They had to go: Australian chemists who took doctor of philosophy degrees in Britain, 1945-1965

Historical Records of Australian Science

Volumn 12, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 331-361

  Rae, Ian D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77951854087     PISSN: 07273061     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1071/HR9991230331     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. The first Australian PhD was conferred a week earlier on Miss Erica Wolff, a humanities student: Melbourne University Gazette, 4 (1948), 20, 28-29.
2. O. Hannaway, 'The German Model of Chemical Education in America: Ira Remsen at Johns Hopkins (1876-1913) ', Ambix, 23 (1976), 145-164.
3. R. E. Kohler, 'The Ph. D. Machine: Building on the Collegiate Base', Isis, 81 (1990), 638-662.
4. The definitive reference is: R. Simpson, How the PhD Came to Britain: A Century of Struggle for Postgraduate Education (Guildford, Surrey, 1983).
5. Abstract of the Proceedings of a Conference of Representatives of the Several Australian Universities, Sydney, 26-28/5/20, p. 17.
6. Abstracts of the Proceedings of a Conference of Representatives of the Several Australian Universities, Adelaide, 21-22/8/24.
7. Minutes of meeting 6/1926 of the Professorial Board, held on 4 May, item 6; University of Melbourne Archives.
8. J. Radford, The Chemistry Department of the University of Melbourne: Its Contribution to Australian Science, 1854-1959 (Melbourne, 1978).
9. D. Branagan and G. Holland, Ever Reaping Something New: A Science Centenary (Sydney, 1985).
10. The figures are derived from university statistics published annually by the Australian Bureau of Census and Statistics.
11. W. F. Connell, G. E. Sherington, B. H. Fletcher, C. Turney and U. Bygott, Australia's First: A History of the University of Sydney, Volume 2, 1940-1990 (Sydney, 1995).
12. L. Bowman and V. Barker, Rupert Horace Myers, Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales 1969-1981: An Interview conducted by Sue Knights (Sydney, 1990).
13. At Melbourne, the discussions that led to the establishment of the degree were begun by the Dean of Science, and after 'prolonged consideration of the question by the Professorial Board and the Faculties' culminated in University regulations stipulating a prerequisite Master's degree and a minimum two-year period of study for the new degree. Relevant information appears in Melbourne University Gazette, 1 (1945), 10, 28, 44; 2 (1946), 38-39; 4 (1948), 2, 20, 28-29, 56.
14. I. D. Rae, 'Cabbages or Kings?: Chemists at ANZAAS', in R. MacLeod (ed.), The Commonwealth of Science (Melbourne, 1988), pp. 166-195.
15. P. Robb, 'Bridging the Two Cultures', The Independent Monthly (Sydney), December 1993/January 1994, pp. 10-15.
16. The term was used by Phillips as the title of an essay that appeared in Meanjin in 1950, and subsequently as a chapter in a collection of his pieces from Meanjin and Overland: A. A. Phillips, The Australian Tradition (Melbourne, 1958), pp. 112-117.
17. I. D. Rae, 'ICI Fellowships and their Effects on Australian Chemistry', Historical Records of Australian Science, 10 (1994), 25-34.
18. The discussion by J. V. Connolly, 'The Export of Talent', in J. C. G. Kevin (ed.), Some Australians Take Stock (London, 1939), does not relate specifically to science, but is broadly applicable.
19. See also the John Murtagh Macrossan Memorial Lectures of the University of Queensland for 1945: J. D. G. Medley, The Present and Future of Australian Universities (Melbourne, 1946).
20. In the Macrossan Memorial Lectures two years previously, the speaker had warned against being 'content to leave all fundamental work in Science to the older nations, except maybe for a little that some curious University professor may indulge in as a hobby': D. Rivett, The Application of Science to Industry in Australia (Brisbane, 1944), p. 32.
