Moyal, Ann (1926 - 2019)

Summary

Ann Moyal was one of Australia's most distinguished historians of science and technology. Much of her career was as an independent scholar, outside the confines of academia. For four years she was Editorial Assistant of the Australian dictionary of biography project, being of material help to the chairman of the National Committee, W. K. Hancock, in establishing the framework for the project. In 1962 she published an innovative bibliography of the history of Australian science, with a supplement in 1964. Between 1962 and 1965 she was Research Associate jointly of the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian National University Research School of Social Sciences, preparing the ground-breaking A guide to the manuscript records of Australian science (1966). Later positions included as Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the New South Wales Institute of Technology and Foundation Director of the Science Policy Research Centre, Griffith University. Moyal published (including as Ann Mozley Moyal and Ann Mozley) over a wide range of subjects including atomic energy, telecommunications, geology, nineteenth-century Australian scientists, the iconic Australian indigenous animals the platypus and the koala, autobiographical volumes, and a biography of her husband, mathematician Jose Moyal. She was editor of Search, the magazine of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, and of Prometheus Her last paper was published posthumously in 2019. In addition she recorded over 30 interviews, mainly of scientists, for the National Library of Australia. The Royal Society of New South Wales awarded her its inaugural History and Philosophy of Science Medal in 2014. The National Library of Australia hosts the annual Ann Moyal Lectures, given by distinguished speakers on a contemporary question that draws on such fields of knowledge as science, environment, ecology, history, anthropology, art, and technology.

Details

.

Chronology

? - 2019

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales

1946

Education - BA (hons), University of Sydney

1954 - 1958

Career position - Personal Assistant to Lord Beaverbrook

1958 - 1962

Career position - Assistant Editor of the Australian dictionary of biography

1959 - 1962

Career position - Research Associate, Australian Academy of Science and Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University

1968 - 1970

Career position - Senior science editor, University of Chicago Press, U.S.A.

1969 - 1983

Career position - Honorary Editor, Search, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1972 - 1976

Career position - Senior Lecturer in the History of Science, School of Humanities, New South Wales Institute of Technology

1977 - 1979

Career position - Foundation Director, Science Policy Research Centre, Griffith University

1993

Award - National Library of Australia Fellowship

1993

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to science and technology in Australia, particularly through the recording of its history

1995 - 2000

Career position - Inaugural President, Independent Scholars Association of Australia

1997 - 2019

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities

2000 - 2019

Award - Honorary Member, Independent Scholars Association of Australia

2001

Award - Centenary Medal for service to Australian society and the humanities in the study of Australian science

2003

Award - DLitt, Australian National University

2007

Award - D.Phil. honoris causa, University of Sydney

2014

Award - Inaugural History and Philosophy of Science Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

