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The discovery of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) was an important finding in Australian science, involving a self-educated field naturalist and a small team of plant pathologists who had to work in relative academic isolation and with inadequate glasshouse facilities. After its discovery in Melbourne in 1915, TSWV rapidly spread throughout Australia and by 1929, it posed an existential threat to the tomato industry. To address this problem, a joint project between the Waite Agricultural Research Institute and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research was initiated in 1926. This collaboration, led by University of Adelaide plant pathologist Geoffrey Samuel, was initially turbulent but ultimately highly productive. Within an eight-year period, significant advances were made in understanding the aetiology of the disease, particularly by establishing that it was caused by a thrips-transmitted virus. Aspects of the epidemiology and control of the virus were also elucidated such as investigating alternative hosts of the virus. This research was made possible through substantial improvements in mechanical inoculation techniques. Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is one of the most economically important viruses in the world. Before it became a global problem, it devastated tomato crops in Australia. This paper describes how TSWV was identified and biologically characterised by Australian scientists at a time when few techniques existed to detect the virus. It is a remarkable story of human endeavour by a small team of people working in academic isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochemistry was an early concern of physiologists and agricultural scientists in the universities of Australia. Much more is known and recorded about such early biochemists as Osborne, Robertson and Young than about Arthur Rothera, whose contribution from 1906 to 1915 is the principal focus of this paper. Rothera was the first lecturer in biochemistry in Australia, the author of a number of significant papers and, through his ketone test, is still influential in diagnosis of diabetes today. At his death, he left biochemistry at Melbourne in new laboratories, and several students able to take his place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been held that the general population of the British colony of New South Wales before the 1820s was neither exposed to nor interested in science, and that there was little home-grown science in Sydney at this time. This prevailing view, however, is based on a definition of science as institutionalized knowledge producer. In this paper I examine the Sydney colony between 1788 and 1821 through the lens of recent historiographical developments that have redefined science as a form of communicative action, and that incorporate the study of popular discourse centrally within histories of science. Under this approach, an examination of Sydney's mass media and popular culture reveals a widespread, rich and invested fascination with science among the colony's general population, and active contributions to public science discourse by ordinary colony residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1922 there was a total solar eclipse with the central track traversing the Australian continent from Western Australia, through South Australia and across Queensland. Local and overseas astronomers mounted major observing campaigns to verify the amount of gravitational light bending predicted by the Theory of General Relativity. This paper looks at how the media reported the results from previous expeditions in 1919, which were conducted by the British, and the necessity for the 1922 measurements in Australia. It was this latter local eclipse that was the impetus for Australian correspondents to report on General Relativity. In general, the Australian newspapers chronicled informatively and accurately, they provided a good coverage of the eclipse parties and stressed the significance of the 1922 investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past fifty years, Sandringham Station has provided a major focus for scientific work in southwestern Queensland, an arid region that includes the Simpson Desert and the Channel Country (together 'Desert Channels'). This paper explores the role of place, chance and private enterprise in supporting science in this region. Unlike other parts of inland Australia, where government initiatives were prominent, science in Queensland's arid country was privately supported, and research there had an ecological or eco-physiological rather than an economic focus. It began later than elsewhere (1960s), and its scientific questions were different from those framed in research stations set up to address agricultural and pastoral imperatives. The location of Sandringham on the ecological edge between the ephemeral wetlands of the anastomosing channels and the dune country of the Simpson Desert created an ecotonal area that was rich in animals adapted to living in Australian desert country, and a particular opportunity to observe their adaptations to the boom-and-bust ecological conditions. The role of local observers, particularly station managers and naturalists, has been critical in studying the often cryptic animals of the region, and the ongoing support of the station itself was essential to investigations that were mostly on private leasehold lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the past of desert landscapes has been interpreted since European explorers and scientists first encountered them. It charts the research that created the conceptual space within which archaeologists and Quaternarists now work. Studies from the 1840s-1960s created the notion of a 'Great Australian Arid Period'. The 1960s studies of Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes by Jim Bowler revealed the cyclical nature of palaeolakes, that changed with climate changes in the Pleistocene, and the complexity of desert pasts. SLEADS and other researchers in the 1980s used thermoluminescence techniques that showed further complexities in desert lands beyond the Willandra particularly through new studies in the Strzelecki and Simpson Dunefields, Lake Eyre, Lake Woods and Lake Gregory. Australian deserts are varied and have very different histories. Far from 'timeless lands', they have carried detailed information about long-term climate changes on continental scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ralph Tate (1840-1901), the foundation Professor of Natural Science at the University of Adelaide, proved to be a remarkable scientist and naturalist with outstanding achievements in several fields. Tate was selected for the Chair in Adelaide, despite having no previous university experience, mainly on the recommendation of T. H. Huxley. This paper examines Tate's background in some detail and establishes that, in fact, as a respected geologist and palaeontologist with interests in conchology and botany, he was particularly well qualified to fill the post. He had had years of teaching practice, a long list of research publications and even experience in exploring new territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health promotion practice requires partnerships with different sectors of society and at all levels of government to achieve health equity as the prerequisites for health include domains that exist outside of the health sphere. Therefore existing partnerships for health need to be strengthened and the potential for new partnerships must be considered in order to address health holistically. The literature base exploring the church as a partner and setting for health promotion is predominantly from the US and therefore there is a need for research exploring the opportunities and challenges of partnering with churches in the Australian context. This paper presents an historical overview of the involvement of churches and church affiliated organisations in health and welfare in Australia recognising that while some of the values, practices and beliefs of churches may have considerable synergies with health promotion, others may be sources of contention or difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]