21. J. Gani, The Condition of Science in Australian Universities (Oxford, 1963).
22. A. E. Alexander, 'Survey of Higher Graduates from Australian Universities: Location and Employment (as at End of 1962) of Chemists Graduating M. Sc. or Ph. D. during the Period 1946-1962', Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 31 (1964), 27-29.
23. P. N. G. Armstrong, S. C. Hill and I. G. Ross, 'Australian PhD Graduates in Science and Applied Science', Vestes, 8 (1965), 246-254;
24. reprinted in Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 33 (1966), 149-153.
25. P. N. G. Armstrong, S. C. Hill and I. G. Ross, 'Australian PhDs: Specializations, Supply, Demand', Vestes, 9 (1966), 3-15;
26. reprinted in Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 33 (1966), 176-181.
27. R. G. Amiet, R. A. Shanks, S. F. Cox, P. G. Crawford and B. S. Middleton, 'The Employment of Chemistry PhDs in Australia, 1971', Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 38 (1971), 208-222.
28. B. S. Middleton, 'The Employment of Chemistry Ph. D.s in Australia', in Employment and Training of Postgraduate Students in Australia: Proceedings of a Symposium held at the University of Adelaide, August 1972, pp. 88-105.
29. S. C. Hill, P. J. Fensham and I. B. Howden, PhD Education in Australia: The Making of Professional Scientists (Australian Academy of Science, Science and Industry Forum, Report No. 7) (Netley, South Australia, 1972).
30. W. Stern, 'Chemistry PhD Graduates: Little Change as the Years Roll By', Chemistry in Australia, 55 (1988), 429-430.
31. A. Maccoll, 'Australian Chemists at University College London, 1947-64', Ambix, 36 (1989), 82-90.
32. Hill, Fensham and Howden, op. cit. (n. 17), p. 15.
33. See notes 9 and 17. Career details could not be located for some chemists who are believed to belong in the study group: A. C. Akon, A. S. F. Ash, B. J. Barry, A. G. Beboos, W. Bottomley, M. Ernest, N. Jackson, A. R. King, W. K. Warburton, G. L. Zewski.
34. Amiet, et al., op. cit. (n. 17).
35. Armstrong, Hill and Ross (1965), op. cit. (n. 17).
36. J. Jenkin, 'The Cavendish Tradition in Australian Physics - Time for Change', Australian Physicist, 20 (1983), 46-50.
37. See also I. W. Wark, '1851 Science Research Scholarship Awards to Australians', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 3 (1975-77), 47-52.
38. Oxford's reputation in the humanities is shown in figures for doctorates taken in Britain by male Honours graduates of the school of history at the University of Melbourne: Oxford 17, London 12, Cambridge 2. Complete data were not available for their female counterparts, but two of the three who took British PhDs did so at the University of London.
39. See R. M. Crawford, 'A Survey of Honours Graduates of the University of Melbourne School of History, 1937-1966', Historical Studies, 15 (1971), 43-58.
40. There were 343 male graduates of whom 77 went on to doctorates, 21 in Australia, 39 in Britain (a far higher overseas proportion than is found with chemists) and 4 in Canada. Corresponding figures for female graduates were 232, 14, 7, 3, 1 and 3 in America. A Melbourne-Oxford-Melbourne pathway followed by many historians was identified by M. Charlesworth, 'From Dawkins to Where?', Journal of Tertiary Administration, 15 (1993), 7-17, particularly p. 9.
41. A. J. Birch, To See the Obvious (Washington, DC, 1995). This autobiographical account is the only one by an Australian to find a place in the 'Profiles, Pathways and Dreams' series published by the American Chemical Society. Birch's departure from Sydney in late 1955 for Manchester was accompanied, he notes (p. 42) by newspaper headlines such as 'Beggars in Mortarboards: Why the Professor Resigned' and that his departure, along with those of Craig and Nyholm that followed shortly afterwards, influenced the Prime Minister to set up a Commission-that is, the Murray Committee - which within a year or two led to better funding of all Australian universities.
