'The book itself is a handsome and high quality production, combining some of the bulk and sheen of the coffee table volume with the compendious footnotes of the doctoral dissertation … a book to savour.' Australian Book Review

• Introduction R. W. Home; Part I. Early Days: 1. Aboriginal conceptions of the workings of nature L. R. Hiatt and Rhys Jones; 2. Philosophical travellers at the ends of the earth: Baudin, Peron and the Tasmanians M. J. Hughes; 3. Cultural transmission: science and society to 1850 S. Jack; Part II. Science in a Colonial Society: 4. The long arm of London: Sir Roderick Murchison and imperial science in Australia R. A. Stafford; 5. Support for the scientific enterprise, 1850–1900 I. Inkster and J. Todd; 6. Baron von Mueller: protege turned patron A. M. Lucas; 7. Gorilla warfare in Melbourne: Halford, Huxley and 'Man's place in nature' B. W. Butcher; 8. 'Sweetness and light': industrial research in the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, 1855–1900 G. Bindon and D. P. Miller; Part III. Passage to Modernity: 9. Cancer, physics and society: interactions between the wars H. Hamersley; 10. Science on service, 1939–45 R. W. Home; 11. Plant introduction in Australia R. L. Burt and W. T. Williams; 12. Research in the medical sciences: the road to national independence F. C. Courtice; 13. Early years of Australian radio astronomy W. T. Sullivan, III; 14. Australian astronomy since the Second World War S. C. B. Gascoigne; 15. The shaping of contemporary scientific institutions R. Johnston and J. Buckley; Index.

'The book itself is a handsome and high quality production, combining some of the bulk and sheen of the coffee table volume with the compendious footnotes of the doctoral dissertation … a book to savour.' Australian Book Review

• Introduction R. W. Home; Part I. Early Days: 1. Aboriginal conceptions of the workings of nature L. R. Hiatt and Rhys Jones; 2. Philosophical travellers at the ends of the earth: Baudin, Peron and the Tasmanians M. J. Hughes; 3. Cultural transmission: science and society to 1850 S. Jack; Part II. Science in a Colonial Society: 4. The long arm of London: Sir Roderick Murchison and imperial science in Australia R. A. Stafford; 5. Support for the scientific enterprise, 1850–1900 I. Inkster and J. Todd; 6. Baron von Mueller: protege turned patron A. M. Lucas; 7. Gorilla warfare in Melbourne: Halford, Huxley and 'Man's place in nature' B. W. Butcher; 8. 'Sweetness and light': industrial research in the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, 1855–1900 G. Bindon and D. P. Miller; Part III. Passage to Modernity: 9. Cancer, physics and society: interactions between the wars H. Hamersley; 10. Science on service, 1939–45 R. W. Home; 11. Plant introduction in Australia R. L. Burt and W. T. Williams; 12. Research in the medical sciences: the road to national independence F. C. Courtice; 13. Early years of Australian radio astronomy W. T. Sullivan, III; 14. Australian astronomy since the Second World War S. C. B. Gascoigne; 15. The shaping of contemporary scientific institutions R. Johnston and J. Buckley; Index.

'The book itself is a handsome and high quality production, combining some of the bulk and sheen of the coffee table volume with the compendious footnotes of the doctoral dissertation … a book to savour.' Australian Book Review

• Introduction R. W. Home; Part I. Early Days: 1. Aboriginal conceptions of the workings of nature L. R. Hiatt and Rhys Jones; 2. Philosophical travellers at the ends of the earth: Baudin, Peron and the Tasmanians M. J. Hughes; 3. Cultural transmission: science and society to 1850 S. Jack; Part II. Science in a Colonial Society: 4. The long arm of London: Sir Roderick Murchison and imperial science in Australia R. A. Stafford; 5. Support for the scientific enterprise, 1850–1900 I. Inkster and J. Todd; 6. Baron von Mueller: protege turned patron A. M. Lucas; 7. Gorilla warfare in Melbourne: Halford, Huxley and 'Man's place in nature' B. W. Butcher; 8. 'Sweetness and light': industrial research in the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, 1855–1900 G. Bindon and D. P. Miller; Part III. Passage to Modernity: 9. Cancer, physics and society: interactions between the wars H. Hamersley; 10. Science on service, 1939–45 R. W. Home; 11. Plant introduction in Australia R. L. Burt and W. T. Williams; 12. Research in the medical sciences: the road to national independence F. C. Courtice; 13. Early years of Australian radio astronomy W. T. Sullivan, III; 14. Australian astronomy since the Second World War S. C. B. Gascoigne; 15. The shaping of contemporary scientific institutions R. Johnston and J. Buckley; Index.