Gerry Wake spent almost all his working life at the University of Sydney; beginning undergraduate studies in 1951, through an MSc and PhD in 1958 and returned after two years overseas to a Lectureship in the Biochemistry Department. His research flourished with notable discoveries being the mechanism of stabilisation of casein micelles, the circular nature of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome and bidirectionality of its replication. A professor from 1977 to 1999, he influenced a generation of biochemists with many former research students having remarkable scientific careers. Wake family photograph.

Dr Ferdinand von Sommer (~1800–49) served as Western Australia’s first government geologist and had ‘Mount Sommer’, north of Perth, named after him. Ferdinand also left behind three exceptional maps of his surveying and prospecting activities (1847–8) as well as reports to the government that can be considered impressive for their time and context, even by today’s standards. His scientific endeavours are worth re-discovering. Photograph of the author is by Matt Jelonek.

Australian astronomical research has changed drastically since the formation of the Astronomical Society of Australia in 1966. Here, we look at the changes in the context of the membership of the society and explore how the advent of new research facilities has led to changes in the number and geographical location of Australian astronomers. In particular, locating new radio telescopes in Western Australia has resulted in a more even spread of astronomers across the country. Photograph by Nick Lomb.

This paper is a biographical note on the life and achievements of Professor Gavin Brown. Gavin was a distinguished mathematician who became vice chancellor of both the University of Sydney and the University of Adelaide. He made a significant contribution to his subject area and to the Australian academic scene. Source: Australian Academy of Science archives.

In 1966 the ‘marriage bar’ was removed for women working in the Commonwealth public service in Australia. During that year the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) was founded. We consider the changes in the diversity of astronomers working in Australia, including male/female ratios, since the formation of the ASA, and the development of gender equity strategies in astronomy. As well, we examine the experiences of Australian women astronomers and those of people from marginalised groups in astronomy. Photograph reproduced with permission from the IDEA ASA website.

After graduating in medicine at the University of Queensland, completing his PhD at the Kanematsu Institute in Sydney, and postdoctoral studies in Germany, in 1966 John Atherton Young he joined the department of physiology at the University of Sydney where his research on the physiology of epithelial ducts brought him international recognition as a leader in the field. He made significant contributions to university governance and professional societies and respected as a man of great culture, a witty conversationalist, a great scientist.

Jeremy Pickett-Heaps was a biologist whose acute observational powers were fed by a deep fascination for how cells work; he had an affinity for the myriad diversity of algae and other protists in general and for what they could teach us about all cells. He made fundamental discoveries in plant cell division and green algal phylogeny that developed into studies on cell division in general and he mastered time-lapse micro-cinematography to document the dynamic lives of cells. The resultant movies and his enthusiastic teaching introduced many to the wonders of microscopic life. Photographer unknown.

Acclimatisation—that is, the introduction of plants and animals to Australia from other parts of the world—is often seen as a nineteenth-century phenomenon. Focusing on wild bird species, this article argues, on the contrary, that acclimatisation continued well into the twentieth century. This article provides a cultural and political explanation for Australians’ belated turn against so-called ‘invasive species’ in the 1930s, ascribing this shift in attitudes to settler nationalism and xenophobia. Photograph by Alan Schmierer, via Wikimedia Commons.

Professor Anthony (Tony) George Klein AM, FAA (1935–2021) was an outstanding physicist, university teacher, leader, mentor and science communicator. We recount Tony’s life from his childhood in wartime Romania through to his extended career as a professor of physics at the University of Melbourne. The memoir describes Tony Klein’s personal qualities, his major research contributions and collaborations in the field of neutron optics and neutron interferometry and his services to the scientific community. Image courtesy of Australian Academy of Science.

Peter Pringsheim, professor of physics at the University of Berlin, has a unique connection with Australia. His attendance at the 1914 conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Melbourne, coincided with the outbreak of World War 1, and he was interned as an enemy alien until July 1919. But with the support of key local scientists, Pringsheim used his internment to write a treatise on fluorescence and phosphorescence which established him as a world authority on this branch of atomic physics. Photograph: SP 421/4 4730 Peter Pringsheim, National Archives of Australia.

David Albert Cooper AC (1949–2018) was an internationally renowned immunologist and HIV clinician who spearheaded Australia’s world-leading HIV response. In this article, his colleagues reflect on his contributions to HIV and infectious disease research, health policy, and the research institute he led for thirty-two years, the Kirby Institute.

Dr Angus McEwan FAA FTSE who died on 5 September 2018, aged 81, was a renowned Australian fluid dynamicist, specialising in designing and conducting experimental studies in geophysical fluid dynamics, and providing outstanding leadership of national and international research programs in oceanography and meteorology. Image credit: Angus D. McEwan, personal communication.

Global movement of plants and plant products brings risk of pests including weeds, invertebrates, and plant pathogens. Australia’s adaptive biosecurity system continues to mitigate these risks, using plant quarantine and modern diagnostics to isolate, detect and diagnose exotic pathogens. Photograph by Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Beyond helping us to identify birds, field guides sharpen our environmental awareness, deepen our connectedness to nature and foster a commitment to conservation. These facets of the field guide inspired the efforts of the leading American innovator of the genre, Roger Tory Peterson, as well as the Australian field guide authors who came under his influence in the 1950s and after. This article explains how Peterson helped shape Australian birding guides, and hence the relationship between birds and people in this country. It also recounts Peterson’s birdwatching adventures on his visits Down Under. Photograph courtesy of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.