Colonial Technology

Science and the Transfer of Innovation to Australia

JAN TODD

Description: Australia has always imported overseas technology, largely out of necessity, but has this been exploitative, fostering a relationship of dependence, or used to Australia's advantage? Jan Todd explores this question in the context of nineteenth-century science. In her important study, Todd argues that the technology transfer was far more complex than has been widely acknowledged. She shows that technology systems reflect national characteristics, institutions and priorities, drawing general conclusions about Australian science and technology in an imperial context. Much of the book is devoted to two fascinating case studies: the anthrax vaccination for sheep and the cyanide process of gold extraction, both transferred from Europe. In both cases, considering a range of economic, political and cultural factors, she traces a process of creative adaptation to these technologies.

Contents: Part I. Overview: 1. Dependency at the periphery: debates and questions; 2. Cross-currents of change; Part II. Microbes, Rabbits and Sheep: 3. Microbes versus poisonous plants; 4. Contagion, conflict and compromise; 5. From Paris to Narrandera; 6. From foreign to domestic capability; Part III. Rocks, Cyanide and Gold: 7. Australian gold, British chemists; 8. Transfer agents and colonial connections; 9. A challenge for technological imperialists; 10. governments, experts and institutional adjustment; 11. From Glasgow to Kalgoorlie; 12. Out of the hands of ‘rule-of-thumb’ men; Part IV. Linkages, Learning and Sovereignty: 13. Transfer, diffusion and learning; 14. Colonial science: an intellectual bridge; 15. Toward an Australian system; Notes; Index.

Market (Subject)
Australian history, regional geography

Level
graduate students, academic researchers

Bibliographic Details
4 line figures 13 tones 5 maps 2 tables

Comparable titles: HOME/Australian Science in the Making/0521 355567