Australian Academy of Science

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Australian Academy of Science
Australian Academy Science coa.jpg
Academy Coat of Arms
Formation 1954
Headquarters Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Membership
 ~500 Fellows
President
 Professor Andrew Holmes
Website www.science.org.au
Ian Potter House

The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London.[1] The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The Academy is modelled after the Royal Society and operates under a Royal Charter;[1] as such, it is an independent body, but it has government endorsement. The Academy Secretariat is in Canberra, at the Shine Dome.

The objectives of the Academy are to promote science and science education through a range of activities. It has defined four major program areas:

  • recognition of outstanding contributions to science
  • education and public awareness
  • science policy
  • international relations

The Academy also runs the 22 National Committees for Science which provide a forum to discuss issues relevant to all the scientific disciplines in Australia.

Origins

The Australian National Research Council (ANRC) was established in 1919 for the purpose of representing Australia on the International Research Council. The Council ceased to exist in 1954, replaced by the Australian Academy of Science.[2]

The Shine Dome

The Shine Dome

The Shine Dome (previously known as Becker House) is a well-known Canberra landmark, notable for its unusual structure, and colloquially referred to as "The Martian Embassy", an allusion to its shape and the fact that as the capital of Australia, Canberra is the home of foreign embassies.[3] It was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds, of Grounds, Romberg and Boyd. When completed in 1959 its 45.75m-diameter dome was the largest in Australia.

On 1 December 1956, the Academy's building design committee met in Adelaide to look over plans submitted by six architects. The plan accepted involved a 710-ton reinforced concrete dome, which had to be supported by 16 thin supports. The concrete is approximately 60 cm thick at the base supports, and 10 cm at the top. The dome supports itself, with no internal wall holding it up. It cost £200,000 to build. The foundation stone, laid on 2 May 1958 by Prime Minister of Australia, Robert Menzies, was originally part of the pier of the Great Melbourne Telescope constructed in 1869 under the supervision of the Royal Society and transferred to Mount Stromlo Observatory in the 1940s.

The building was named Becker House, for benefactor and Fellow of the Academy Sir Jack Ellerton Becker, in 1962. In 2000, it was renamed in honour of Fellow John Shine, who donated one million dollars to renovate the dome.

The interior contains three floors: on the ground level, the main auditorium, the Ian Wark Theatre, seats 156 people, the Jaeger Room for functions and meetings, the Becker Council Meeting Room and offices; the upper level includes a gallery to the theatre and the Adolf Basser Library; and the basement houses storage for historical records of science in Australia.

Education

Science education is a main commitment of Australian Academy of Science. Current activities include following projects:[4]

  • Primary Connections
  • Science by Doing
  • Nova: Science in the news
  • Interviews with Australian scientists
  • Nobel Australians
  • Eureka moments

Fellows

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Main article: List of Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science

The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of around 500 leading Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy. Twenty new Fellows may be elected every year.[5]

No more than two Fellows may be elected every three years on the basis of distinguished contributions to science by means other than personal research. A small number of distinguished foreign scientists with substantial connections to Australian science are elected as Corresponding Members.

Fellows are denoted by the letters FAA (Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science) after their name.

Foundation Fellows

When the Academy was founded in 1954 there were 24 members, known as the Foundation Fellows:

Name Field
Keith Edward Bullen Mathematics and geophysics
Frank Macfarlane Burnet Virology and immunology (Nobel laureate)
David Guthrie Catcheside Genetics
Thomas MacFarland Cherry Mathematics
Ian Clunies Ross Parasitology and science administration
Edmund Alfred Cornish Statistics
John Eccles Neuroscience (Nobel laureate)
Edwin Sherbon Hills Geology
Leonard Huxley Physics
Raymond James Wood Le Fèvre Chemistry
Max Rudolf Lemberg Biochemistry
Hedley Ralph Marston Biochemistry
Leslie Martin Physics
David Forbes Martyn Physics
Douglas Mawson Geology
Alexander John Nicholson Entomology
Mark Oliphant Physics
Joseph Lade Pawsey Radiophysics and astronomy
James Arthur Prescott Agricultural science
David Rivett Chemistry
Thomas Gerald Room Mathematics
Sydney Sunderland Neuroscience
Oscar Werner Tiegs Zoology
Richard van der Riet Woolley Astronomy

Presidents

Awards

The following medals are awarded annually:

Other awards include:

Other learned Academies

There are three other learned Academies in Australia, those of Humanities (Australian Academy of the Humanities), Social Science (Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia) and Technological Sciences and Engineering (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering). The four Academies cooperate through the Australian Council of Learned Academies, formed in 2010.

Arms

Arms of Australian Academy of Science
Notes
The arms of the Australian Academy of Science consist of:[6]
Crest
On a Wreath of the Colours a demi Swan rousant Sable Ducally gorged Or the wings charged with a conventional representation of the nucleus of an Atom with three Particles in orbit Or.
Escutcheon
Azure a representation of the building of the Australian Academy of Science at Canberra ensigned of a Mullet of seven points Argent on a Canton Argent a representation of the Royal Crown proper.
Supporters
On the dexter side a Kangaroo and on the sinister side a Talbot both proper and Ducally gorged Or.
Symbolism
Within the shield, the seven-pointed silver star represents the Commonwealth of Australia, along with the representation of the Academy building, and a royal crown was included by special permission of Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of the royal foundation of the Academy. In the crest biological science is represented by the Black swan and physical science by the atom symbol on its wing. The Red Kangaroo supporter is taken from the Australian arms while the White hound supporter is identical to the supporters of the arms of the Royal Society of London and was included to signify the close relations of the two bodies and their role in the academy's establishment.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Australian National Research Council (1919 - 1954), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ http://science.org.au/scied/
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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