News and views
Diaries of Australian virologist who helped eradicate smallpox now available online
On 8 May 1980, Australian virologist Professor Frank Fenner stood before the World Health Assembly in Geneva and declared smallpox, an ancient disease thought to be responsible for more than half a billion deaths during the last hundred years of its existence alone, had been eradicated.
Academy manuscript collection of ‘immense research significance’
The archives of the Australian Academy of Science hold a rich and varied collection of unpublished and primary source materials documenting the history of science in Australia. Over its 60-year history, the collection has evolved into a substantial resource providing a rare and valuable window into Australian scientific discovery in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Archives provide window into Antarctic research
The Academy’s archives provide an invaluable window into early Antarctic exploration and research, including that of Welsh-Australian geologist Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David. His involvement with Antarctic research spanned four decades—first as a scientist and explorer, and later as a steadfast advocate for expeditions.
