Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (1888 - 1930)

Summary

The "Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science" (AAAS) was established in 1888, comprising members from all the colonies and scientific societies of Australia and New Zealand. In 1930 it was renamed the "Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science" (ANZAAS). The purpose of the Association was to promote systematic scientific enquiry, to improve communication and cultivate science, and to help further the progress of science.

Details

The Association was founded upon the same lines as the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and its rules were practically the same. The Association particularly noted that is "contemplates no interference with the ground occupied by other institutions".

Its stated objects were:
* to give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific enquiry;
* to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate Science in different parts of the British Empire, with one another and with foreign philosophers;
* to obtain a more general attention to the objects of Science, and a removal of any disadvantages of a public kind which may impede its progress.

The Rules of the Association described the membership and governance requirements. Of interest, the rules stated:
* All persons who signify their intention of attending the first Meeting shall be entitled to become original Members of the Association, upon agreeing to conform to the Rules.
* The Officers, Members of Council, Fellows, and Members of Literary and Philosophical Societies publishing Transactions or Journals in the British Empire, shall be entitled in like manner to become Members of the Association.
Persons not belonging to such Institutions shall be elected by the General Committee, or Council, to become Life Members of the Association, Annual Subscribers, or Associates for the year, subject to the payment of the prescribed Subscription, and the approval of a General Committee.
* The Association would meet for a week or longer, and the place of meeting would be appointed by the General Committee two years in advance.
* The General Council, had overall control, and was composed of delegates from the different colonies or colonial scientific societies. The number of delegates from each society or colony were proportionate to the number of Members from the particular society or colony taking part in proceedings - the number of delegates being one delegate for each one hundred of its members.
* A General Committee consisted of Members of Council, and Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Secretaries of the Sections, contributors of papers and others that may be elected.
* A Local Committee apppointed at the place of the meeting to make all the necessary arrangements.
* The Sectional Committees to manage the proceedings for the subject sections.

Presidents elected at one meeting held office until the conclusion of the following meeting.

Meetings were held:
* 1888 Sydney (1st);
* 1890 Melbourne (2nd);
* 1891 Christchurch, New Zealand (3rd);
* 1892 Hobart (4th);
* 1893 Adelaide (5th);
* 1895 Brisbane (6th);
* 1898 Sydney (7th);
* 1900 Melbourne (8th);
* 1902 Hobart (9th);
* 1904 Dunedin, New Zealand (10th);
* 1907 Adelaide (11th);
* 1909 Brisbane (12th);
* 1911 Sydney (13th);
* 1913 Melbourne (14th);
* 1921 Hobart (held in Melbourne) (15th);
* 1923 Wellington, New Zealand (16th);
* 1924 Adelaide (17th);
* 1926 Perth (18th);
* 1928 Hobart (19th);
* 1930 Brisbane (20th).

Sections delineated in the initial Constitution were: A - Astronomy, Mathematics, and Physics; B - Chemistry; C - Geology and Mineralogy; D - Biology; E - Geography; F - Ethnology and Anthropology; G - Social Science and Agriculture; H - Engineering and Architecture; I - Sanitary Science and Hygiene; J - Mental Science and Education. These varied slightly at the first meeting in 1888 and over the next 40 years. For the 1921 meeting, when the Australian National Research Council was established, the sections were: A - Astronomy, Mathematics, and Physics; B - Chemistry; C. Geology and Mineralogy; D - Biology (renamed Zoology 1924); E - Geography; F - Ethnology; G - Social and Statistical Science; H - Architecture and Engineering; I - Sanitary Science and Hygiene; J - Mental Science and Education; K - Agriculture; L - Veterinary Science.