2020

Award - Archibald Olé Prize (posthumous) , Royal Society of New South Wales

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Ann Moyal Collection on Women in Australian Science, 1980s - 2003, MS 210; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Gwen Woodroofe interviewed by Ann Moyal [sound recording], 19 November 2010 - 20 November 2010, ORAL TRC 6244; Woodroofe, Gwendolyn Marion (Gwen) (1918 - 2012), Moyal, Ann (1926 - 2019); National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details
• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Clarke, W. B. (edited by Ann Moyal), The Web of Science: the Scientific Correspondence of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, Australia's Pioneer Geologist (Kew: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2003), 1340 (in 2 vols) pp. Details
• Moyal, A. M., Scientists in Nineteenth Century Australia: a Documentary History (Melbourne: Cassell Australia, 1976). Details
• Moyal, Ann, Clear across Australia: a History of Telecommunications (Melbourne: Nelson, 1984), 453 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann, A Bright and Savage Land: Scientists in Colonial Australia (Melbourne: Collins Australia, 1986), 192 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann, Breakfast with Beaverbrook: Memoirs of an Independent Woman (Sydney: Hale and Iremonger, 1995), 215 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann, Platypus: the Extraordinary Story of How a Curious Creature Baffled the World (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2001), 240 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann, Maverick Mathematician: the Life and Science of J. E. Moyal (Canberra: ANU E Press, 2006), 194 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann, Koala: a Historical Biography (Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing, 2008), 246 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann, Platypus (Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 2010), 249 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann, A woman of influence: science, men and history (Perth: UWA Publishing, 2014), 201 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann Mozley, A guide to the manuscript records of Australian science (Canberra: Australian Academy of Science in association with Australian National University Press, 1966), 127 pp. Details
• Moyal, Ann Mozley, Science, technology and society in Australia: a bibliography (Brisbane: Science Policy Research Centre, School of Science, Griffith University, 1978), 74 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Ann Mozley, 'Blackwood, Francis Price (1809 - 1854), naval officer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 110-1. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Collectors and illustrators: women botanists of the nineteenth century' in People and Plants in Australia, Carr, D. J. and Carr, S. G. M., eds (Sydney: Academic Press, 1981), pp. 333-56. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Gibson, Roger Barraclough (1909-1977), mechanical engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 14: 1940 - 1980 Di-Kel, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1996), p. 270. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140305b.htm. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Witt, Sidney Herbert (1892-1973), Electrical Engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 16: 1940 - 1980 Pik-Z, John Ritchie and Diane Langmore, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002), pp. 574-575. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160684b.htm. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'William Branwhite Clarke, 1798-1878' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Ringwood, Alfred Edward (Ted) (1930-1993), geophysicist and earth scientist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 714-716, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ringwood-alfred-edward-ted-857. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'Dana, James Dwight (1813-1895), mineralogist and geologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 278-279. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010267b.htm. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895), biologist, anthropologist and philosopher' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 577-578. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010535b.htm. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'Jukes, Joseph Beete (1811-1869), geologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), pp. 29-30. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020027b.htm. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'Clarke, William Branwhite (1798-1878), geologist and Anglican clergyman' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), pp. 420-422. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030395b.htm. Details

Conference Papers

• Moyal, A., 'With Pen and Hammer: the Correspondence of Rev. W. B. Clarke', in Useful and Curious Geological Enquiries Beyond the World: Pacific-Asia Historical Themes: The 19th International INHIGEO Symposium, Sydney, Australia, 4-8 July, 1994 edited by D. F. Branagan and G. H. McNally (Sydney: International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences, 1994), pp. 172-180.. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'The History of Telecommunication in Australia: Aspects of the Technological Experience, 1854-1930', in Scientific Colonialism: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Papers From a Conference at Melbourne, Australia, 25-30 May 1981 edited by Nathan Reingold and Marc Rothenberg (Melbourne: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981), pp. 35-54.. Details

