Biographical entry Home, Roderick Weir (1939 - )

Summary

Roderick Weir Home, FAHA AM, is a Science Historian with a particular interest in the History of Physical Sciences from Newton to the 20th Century.

Home was a Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne from 1975 to 2002.

Details

Roderick Home was educated University of Melbourne (BSc), and Indiana University (PhD), Dlitt. He achieved his Physics Master at Haileybury College 1960-64

Home was engaged as an educator at the University of Melbourne in various capacities between 1967 and 2002, becoming a Professor in 1975.

Home has been an editor of "Historical Records of Australian Science" since 1984 and was the Foundation Director of the Australian Science Archives Project 1985-96 and Chairman of its National Advisory Board 1996-.

In June 2010 Home was named a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to education as a scholar and archivist of the history and philosophy of science.

He has published widely in his areas of expertise, the history of Physics in the 18th Century and the history of Australian Science in general.

Events

1967 - 1970

Career position - Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne

1970 - 1975

Career position - Senior Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne

1975 - 2002

Career position - Professor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne

1977 - 1980

Career position - President, Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science

1984 -

Career position - Editor, Historical Records of Australian Science (Journal)

1985 - 1986

Career position - Foundation Director, Australian Science Archives Project

1995 -

Career position - Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities

2010

Award - Award, Member of the Order of Australia, for service to education.

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Home, R. W., Science as a German Export to Nineteenth-Century Australia, Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, London, 1995, 21 pp. Details
• Home, R. W. and Needham, Paula J., Physics in Australia to 1945: Bibliography and Biographical Register, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne/National Centre for Researc, Melbourne, 1990, 241 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Home, R. W., 'Love, Ernest Frederick John (1861-1929), Physicist', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 10, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1986, pp. 149-150. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100143b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Martin, Florence (1867-1957), Physicist', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 10, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1986, p. 427. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100417b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Lyle, Sir Thomas Ranken (1860-1944), Mathematical Physicist', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 10, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1986, pp. 172-174. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100170b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Science, Pure and Applied', in D. H. Borchardt and Victor Crittenden (eds), Australians, a Guide to Sources, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates, Broadway, 1987, pp. 437-445. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Science on Service', in R. W. Home (ed.), Australian Science in the Making, Cambridge University Press, Sydney, 1988, pp. 220-251. Details
• Home, R. W., 'The Physical Sciences: String, Sealing Wax and Self-Sufficiency', in Roy MacLeod (ed.), The Commonwealth of Science: ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia, 1888-1988, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1988, pp. 147-165. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Threlfall, Sir Richard (1861-1932), Physicist and Chemical Engineer', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 12, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 220-221. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120243b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Sutherland, William (1859-1911), Theoretical Physicist and Physical Chemist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 12, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 141-152. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120159b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Georg von Neumayer and the Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne', in David Walker and Jurgen Tampke (eds), From Berlin to the Burdekin: The German Contribution to the Development of Australian Science, Exploration and the Arts, New South Wales University Press, Sydney, 1991, pp. 40-53. Details
• Home, R. W., 'A World-Wide Scientific Network and Patronage System: Australian and Other 'Colonial' Fellows of the Royal Society of London', in R. W. Home and Sally Gregory Kohlstedt (eds), International Science and National Scientific Identity: Australia between Britain and America, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1991, pp. 151-179. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Builder, Geoffrey (1906-1976), Physicist and Radio Engineer', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1993, pp. 290-291. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130329b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Bailey, Victor Albert (1895-1964), Physicist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1993, pp. 90-91. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130108b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Learning from Buildings: Laboratory Design and the Nature of Physics', in G. Mazolini (ed.), Non-Verbal Communication in Science prior to 1900, Leo S. Olschki, Florence, 1993, pp. 587-608. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Burhop, Eric Henry Stoneley (1911-1980), Professor Chemistry', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1993, pp. 301-302. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130339b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Eddy, Cecil Ernest (1900-1956) Radiological Physicist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 14, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1996, pp. 74-75. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140084b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Hercus, Eric Oswarld (1891-1962), Physicist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 14, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1996, pp. 439-440. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140506b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Martyn, David Forbes (1906-1970), Physicist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 15, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2000, pp. 320-322. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150379b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Parnell, Thomas (1881-1948), Physicist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 15, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2000, pp. 570-571. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150663b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Rogers, James Stanley (1893-1977), Physicist', in John Ritchie and Diane Langmore (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 16, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2002, pp. 119-120. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160142b.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Roberts, John Keith (1897-1944), Physicist', in John Ritchie and Diane Langmore (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 16, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2002, p. 103. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160123b.htm. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Building a Laboratory in the Late 19^th Century: New Requirements for a New Style of Physics', in I Beni Culturali Scientifici nella Storia e Didattica della Fisica, La Goliardica Pavese, Pavia, 1993, pp. 29-37. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Emigrants or Scientific Travellers? Ferdinand Mueller and Georg Neumayer between Germany and Australia', in Ellen I. Mitchell (ed.), Baron von Mueller's German Melbourne, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 2000, pp. 11-23. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Science Publishing', in Lyons, Martyn and Arnold, John (eds), A History of the Book in Australia, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 2002, pp. 292-294. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Sir Richard Threlfall, 1861-1932', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Thomas Howell Laby, 1880-1946', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details
• Jenkin, John and Home, R.W., 'Jauncey, George Eric Macdonnell (1888-1947), Physicist', in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. Supplement, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 2005, pp. 201-202. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10248b.htm. Details
• Jenkin, John and Home, R.W., 'Kleeman, Richard Daniel (1875-1932), Physicist', in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. Supplement, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 2005, pp. 218-219. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10270b.htm. Details
• Jenkins, John; Home, R.W., 'Farr, Clinton Coleridge (1866-1943)', in Christopher Cunneen (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. Supp, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2005, pp. 123-124. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10155b.htm. Details