42. One of the three students who had gone to Manchester with Birch - R. W. Rickards-never completed his doctorate, but returned to Australia with Birch and subsequently made substantial contributions to organic chemistry and achieved professorial status at the Australian National University.
43. D. P. Craig, 'Ronald Sydney Nyholm, 1917-1971', Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 18 (1972), 445-460.
44. A. Maccoll, 'Sir Ronald Nyholm, FRS, 1917-1971', Chemistry in Britain, 8 (1972), 115.
45. Maccoll, op. cit. (n. 17).
46. D. W. A. Sharp, 'Harry Emeléus 1903-93', Chemistry in Britain, 30 (1994), 505.
47. Jones (b. 1911) held chairs at Manchester (1947-1955) and Oxford (1955-1978).
48. D. H. R. Barton, Some Recollections of Gap Jumping (Washington, DC, 1991).
49. C. N. L. Brooke, A History of the University of Cambridge, Volume TV, 1870-1990 (Cambridge, 1993), p. 195.
50. J. Baddiley, 'Lord Todd 1907-97', Chemistry in Britain, 33 (1997), 70.
51. G. A. R. Johnston, 'President's Column', Chemistry in Australia, 60 (1993), 105.
52. Rae, op. cit. (n. 15).
53. The Fellowships were established in 1913 by Otto Beit, brother of Alfred, and administered until recently by Otto's son, Alfred. H. F. Heath (ed.), The Yearbook of the Universities of the Empire, 1930 (London, 1930), pp. 692-693.
54. See also the obituary of Sir Alfred Beit in The Weekly Telegraph No. 150 (London, May 1994).
55. S. G. Foster and M. M. Varghese, The Making of the Australian National University 1946-1996 (St Leonards, NSW, 1996), pp. 61-64.
56. One chemist recipient, I. G. Ross, became professor of chemistry at ANU and later Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
57. The funding in this case came from a bequest from the estate of John Winthrop Hackett (1848-1916), Irish-born lawyer, parliamentarian, and joint owner and editor of The West Australian newspaper. F. Alexander, Campus at Crawley: A Narrative and Critical Appreciation of the First Fifty Years of the University of Western Australia (Melbourne, 1963), pp. 117-118;
58. a list of those awarded Hackett scholarships appears on pp. 783-790.
59. B. Schedvin, Shaping Science and Industry: A History of Australia's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 1926-49 (Sydney, 1987), pp. 66-67, 356.
60. See also remarks on CSIR/CSIRO studentships in M. C. O'Dea, Ian Clunies Ross: A Biography (Melbourne, 1997), pp. 260-261, 358.
61. J. Wisdom, A History of Defence Science in Australia (Melbourne, 1995), p. 80.
62. See also W. A. S. Butement, 'Science and Defence' in Science in Australia (Melbourne, 1951), pp. 93-114, particularly p. 112.
63. The Australian and New Zealand Passenger Shipping Conference is long disbanded and no relevant records are held by the individual companies nor by the Maritime Museum at Greenwich, England. The information upon which this section is based comes from files of the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (Canberra), which administered the scheme as it applied to Australian scholars, kindly made accessible by the Executive Director, Mr F. S. Hambly. The P&O company also provided free places for travel between Australia and North America from 1966, but that scheme also terminated in 1973. Reciprocal travel by British scholars to Australia and New Zealand was also assisted with free places (H. F. Heath [ed.], The Yearbook of the Universities of the Empire, 1930 [London, 1930], pp. 701-702).
64. J. M. Jones and J. Castle, 'Women in Australian Universities, 1945-80', Vestes, 26 (1983), 16-20.
65. Crawford, op. cit. (n. 23).
66. R. Mingin, 'Dr. E F (Fay) M Stephenson 1916-1995', Chemistry in Australia, 63 (1996), 379.
67. R. S. Dickson, 'Bruce O. West', Australian Journal of Chemistry, 48 (1995), 707-708. This pen sketch of West's career was one of a group entitled 'The Golden Oldies of Inorganic Chemistry' (pp. 689-708) edited by Dickson and including Curtis (a New Zealander), Figgis, Freeman, Martin, Sargeson and West. Freeman and Sargeson took doctorates in the United States, and Curtis followed his Auckland PhD with postdoctoral work at University College London with R. S. Nyholm.