Edited Books

• Moyal, Ann ed., Portraits in Science (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1994), 209 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Clarke, Patricia, 'Moyal, Ann Veronica (1926 - 2019)', ISAA national newsletter (2019), 3-4. https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/moyal-ann-veronica-29907. Details
• Macintyre, Stuart, 'Obituary: Ann Veronica Helen Moyal AM, FRSN, FAAH', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 152 (2) (2019), 276-8. https://royalsoc.org.au/images/pdf/journal/152-2-13Macintyre.pdf. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'The Australian Atomic Energy Commission: a case study in Australian science and government', Search, 9 (1975), 365-80. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Science Policy Studies in Australia', Politics, 16 (1) (1981), 119-123. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Telecommunications in Australia: an Historical Perspective, 1854-1930', Prometheus, 1 (1983), 23-41. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Invention and Innovation in Australia: the Historian's Lens', Information Research unit [Department of Economics, University of Queensland] Occasional Papers, 1 (1986), 26. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Invention and Innovation in Australia: the Historian's Lens', Prometheus, 5 (1) (1987), 92-110. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'The gendered use of the telephone: an Australian case study', Media, culture & society, 14 (1) (1992), 51-72, https://doi.org/10.1177/016344392014001004. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Invisible Participants: Women in Science in Australia, 1830-1950', Prometheus, 11 (1993), 175-187. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Jean Buckley Moran [Obituary],', History of Australian Science Newsletter, 34 (March-April) (1995), 8. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Friends, Savants and Founders: W.B. Clarke and J.D. Dana', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 145 (2012), 54-8. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Owen Stanley and the Rattlesnake', National Library Magazine, 2012 (June) (2012), 8-11. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Isobel Bennett: doyenne of the seashores', National Library of Australia magazine, 2015 (March) (2015), 14-7. https://www.nla.gov.au/magazine/march-2015-issue. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Creative foundations: the Royal Society of New South Wales, 1867 and 2017', Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, 150 (2) (2017), 232-45. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'P. A. M. Dirac and the maverick mathematician', Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, 150 (2) (2017), 188-94. Details
• Moyal, Ann Mozley, 'Sir Richard Owen and His Influence on Australian Zoological and Palaeontological Science', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 3 (2) (1976), 41-56. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9760320041.htm. Details
• Moyal, Ann Mozley, 'The Australian Academy of Science: the anatomy of a scientific elite: Parts 1-2', Search, 11 (September) (1980), 281-288. Details
• Moyal, Ann Mozley, 'Medical research in Australia: a historical perspective', Search, 12 (9) (1981), 302-309. Details
• Moyal, Ann Mozley, 'Workshop on the History of Science in Australia', Search, 13 (9-10) (1982), 224-225. Details
• Moyal, Ann: with Robert E. Marks, 'The scientists and Darwin's The origin of species in nineteenth century Australia: a re-evaluation', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 152 (1) (2019), 5-26. Details
• Mozley, A., 'The Foundations of the Geological Survey of New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, 98 (2) (1965), 91-100. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'A check list of publications on the history of Australian science', Australian Journal of Science, 25 (1962), 206-14. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'Supplement ot a check list of publications on the history of Australian science', Australian Journal of Science, 27 (1964), 8-15. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'Richard Daintree; first government geologist of Northern Queensland', Queensland Heritage, 1 (2) (1965), 11-6. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'Evolution and the climate of opinion in Australia, 1840 - 1876', Victorian studies, 10 (4) (1967), 411-30. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q61974629. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/95064575. Details
• 'Moyal, Ann (19260223-20190721)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-508340. Details
• The RSNSW History and Philosophy of Science Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales, Sydney, 2022. https://www.royalsoc.org.au/awards/history-and-philosophy-of-science-medal. Details

Resource Sections

• Morgan, Helen, 'Moyal, Ann (1926 - 2018)', in The Australian Women's Register, 6 August 2019. https://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE5238b.htm. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Interview with Miss Margaret Dick', in Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 27 June 2000, https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/miss-margaret-dick-1918-2008-food. Details

Reviews

• Moyal, Ann, Platypus: the Extraordinary Story of How a Curious Creature Baffled the World (2001)
  Ducker, Sophie C., Historical Records of Australian Science, 13 (4), (2001), 532. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR0011340521. Details
• Thomson, Alice, The Singing Line (1999)
  Moyal, Ann, 'Review', Historical Records of Australian Science, 13 (4), (2001), 532-533. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR0011340521. Details
• Thomas, Sarah (ed.), The Encounter, 1802: Art of the Flinders and Baudin Voyages, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2002, 228 pp.
  Moyal, Ann, 'Review', Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (2), (2002), 237-241. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR02011. Details
• Fenner, Frank and Curtis, David (Eds), The John Curtin School of Medical Research: the first fifty years, 1948-1998, Brolga Press, Gundaroo, New South Wales, 2001, 565 pp.
  Moyal, Ann, 'Review', Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (1), (2002), 105-106. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR02901C_BR. Details
• Flannery, Tim (text) and Schouten, Peter (illustrator), A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2001, 184 pp.
  Moyal, Ann, 'Review', Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (2), (2002), 237-241. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR02011. Details
• Moyal, Ann, A woman of influence: science, men and history (2014)
  O'Hagan, John, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 119, (2014), 111. Details
• 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)
  Oldroyd, David, Australian Book Review, 263 (August), (2004), 47-48. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_m.html. Details
• Robson, Alexandra K.; Production Manager and Editor eds, Who's who in Australia 2019 (Southbank, Vic.: AAP Directories, 2018), 1788 pp. Details