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Edition: 2026 November - Keith Boardman (1926-2026) Memorial Edition

Ballambar - Gariwerd calendar - Early summer: mid-November to late January

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology

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Resources for the History of Australian Science and Innovation

Browse Entity Indexes A-Z [2026 November edition: total 10,492 entries.]
Browse Archival Resource Indexes A-Z [2026 November edition: total 3,069 entries.]
Browse Bibliographic Indexes A-Z [2026 November edition: total 31,536 entries.]
Latest Annual Bibliography of the history of Australian Science no. 46 2024/25, published in Historical Records of Australian Science, 2026 - download the pdf for free. For a list of all annual bibliographies published since 1981 click here.

Keith Boardman (1926-2026) Memorial Edition

Featured Publication

Slatyer, Ralph, 'Interview with Dr Keith Boardman, biochemist', in Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 9 Dec 1999, https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/dr-keith-boardman-biochemist. DetailsIn 1999, Ralph Slatyer interviewed Keith Boardman for the Australian Academy of Science with sponsorship from the Centenary of Federation 1901-2001 program. An edited transcript is available online but not the original audio which is held by the Fenner Archives of the Australian Academy of Science.

Featured entries

Boardman, Norman Keith (Keith) (1926 - 2026): was a distinguished biochemist whose research focused on the biochemistry, development and molecular architecture of chloroplasts. In particular he worked on phytochemical systems and how plants adapt to their light environment. He pioneered physical separation of the two photochemical systems of photosynthesis. After a distinguished 20-year career as research scientist in the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, Boardman joined the CSIRO Executive, serving as Chairman and Chief Executive 1985-1986 and the Chief Executive 1987-1990. He further contributed to the administration and policy development of Australian science with his membership of organisations including the Prime Minister's Science and Engineering Council, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, and the Cooperative Research Centres Program. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1972.

Keith Boardman was born in the year that CSIR - the Council for Scientific and Industrail Research - came into existance (1926). At age 30 (1956) he joined the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry and remained devoted to the organisation. At age 60 (1986) he was Chairman and Chief Executive of CSIRO and led a process of significant administrative and strategic change. He retired in 1990. At the age of 100 (2026) and in the centenary of CSIRO he passed peacefully.

Other Featured Entries
Green, Frederick William (1885 - 1968): a civil, electrical, and mechanical engineer, and a Whitworth Exhibitioner, was head hunted by George Swinburne to establish and become the first head of the Engineering Department of Swinburne Technical College, 1913 - 1928, and then Principal of the College from 1928 until he retired in 1950. He made a significant and lasting contribution to engineering education in Australia.
R. W. Chapman Medal, Institution of Engineers, Australia (1935 - ): This Medal has been awarded annually since 1935 by the Institution of Engineers, Australia, "in recognition of the paper of most outstanding character and originality dealing with the science and/or practice of structural engineering". The award winning papers listed and linked to this entry, provide a different way of looking at the history of structural engineering in Australia.
Ledger, William Henry (1870 - 1944): civil, structural and consulting engineer, was awarded an 1851 Exhibition Science Research Scholarship, in 1893 that enabled him to study bridge engineering at Cornell University, and gain experience working with some of the leading American designers and contractors on very large steel buildings and bridges. He brought American design and construction experience of large steel structures to Australia in 1900.
MacDonald, George William (1870 - 1922): Chemical analyst, studied under Orme Masson at University of Melbourne He was awarded an 1851 Exhibition Science Research Scholarship, to University College, London where he researched explosives. He remained there, continued research collaborating with Masson, and wrote a book on the history on the development of explosives that he dedicated to him.
Moorhouse, Matthew (1813 - 1876): was a medical practitioner who migrated to South Australia in 1839. For 17 years he was Protector of Aborigines, resigning in 1856 to visit the United Kingdom. As Protector he was conscientious in carrying out his duties, but became increasingly uncomfortable about some aspects of those duties. They were outlined in the South Australian charter, and incorporated philanthropic and evangelical elements as well as emphasising the notion of impartial justice.
Rosales, Enrique (Henry) (1820 - 1916): was a manger of some of Victoria's mines and a Fellow of the Royal Geological Society, London. He was also the Mayor of Walhalla and wrote reports for the Victoria Department of Mines. Considered an expert on gold mining in both alluvial and quartz reef settings, he testified at the Goldfields Royal Commission in 1862. In retirement he made inspections of mines, apparently on behalf of the Victorian Geological Survey, and was also consultant to private companies.
Carlson, Laurance (Laurie) (1936 - 2022): was a librarian whose career started at the Commonwealth Aircraft Factory after he left school. He became Librarian at the Port Melbourne Public Library and in 1972 Readers' Services Librarian at Deaking University. Carlson suffered for most of his life from MS, overcoming the odds and learning to walk again. His worsening condition resulted in him taking early retirement in 1991. Appreciating that MS sufferers were in need need of support, Carlson was encouraged to initiate the MS Society. Having completed a BA at the University of Melbourne he later began a masters degree in History and Philosophy of Science at the University, his subject being the history of water supply in the Geelong region. Carlson made a major contribution to the history of Australian science and technology as the compiler of the first 22 editions of the Bibliography of the history of Australian science published between 1981 and 2001.
King, Ethel Anne (1879 - 1939): was a zoological artist who had studied with the famous Australian artist Julian Ashton. In 1922 she was appointed assistant to Margaret Flockton at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. She is mostly known, however, for her zoological work. Entomologist Walter Froggatt engaged her to produce illustrations or his book Forest insects and timber borers (1927). Much of her was work was on commission for the Australian Museum during the 1920s and 1930s. One of her major achievements was to produce 136 snake illustrations that were published in James Kinghorn's Snakes of Australia (1929).
Grey, Kathleen (Kath) (1946 - 2026): was a palaeontologist internationally recognised as an authority in Precambrian palaeontology and stratigraphy. Her research on microbialites (especially stromatolites) and microfossils transformed our understanding of some of Australia's oldest evidence of life. She recorded observations of stromatolites from over 1,000 locations. Together with her detailed studies of Precambrian organic-walled microfossils, she provided the basis for interpreting the age, environment and correlation of numerous ancient sedimentary successions. Her research on Australian Ediacaran palynology provided a biostratigraphic framework with applications well beyond individual geological basins.
Williams, Fannie Eleanor (1884 - 1963): having trained as a nurse, was widely respected for her research as a bacteriologist and pathologist. Her early career was at the pathology laboratories at the Adelaide and the Adelaide Children's Hospitals, working the Thomas Borthwick. Enlisting in the Australian Army Nursing Service in WWI, she spent some time working with Charles Martin in Cairo and the Lister Institute, London, researching in particular on dysentery: she was considered an expert on this disease. On being demobilised, Williams joined the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, then one of only three staff members. Despite having no university degree, she managed her own laboratory, working on infectious diseases, hydatid disease, dysentery and syphilis. With Charles Kellaway she studied snake venoms to understand how they drove hemolysis and to identify their antigenic variability. In 1939, with Ian Wood, Williams established Australia's first blood bank, where she developed techniques for blood storage and administering blood products. During her career Williams co-authored over 50 research papers.
Lovelock, Catherine (1964 - ): a recognised internationally as an expert on the impacts of climate change on coastal wetlands and the role of coastal ecosystems, particularly mangroves, in mitigating climate change, became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2021. She was a founding member of the International Blue Carbon Scientific Working Group and the International Partnership for Blue Carbon. In 2019 she was a lead author of the greenhouse gas accounting guidelines for wetlands issued by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Introduction

