Person
Davidson, Bruce Robinson (1924 - 1994)
- Born
- 8 May 1924
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 22 March 1994
Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Agricultural scientist
Summary
Bruce Davidson was one of Australia's most influential agricultural economists. His early research, while with the CSIRO in Canberra and as lecturer and research fellow at the University of Western Australia, related to the agricultural and settlement potential of northern Australia. He came increasingly and vocally to oppose schemes for the agricultural and pastoral development of northern Australia as economically unviable. In particular he opposed the Ord River scheme. These views were in opposition to the political orthodoxy of the time. Davidson published several books expanding on his views, most notably The northern myth: a study of the physical and economic limits to agricultural and pastoral development in tropical Australia (1965, 3rd edition 1972). He retired in 1969 after more than 20 years as Senior lecturer in agricultural economics at the University of Sydney. The University established a prize for proficiency in natural resource economics in Davidson's name.
Details
Chronology
- May 1942
- Career event - Enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces
- October 1942 - October 1945
- Career position - Served with the Royal Australian Air Force
- 1948
- Education - Diploma in Agriculture, Dookie Agricultural College
- 1952
- Education - Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgSc), University of Melbourne
- 1954
- Education - Master of Agricultural Science (MAgSc), University of Melbourne
- 1957
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of London
- 1957 - 1960
- Career position - Lecturer in agricultural economics, Egerton Agricultural College, Kenya
- 1960 - 1963
- Career position - Research Officer, CSIRO, Canberra
- 1963 - 1965
- Career position - Lecturer and research fellow in agricultural economics, John Thompson Agricultural Economics Centre, University of Western Australia
- 1965 - 1968
- Career position - Lecturer in agricultural economics, University of Sydney
- 1968 - 1989
- Career position - Senior lecturer in agricultural economics, University of Sydney 1965-85
- 1989
- Life event - Retired
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Davidson, B. R., Australia wet or dry?: the physical and economic limits to the expansion of irrigation (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1969), 264 pp. Details
- Davidson, B. R., Australian agriculture in the great depression (Canberra: Australian National University, 1985), 48 pp. Details
- Davidson, B. R.; and Graham-Taylor, Susan, Lessons from the Ord (St Leonards, N.S.W.: Centre for Independent Studies, 1982), 55 pp. Details
- Davidson, Bruce, The northern myth: a study of the physical and economic limits to agricultural and pastoral development in tropical Australia (Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1965), 293 pp. Details
- Davidson, Bruce Robinson, European farming in Australia: an economic history of Australian farming (Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific, 1981), 437 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Carment, David, 'Davidson, Bruce Robinson (1924-1994), agricultural scientist and agricultural economist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 210-212, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/davidson-bruce-robinson-18265. Details
- Davidson, Bruce, 'Developing Nature's Treasures: Agriculture and Mining in Australasia' in The Commonwealth of Science: ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia, 1888-1988, Roy MacLeod, ed. (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988), pp. 272-291. Details
Journal Articles
- Batterham, Bob; Mauldon, Roger; and Ockwell, Tony, 'Bruce Robinson Davidson 1924 - 1994', Australian journal of agricultural economics, 38 (1) (1994), 121-4. Details
- Davidson, Bruce R., 'The History of Agriculture in Temperate Australia', Journal of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, 51 (3) (1985), 159-168. Details
- Shaw, A.G.L.; and Davidson, B., 'History of Farming in Australia', Australian Agricultural Yearbook (1986), 45-50. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q55766703. Details
- 'Davidson, B R (19240508-19940322)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-614255. Details
See also
- MacLeod, Roy ed., The Commonwealth of Science: ANZAAS and the Scientific Enterprise in Australasia, 1888-1988 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988), 433 pp. Details
Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn
Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 10 May 2022