Committees of Investigation (or Research Committees) were established at the meetings, to inquire into specialist issues and to report back on their findings to the next meeting. Some of the research committee's tasks were related to the aggregation of data and current knowledge, and their reports either completed their task, or provided a progress report. Other research committees were aimed at solving problems and their reports provided conclusions and recommended solutions. Some research committees were established to develop and recommend best practices, improvements or unifying protocols related to methods, data standards, record keeping, nomenclature, and procedures. Some research committees work reached out internationally to the British and American Associations for the Advancement of Science, and once the Australian National Research Council was operational from 1921, these research committees came under its guidance.

Committees of Investigation established in 1888 were:
* No.1 - Conditions of Labour;
* No.2 - Australasian Meteorology Committee;
* No.3 - Australasian Biological Station Committee;
* No.4 - Australasian Biological Biographical Committee;
* No.5 - Protection of Native Birds and Mammals Committee;
* No.6 - Sydney Hygienic Committee;
* No.7 - Australasian Mineral Census Committee;
* No.8 - Australasian Glacial Evidence Committee;
* No.9 - Town Sanitation Committee;
* No.10 - Australasian Seismological Committee;
* No.11 - Australasian and Polynesian Races Bibliography Committee;
* No.12 - Antarctic Exploration Committee;
* No.13 - Australasian Geological Record Committee;
* No.14 - Australasian Chemical Science Committee.

Related entries

Timeline

 1888 - 1930 Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
       1930 - Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science - Records, 1886 - 1961, ML MSS 988; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

• Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, South Australian Committee - Records, 1888 - 1893, D.4400; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

Published resources

Books

• Thomson, George M., Index to volumes I-XVI, 1888 to 1923 [of the "Report of meetings of the Australasian Association fdor the Advancement of Science"] (Sydney: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1923), 95 pp. Details

Book Sections

• MacLeod, Roy, 'Organizing Science Under the Southern Cross' in The Commonwealth of Science: ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia, 1888-1988, Roy MacLeod, ed. (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988), pp. 19-39. Details

Conference Proceedings

• Report of the third meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Hector, James (Sir) (Wellington, NZ: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1891), i-xlii, 1-620 pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52744. Details
• Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Liversidge, A,; and Etheridge, Robert (Sydney: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1889), i-xxxvi, 1-659, I-XLIX pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53771. Details
• Report of the seventh meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Liversidge, A. (Sydney: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1898), i-lii, 1-1161 pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52763. Details
• Report of the fourth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Morton, A. (Hobart: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1893), i-xxiv, 1-1016 pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53197. Details
• Report of the sixth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Shirley, John (Brisbane: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1895), i-xxxiv, 1-875 pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/220614. Details
• Report of the second meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Spencer, W. Baldwin (Melbourne: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1890), i-xxiv, 1-682 pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/50774. Details
• Report of the fifth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science edited by Tate, Ralph; Rennie, E. H.; Bragg, W. H. (Adelaide: Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1894), i-xxxi, 1-691 pp, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52737. Details

Edited Books

• MacLeod, Roy ed., The Commonwealth of Science: ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia, 1888-1988 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988), 433 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Anon, 'Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Secretaries, and Treasurers, from the commencement', Report of the Ninth Meeting Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 9 (1903), xix-xxxvii, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15314535. Details
• Anon, 'The Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science', Science, new series, 7 (170) (1989), 452-4. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1624063. Details
• Liversidge, A., 'The Australian [sic] Association for the Advancement of Science', Nature, 82 (1909), 264-6. https://doi.org/10.1038/082264b0. Details
• Maiden, J. H., 'Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science', Nature, 86 (1911), 263-7. https://doi.org/10.1038/086263a0. Details
• Wheeler, Edward, 'The First Adelaide Congress [of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, Sept. 25-Oct. 3, 1893]', Search, 11 (5) (1980), 152-156. Details
• Wheeler, Edward, 'The First Perth Congress [of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science]', Search, 14 (3-4) (1983), 96-98. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4824836. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/125475358. Details
• Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-614877. Details

See also

• Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/index_a.html. Details
• Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/index_a.html. Details