Book Launch: The RSNSW origin story
revealed by Dr Anne Coote, Historian and Author
Date: Wednesday, 2 October, 6.00 pm for 6.30 – 8.00 pm AEST
Venue: Metcalfe Theatre, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney
Entry: Members, $10; Non-members, $20; Students, $0 plus an optional supper ($60 pp) at Mordeo, Deutsche Bank Place (corner of Hunter and Philip Streets) — see below
Video presentation: YouTube video
All are welcome
Business of the Meeting
The Agenda for the Ordinary General Meeting is now online and available on the Meetings page of the website.
About the Book
Knowledge for a Nation: Origins of the Royal Society of New South Wales tells the early history of a learned society still active in the intellectual culture of twenty-first century Australia. The book begins with an account of Australia’s first learned society, the Philosophical Society of Australasia (1821-1822), which is the Royal Society’s enduring inspiration, if not its earliest incarnation. The Royal Society evolved from the Australian Philosophical Society (1850-1), through the Philosophical Society of New South Wales, which was re-badged Royal in 1866. Successfully re-organised a decade later, the Royal Society reached the zenith of its influence on the development of a colonial science community in New South Wales. Hopes and disappointments, conflict and camaraderie, challenges and achievements are all part of this story which highlights the society’s initiatives in the cause of science, its all-male membership, the women who nevertheless contributed, and the society’s glittering conversaziones. The book concludes in 1914, when a visit to Australia by the British Association for the Advancement of Science demonstrated international recognition for the colonial scientific community which the Royal Society had worked so long to help create.
About the Author
Historian Dr Anne Coote works in the areas of public history and cultural history, including the cultural history of science in colonial Australia. For many years, she held an adjunct position at the University of New England. More recently, as an associate of the Centre for Applied History at Macquarie University, she contributed to a research project investigating the history of shale-mining settlements in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. She has written entries for the Dictionary of Sydney and published academically on the influence of literate culture on popular perceptions of community and sovereignty in mid nineteenth-century New South Wales; popular science journalism; notable collectors of natural history specimens; the intersection of specimen collection with ideas about class; and the trade in specimens at a local and global level. Dr Coote is a graduate of the University of Sydney and the University of New England, Armidale.
Would you like supper with that?
The RSNSW’s latest member survey shows that many of us are keen to return to socialising. After our lectures and panel debates at the State Library, some of us might enjoy sharing a convivial supper nearby. When the Library closes at 8 pm, let’s wander a block downhill on Hunter Street to savour some hearty Italian share plates and a glass of Clare Valley riesling, Adelaide Hills shiraz, or beer.
Include this option in your booking (above) to reserve your RSNSW supper at Mordeo bistro and bar on Deutsche Bank Place (Hunter and Phillip streets) 8–9.45 pm, $60pp (non-refundable).
15 May 2025
RSL Mittagong, Carrington Room 
