended to illuminate important personal factors that have influenced decision-making in CSIRO. Also covered are plans to use other collections of interview materials in the CSIRO History Project (CHP), including those conducted by CSIRO historian Boris Schedvin, the Australian Academy of Science and the National Library of Australia. Details are provided of preparations for interviews, recording and transcription and preparation of materials for public access through CSIROpedia.","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59255958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Robert (Robin) Harold Stokes 1918–2016","authors":"T. Spurling, B. Noller","doi":"10.1071/HR18018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18018","url":null,"abstract":"Robin Stokes was born in the village of Southsea, on Portsea Island, UK, on 24 December 1918 and died in Armidale, NSW, Australia, on 15 November 2016. He came from a long line of distinguished scientists and mathematicians. Robin was educated at Auckland Grammar School, Auckland University College and the University of Cambridge. He commenced his academic career at the University of Western Australia in 1945 during the post-war reconstruction period, left there to pursue his PhD at Cambridge in 1947 and returned as a senior lecturer in 1950. He took the chair of chemistry at the University of New England in 1955 and remained there for the rest of his career. He made outstanding contributions to our understanding of electrolyte solutions. His book with R. A. Robinson has more than 12,000 citations.","PeriodicalId":51246,"journal":{"name":"Historical Records of Australian Science","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59255760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}