Burke & Wills : the scientific legacy of the Victorian exploring expedition / edited by E. B. Joyce and D. A. McCann.
Material type: TextCollingwood, Vic. : CSIRO Publishing, 2011Description: xxiv, 343 pages : color illustrations, facsimiles, maps, portraits ; 26 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780643103320 (hbk.)
- Burke and Wills : the scientific legacy of the Victorian exploring expedition
- Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1821-1861
- Wills, William John, 1834-1861
- Burke and Wills Expedition (1860-1861) -- Influence
- Desert animals -- Australia
- Desert ecology -- Australia
- Aboriginal Australians
- Natural history -- Australia -- History
- Ethnology -- Australia -- History
- Science -- Australia -- History
- Scientific expeditions -- Australia
- Australia -- Discovery and exploration
- Australia -- Description and travel
- 994.03 23
- Also issued in electronic version via the Internet.
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | State Botanical Collection | RBG | 994.03 BUR (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | RBGM00005473 |
Maps on endpapers.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Conflicting priorities: exploration, science, politics and personal ambition -- William John Wills as scientist -- Geology, soils and landscapes of the expedition route -- The botanical legacy of Ferdinand Mueller and Hermann Beckler -- Zoology: an encounter with the fauna of Australia's unique arid environment -- Hydrologic insights of inland Australia -- Meteorology: a remarkable set of early inland observations -- The space between: Aboriginal people, the Victorian exploring expedition and the relief parties -- Conclusion: rewriting history.
This book challenges the common assumption that little or nothing of scientific value was achieved during the Burke and Wills expedition. The Royal Society of Victoria initiated the Victorian Exploring Expedition as a serious scientific exploration of the hitherto unexplored centre of Australia. Members of the expedition were sent 10 pages of detailed instructions on scientific measurements and observations to be carried out, covering about a dozen areas of science. The tragic ending of the expedition meant that the results of the scientific investigations were not reported or published. Burke and Wills: The Scientific Legacy of the Victorian Exploring Expedition rectifies this historic omission.
Also issued in electronic version via the Internet.