Ideas@theHouse: May 2020
Ideas@theHouse
presented by
Her Excellency the Honourable
Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW
“Ten: the Mapping of Colonial Australia”
Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy AM FRSN
The University of Newcastle
Date: Thursday, 21 May 2020, 7.00pm
Venue: Zoom webinar
About the talk: Maps are documents of history: they tell a story of place in context. The printed map has been available for 500 years—a remarkable coincidence with the story of Terra Australis, the mapping of Australia, and of the transition from mythology to empiricism as Western science took centre stage. The human history of New South Wales pre-dates all this by at least 60,000 years, engraved in rock, and embedded in a social history looking at the stars.
The intent of this talk is to highlight a very small part of the cartographic story, namely that of the colonial period from 1788 to 1901. The story will be told through a cartographic record of change events, covering a century where a “gaol of 1000 souls would become an independent nation with the highest standard of living in the world”, and told in the context of the colonial governors of the day — ten from the date of colonisation in 1788 through to responsible government in 1855, and ten from 1855 up to Australian Federation in 1901.
Which governors do you think made the most significant differences during this transition?
About the speaker: Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy was the Foundation Professor of Pathology in the University of Newcastle Medical School and a clinical immunologist who undertook research in mucosal immunology and the development of mechanisms to enhance mucosal resistance and control mucosal inflammation. He has a strong involvement in the biotechnology of natural products that maximise mucosal immune competence, protecting against infection, and he maintains a clinic in gastroenterology focused on inflammatory bowel disease.
Professor Clancy has strong, longstanding interests in histocartography relating to the discovery and development of Terra Australis, and the history of science and medicine, with a focus on epidemics. He has written five books on histocartography and is a regular speaker on maps—curating exhibitions and writing numerous articles on this topic. Together with his wife, Christine, he run tours in Europe on the history of medicine and pharmacy, and the history of science.
About Ideas@theHouse: In late 2019, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales and Patron of the Royal Society of NSW, invited representatives of the Society to discuss how the Governor might open Government House to a series of public events based on important and/or influential ideas. Her Excellency’s proposal was that the Royal Society of NSW and other organisations might devise a series of lectures, to be held at Government House, and known as Ideas@theHouse on topics of our choice for an invited audience of our Members and Fellows, together with others to be invited by Her Excellency. The lecture would be followed by a reception hosted by Her Excellency. In January 2020, the Governor accepted three topics proposed by the Society. Since then the social restrictions of COVID-19 have intervened, with the face-to-face presentation and reception having to be replaced by an online webinar followed by a live question and answer session. We look forward to a future when we can enjoy the Governor's hospitality at the House.
Contents of JProcRSNSW, Vol. 152, Part 3, March 2020
Note: This special issue is published on-line only.
The complete Volume 152, Part 3, March 2020.
2019 Biennial Symposium of the Australian and New Zealand Associations of von Humboldt Fellows
Ingrid Piller
Editorial: Sharing knowledge in the spirit of Humboldt
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 291-294, 2020.
Gabrielle McMullen
Alexander von Humboldt, scientific explorer and research communicator par excellence
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 295-301, 2020.
Ingrid Gogolin
Einheit in der Vielheit (unity in diversity) – On the topicality of Humboldt's ethnographic reflections for today's world
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 302-306, 2020.
Dietmar Höttecke
Understanding science and how it works in the age of social media
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 307-319, 2020.
Adrian Dyer, S.R. Howard, and J.E. Garcia
Balancing research excellence and media impact: a multistage approach
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 320-326, 2020.
Nathan L. Kilah
Bang! Crackle! Pop! Fizzle? — Chemistry outreach and fireworks
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152:: 327-331, 2020.
Laura Smith-Khan and Alexandra Grey
Developing research collaboration across law and linguistics
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 332-337, 2020.
John Hearnshaw
The International Astronomical Union and its work to promote collaboration in research among astronomers world-wide
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 338-342, 2020.
Ronald J Clarke
One sequence, one structure: demise of a dogma or fake news?
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 152: 343-345, 2020.
Contents of JProcRSNSW, Vol. 153, Part 1, June 2020
The complete Volume 153, Part 1, June 2020.
Robert E. Marks
Editorial: The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 1-3
Distinguished Fellow Address:
Brian Schmidt, introduced by Her Excellency, Margaret Beazley.
Evidence and education in a post-truth and post-COVID world.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 4-13
Submitted Paper:
Graham A. Bell
Olfactory acuity test while pre-symptomatic for COVID-19.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 14-23
Sponsored Composition:
David Hush.
The magic of solo violin, including the world premier of his Partita for Solo Violin.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 24-29
Invited Paper:
Stephen J. Pyne.
The Pyrocene comes to Australia.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 30-35
The Royal Society of NSW and Four Academies Forum: Making SPACE for Australia
Roy MacLeod and Susan Pond.
The convenors' report.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 36-38
The Governor, Margaret Beazley.
Opening Address: Making SPACE for Australia
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 39-41
Lisa Kewley.
Keynote Address: Australia’s strengths in space science.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 42-45
Kerrie Dougherty.
Sixty years of Australia in space.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 46-57
Megan Clark.
The Australian Space Agency.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 58-60
Kimberley Clayfield.
CSIRO: our roadmap for space.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 61-64
Adam Lewis.
Seeing and sensing Australia (and elsewhere) from space.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 65-69
Steven Freeland.
The limits of law: challenges to the global governance of space activities.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 70-82
Ben Piggott.
Military and geopolitical challenges in space.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 83-86
Nikki Coleman.
Ethical challenges in space: norms and conventions for peaceful spacefaring.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 87-89
Jonathan Webb.
The promise and peril of space: viewing space through the media.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 90-93
Alice Gorman.
Space heritage: artefacts and archæology.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 94-96
Ceridwen Dovey.
The privatisation of space: does NewSpace create companies or cults?
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 97-99
William E Barrett.
Transformation of the global space industry in the 21st century, and the rôle of NSW in space.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 100-103
Paul Scully-Power.
Space 2.0: the next world revolution.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 104-107
Jason Lind.
Defence space situational awareness: opportunities for Australian industry.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 108-110
Brett Biddington.
Rapporteur's summary.
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 111-118
Obituary:
Len Fisher.
Lord Robert McCredie May OM, AC, FRS, FAA, FTSE, DistFRSN (1936–2020)
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 119-130
The Royal Society of New South Wales Awards for 2020:
James Cook Medal, Clarke Medal, Edgeworth David Medal, History and Philosophy of Science Medal, Warren Prize, Archibald Ollé Prize, Liversidge Lecture, Jak Kelly Award, RSNSW Scholarships, Poggendorff Lectureship, RSNSW Medal, RSNSW Citation
Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 153: 131-133
Speaking of Music ... the Magic of Solo Violin
On 27 February 2020 the Royal Society of NSW and the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts presented a celebration of the 300th anniversary of Bach’s solo violin pieces with a lecture by Dr David Hush FRSN on Bach’s enduring popularity and influence. The evening featured performances by award winning violinist Anna Da Silva Chen of Bach’s Sonata for Solo Violin No. 1 in G minor BWV 1001 and the World Premiere of Partita for Solo Violin (2019), composed by David Hush and commissioned by the Royal Society.
The evening’s program can be accessed from the Royal Society's YouTube Channel through the following playlist links:
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