68. R. White, 'Peter Fensham (interview) ', Australian Science Teachers Journal, 41 (1) (1995), 13-14. Fensham retired at the end of 1992.
69. Rae, op. cit. (n. 15).
70. C. J. Easton, 'Athelstan L. J. Beckwith', Australian Journal of Chemistry, 48 (1995), 153-154.
71. For almost three decades, CSIRO explored the chemical constituents of Australian plants in a search for those having medicinal potential. In the course of this work, many alkaloid structures were determined. D. J. Collins, C. C. J. Culvenor, J. A. Lamber-ton, J. W. Loder and J. R. Price, Plants for Medicine: A Chemical and Pharmacological Survey of Plants in the Australian Region (Melbourne, 1990).
72. K. G. Neill, Making the Future: A History of ICI Australia Research Group (Ascot Vale, 1989).
73. J. Marks, 'Obituary: Dr Michael Henry Searby', The Age (Melbourne), Tuesday 21 May 1995, p. 14, cols 1-4.
74. D. Anderson, Sources of Australian Academics' Qualifications (Canberra, 1993).
75. This report is extended and updated by D. Anderson, R. Arthur and T. Stokes, Qualifications of Australian Academics: Sources and Levels, 1978-1996 (Canberra, 1997).
76. This is a slightly higher figure than that estimated earlier (I. D. Rae, 'Doctor you're in Trouble', Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 35 [1968], 202-203)
77. but less than the figure of 20% given by Armstrong, Hill and Ross (op. cit. [n. 17]).
78. P. J. Kelly and N. M. Nicholls, 'The Migration of Scientists to and from Australia: A Quantitative Survey, 1961-1967', Australian Journal of Science, 32 (1969), 95-101.
79. Similar gross data are reported by L. J. Saha and A. S. Klovdahl, 'International Networks and Flows of Australian Talent: Overseas Recruitment in Australian Universities', Higher Education, 8 (1979), 55-68.
80. The Australian situation is mirrored in New Zealand according to a news report in Nature, 215 (1967), 458-459.
81. R. MacLeod, 'Doctors' Dilemmas: Managing Research Degrees and Government Policy in Anglo-Australian Perspective', Annual Report of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, 1992, pp. 44-53.
82. A. Moyal, Portraits in Science (Canberra, 1994).
83. Moyal's selection included no chemists, but three physicists, two biologists, two geologists, three medical researchers and two communicators (one a lapsed physicist!). The value of links between scientists in small countries and those with larger scientific establishments is stressed by T. Schøtt, 'Scientific Productivity and International Integration of Small Countries: Mathematics in Denmark and Israel', Minerva, 25 (1987), 3-20.
84. The 'drift towards mediocrity' is the consequence of isolation, according to J. Ben-David, 'Scientific Endeavour in Israel and the United States', American Behavioural Scientist, 6 (December 1962), 12-16.
85. In 1992, over one-fifth of the scientific papers coming from Australian universities were co-authored with one or more overseas scientists, almost 80% of whom were located in the United States, Canada, Britain and continental Europe. The proportion of such co-authored papers had doubled over the preceding decade, despite a 50% increase in Australia's science publication rate. See Australian Bureau of Industry Economics, Science System: International Benchmarking (Canberra, 1996).
86. D. Crane, Invisible Colleges (Chicago, 1972).
87. J. Gaillard, Scientists in the Third World (Lexington, Kentucky, 1991), p. 81.
88. MacLeod, op. cit. (n. 53).
89. R. M. Crawford, An Australian Perspective (Melbourne, 1960), p. 71.