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Book Cover
Book
Author Todd, Jan, 1947-

Title Colonial technology : science and the transfer of innovation to Australia / Jan Todd
Published Cambridge ; Melbourne : Cambridge University Press, 1995

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  609.94 Tod/Cts  AVAILABLE
Description xii, 300 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Series Studies in Australian history
Studies in Australian history.
Studies in Australian history (Cambridge, England)
Contents Machine derived contents note: Part I. Introduction: 1. Dependency at the periphery - debates and questions -- 2. Crosscurrents 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
Summary In her important study, Jan Todd argues that the situation was far more complex than has been widely acknowledged. In the context of on-going debates, 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 cases of technology transfer, that is, importing technology from one country to another. The first looks at the transfer of anthrax vaccination, a French innovation, into the pastoral industry, mainly in New South Wales. The second considers the transfer of the cyanide process of gold extraction, which originated in Britain, into the mining industry across Australia. In both cases, considering a range of economic, political and cultural factors, she traces a process of creative adaptation to these technologies
Technological Change is at the heart of much industrial and economic development, but the conversion of scientific and technical research into economic success stories is not automatic. 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? This book explores such questions in the context of nineteenth-century Australian science
Analysis Applied science
History, 1801-1900
History, 1901-1945
Immunology
Minerals processing
Technology transfer
Notes CIP confirmed
Includes index
Bibliography Bibliography: pages 249-287
SUBJECT Science http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n42021937 -- Australia http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79021326 -- History. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99005024
Subject Science and state -- Australia.
Science -- Australia -- History.
Technology and state -- Australia.
Technology transfer -- Australia -- History.
Technology transfer -- Australia.
Technology -- Australia -- History.
Technology -- history.
LC no. 95006114
ISBN 0521461383