Conference Papers

• Home, R. W., 'The Beginnings of an Australian Physics Community', in Nathan Reingold and Marc Rothenberg (eds), Scientific Colonialism: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Papers From a Conference at Melbourne, Australia, 25-30 May 1981, Smithsonian Institution Press, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 3-34. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Changing Patterns in Australian Physics Research: the First Particle Accelerators', in Wan-Sheng Horng et al. (ed.), 2002 Conference on the History of Science/ Sino-Australian Symposium, Taipei, 2002, pp. 11-18. Details

Conference Proceedings

• Attwood, Harold; Home, R. W. (ed.), Patients, Practitioners and Techniques: Second National Conference on Medicine and Health in Australia, Melbourne, 1984, Medical History Society, A.M.A. [Victoria Branch] and Medical History Unit, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 1985. Details

Edited Books

• Home, R. W. (ed.), Australian Science in the Making, Cambridge University Press/Australian Academy of Science, Cambridge/Melbourne, 1988, 440 pp. Details
• Home, R. W. and Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory (eds), International Science and National Scientific Identity: Australia Between Britain and America, 304 edn, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1991. Details
• Home, R. W., Lucas, A. M., Maroske, Sara, Sinkora, D. M., and Voigt, J. H. (eds), Regardfully Yours: Selected Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, Volume 2, 1860-1875, vol. 2, Peter Lang, Bern, 2002, 865 pp. Details
• Home, R.W., Lucas, A.M., Maroske, Sara, Sinkora, D.M. and Voigt, J.H. (eds), Regardfully Yours: Selected Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, Volume 1, 1840-1859, vol. 1, Peter Lang Verlag, Berne, 1998, 850 pp. Details
• Home, R.W., Lucas, A.M., Maroske, Sara, Sinkora, D.M., Voigt, J.H.and Wells, M. (ed.), Regardfully Yours: Selected Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, Volume 3, 1876-1896, vol. 3, Peter Lang, Bern, 2006, 909 pp. Details
• Home, R.W., Lucas, A.M., Maroske, Sara, Sinkora, D.M., Voigt, J.H.and Wells, M. (ed.), Regardfully Yours: Selected Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, Volume 3, 1876-1896, vol. 3, Peter Lang, Bern, 2006, 909 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Home, R. W., 'W.H. Bragg and J.P.V. Madsen: Collaboration and Correspondence, 1905-1911', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 5, no. 2, 1981, pp. 1-29. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9810520001.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'The Problem of Intellectual Isolation in Scientific Life: W.H. Bragg and the Australian Scientific Community, 1886-1909', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 6, no. 1, 1984, pp. 19-30. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9840610019.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'First Physicist of Australia: Richard Threfall at the University of Sydney, 1886-1898', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 6, no. 3, 1986, pp. 333-358. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9860630333.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Physics in Australia and Japan to 1914: a Comparison', Annals of Science, vol. 44, 1987, pp. 215-235. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Australian Science and its Public', Australian Cultural Studies, no. 7, 1988, pp. 86-103. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Commission on Bibiliography of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science: Report on Australia (1989)', Nuncius Annali di Storia della Scienza, vol. 12, 1991, pp. 141-142. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Humboldtian Science Revisited: an Australian Case Study', History of Science, vol. 33, 1994, pp. 1-22. Details
• Home, R. W., 'Defining the Boundaries of the Field: Physics in Australia', Special edition of Scientia Canadensis, vol. 17, no. 1&2, 1994, pp. 53-70. Details