The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation is a register of the people, industries, corporations, research institutions, scientific societies, awards, major events and other organisations that have contributed to Australia's scientific, technological, engineering and medical research heritage - the engine of innovation in this country. Each entry has references to their archival materials, museum objects and collections, and to bibliographic resources, including historical and current literature. Read more

Research, curation and web publication is supported by the Swinburne University of Technology, Office of the Chief Scientist. Web publication is by serial editions with at least four editions per year. Each edition contains new entries and articles as well as amendments and additions to existing entries.

The Encyclopedia acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples of Australia, the traditional custodians of Country. It recognises and supports their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders and leaders past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations people of the world. We are incrementally building a gateway to sources documenting Australian First Nations' knowledge: see Theme: Australian First Nations.

We aim to be a 'living archive' and strive to represent all knowledge in an honest and respectful manner.

On 24 November 2022 (5.45pm), the Centre for Transformative Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology hosted an event at the Hawthorn Campus to celebrate the next phase in the life of the Encyclopedia. For more information see Launch 2022

Adjunct Associate Professor Gavan McCarthy

Exhibitions - selected stories explored in more depth

All exhibitions from 1996 onwards

Other useful resources

Historical Records of Australian Science, Australian Academy of Science and CSIRO Publishing. The history of science, pure and applied, in Australia, New Zealand and the southwest Pacific.
Trove , National Library of Australia. Australia’s free online research portal. Trove is a collaboration between the NLA and hundreds of Partner organisations around Australia, including this Encyclopedia.
History of Australian science, Australian Academy of Science. An introduction to the historical resources of the Academy.
CSIROpedia, CSIRO and Swinburne University of Technology. Innovation shaping Australia and the world since 1916.
IsisCB Explore, An open access discovery service from the History of Science Society; built on 50-years of data in the Isis Bibliography of the History of Science.
Biodiversity Heritage Library improves research methodology by collaboratively making biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community. An advanced subject search of "Australia" is good starting point.
Guide to Australian Business Records Archive Edition 2025.This guide provides links to archival and published resources relating to Australian business entities and people involved with those entities.

Networks and Data Overview

In all, there are well over 2.3 million data elements captured in 44 data tables. The data can be made available in postgresql format and json-ld courtesy of project with the Australian Research Data Commons. To find out more go to the Networks and Data Overview page.