Noted colonial German scientists and their contexts

Abstract

German scientists made substantial and notable contributions to colonial Victoria. They were involved in the establishment and/or development of some of the major public institutions, e.g. the Royal Society of Victoria, National Herbarium, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Museum Victoria, the Flagstaff Observatory for Geophysics, Magnetism and Nautical Science, the Pharmaceutical Society of Victoria and the Victorian College of Pharmacy. Further, they played a leading role not only in scientific and technological developments but also in exploration – Home has identified ‘science as a German export to nineteenth century Australia’ (Home 1995: 1). Significantly, an account of the 1860 annual dinner of the Royal Society of Victoria related the following comment from Dr John Macadam MP, Victorian Government Analytical Chemist: ‘Where would science be in Victoria without the Germans?’ (Melbourner Deutsche Zeitung 1860: 192). This paper considers key German scientists working in mid-nineteenth century Victoria and the nature and significance of their contributions to the colony.