• Home, R. W., 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the Colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship, Part 1: 1731-1847', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, vol. 56, 2002, pp. 307-332. Details
• Home, R. W., 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the Colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship, Part 2: After 1847', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, vol. 57, 2003, pp. 47-84. Details
• Home, R. W., 'The Physical Tourist - Physics in Melbourne', Physics in Perspective, vol. 7, Birkhauser Verlag, 2005, pp. 473-490. Details
• Home, R. W. and Kretzer, Hans-Jochen, 'The Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne: New Documents Relation to its Foundation', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 8, no. 4, 1991, pp. 213-244. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9910840213.htm. Details
• Home, R. W. and Livingston, K. T., 'Science and Technology in the Story of Australian Federation: the Case of Meteorology, 1876-1908', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 10, no. 2, 1994, pp. 109-127. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9941020109.htm. Details
• Home, R. W., Maroske, Sara; Lucas, A. M. and Lucas, P. J., 'Why Explore Antarctica?: Australian Discussions in the 1880s', Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 38, 1992, pp. 386-413. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Ferdinand Mueller: Migration and the Sense of Self', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 11, no. 3, 1997, pp. 311-324. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9971130311.htm. Details
• Home, R.W., 'The Scientific Savant in Nineteenth Centry Australia', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 11, no. 3, 1997, pp. 283-454. Details
• Home, R.W., 'A Botanist for a Continent: Ferdinand von Mueller (1825-96)', Endeavour, vol. 22, no. 2, 1998, pp. 72-75. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Speculating About Atoms in Early 20^th Century Melbourne: William Sutherland and the "Sutherland-Einstein" Diffusion Relation', Australian Physics, vol. 42, no. 2, 2005, pp. 53-60. Details
• Home, R.W., 'Physics in Melbourne', Physics in Perspective, vol. 7, 2005, pp. 473-490. Details
• Home, R.W., 'William Sutherland and the "Sutherland-Einstein" Diffusion Relation: Theoretical Physics in a Colonial Setting', Historia Scientiarum, vol. 15, 2005, pp. 125-138. Details
• Home, R.W. and Maroske, Sara, 'Ferdinand von Mueller and the French Consuls', Explorations: A Bulletin Devoted to the Study of Franco-Australian Links, vol. 18, June 1995; issued December 1997, 1995, pp. 3-50. Details
• Home, R.W., and Watanabe, Masao, 'Forming New Physics Communities: Australia and Japan, 1914-1950', Annals of Science, vol. 47, 1990, pp. 317-345. Details
• Home, Roderick Weir, 'History of Science in Australia', ISIS, vol. 73, no. 268, 1982, pp. 337-342. Details
• Home, Roderick Weir, 'Between Classroom and Industrial Laboratory: the Emergence of Physics as a Profession in Australia', Australian Physicist, vol. 20, August, 1983, pp. 163-167. Details
• Home, Roderick Weir, 'Origins of the Australian Physics Community', Historical Studies, vol. 20, April, 1983, pp. 383-400. Details
• Jenkin, J. G. and Home, R. W., 'Horace Lamb and Early Physics Teaching in Australia', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 10, no. 4, 1995, pp. 349-380. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9951040349.htm. Details

Reviews

• Home, R. W., review of Morison, Patricia, J T Wilson and the fraternity of Duckmaloi, Rodopi, Amsterdam - Atlanta, GA, 1997, 474 pp., Health and History, vol. 3, no. 2, 2001, pp. 143-147. Details
• Home, R.W., review of Clarke, W. B., (edited by Ann Moyal), The Web of Science: the Scientific Correspondence of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, Australia's Pioneer Geologist (2003), Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 16, no. 1, 2005, pp. 107-111. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=HR05006.pdf. Details

Online Resources

• 'Home, R W', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-844670. Details