ANZAAS Science Talk, Melbourne
All welcome, free, tell your friends! Free refreshments after the talk
Wednesday 21st October 2026, 6:30 pm
At Bio21 Institute, 30 Flemington Rd, near corner with Park Drive, Parkville
Dr Doug McCann
Honorary Fellow University of Melbourne
“History of the Royal Society of Victoria”
The Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) – the first viable, ongoing scientific society in Victoria – was established during the heady days of the 1850s gold rush. It stimulated innovation in the construction of public facilities including roads, railways, water supply and sewage, as well as improved methods for agriculture and food production, for public health planning and medical issues, mineral exploration, research of the local flora and fauna, and environmental surveys. The RSV served as a meeting place for a network of science and technology practitioners and for adherents and enthusiasts to share their knowledge and passion for science. It published papers on local topics in its Transactions and Proceedings. Although its role has changed over the years, the RSV continues to promote science education and encourages investment in the scientific disciplines for the benefit of the wider Victorian community.
Dr Doug McCann is a science historian and an honorary fellow of the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, and a former councilor of the RSV. He graduated as an industrial chemist at the Bendigo Institute of Technology and worked as a science teacher and later a librarian at the State Library of Victoria. He studied Environmental Science at Monash University and completed a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne. In 2000 he published a book on CSIRAC, Australia’s first computer, and in 2011, edited the book Burke And Wills: the Scientific Legacy of the Victorian Exploring Expedition.
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Forthcoming talk: Wednesday 18th November Prof James Vince The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
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We are pleased to acknowledge the support by CSL and Bio21 for the ANZAAS Melbourne science talks series
Further Info: David Vaux davidlaurencevaux@gmail.com
http://www.anzaas.org.au/victoria/
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Click HERE to see past ANZAAS Science Talks
David Ashley September 2026
Understanding the Brain’s Immune System to Defeat Brain Tumours: Precision Medicine and the New Frontier of Innate Immunity
Ian Gust August 2026
Serendipity in Science
Elizabeth Vincan May 2026
AIDS and COVID-19: a Tale of Two Pandemics
Desley Whisson April 2026
Out on a Limb: Koalas and Yellow-bellied Gliders in Victoria’s Changing Forests
Ella Finkel March 2026
Take nobody’s word for it
Michael Foley November 2025
Human therapies inspired by sharks
Ros Gleadow October 2025
The poisonous plate of climate change
David Mitchell September 2025
Cosmic Rays – Celestial Bullets
Christopher Fairley August 2025
Whose fault is it that Bob got syphilis?
Anette “Peko” Hosoi July 2025
Form, Function and Physics: How Fluid Mechanics Shapes Life
Ricky Johnstone June 2025
Are we really ready for research-driven personalised cancer care in Australia?
John Long May 2025
Secret Life of Sharks – Lessons in Evolution and Survival
Peter van Wijngaarden March 2025
Imaging the eye to see the brain
Tony Heyes November 2024
Disability, Innovation and Spin-offs
David Vaux August 2024
Cell death: Bench to Bedside
Peter Cowan July 2024
Xenotransplantation: Custom-Designing Pig Parts for People
Richard Olive May 2024
The West Gate Bridge Disaster – A Failure at the Engineering, Organisational and Personal Levels
Greg Moore November April 2024
Urban trees are vital for sustainable, liveable cities
Rachelle Buchbinder March 2024
Hippocrasy, how doctors are betraying their oath
Daniel Mathews November 2023
Topology and the shape of space
Beth Ebert October 2023
Improving early warnings of epidemic thunderstorm asthma
David Komander September 2023
Playing Tag with Ubiquitin
David Vaux August 2023
A short history of cancer genes
Chris Greening May 2023
The atmosphere as a hidden energy source for life
Jim Goding March 2023
Transistors, the Microchip & the Second Industrial Revolution
Paul Lasky November 2022
A new window on the Universe
Peter Currie October 2022
Regeneration: Myths and monsters and modern medicine
Heather Mack September 2022
Injecting eyes with antibodies to treat problems of the retina
Helen Green August 2022
Dating Australia’s rock art
Mahdi Jalali July 2022
Transport electrification and integration of EVs within the electricity grid
Grant McArthur June 2022
Science led inroads into melanoma – Australia and New Zealand’s disease
Alan Duffy May 2022
Darkness visible down-under
Timothy Clark April 2022
The importance of reproducibility and integrity in science: a fishy perspective
Tilman Ruff March 2022
Ending the nuclear weapons era evidence, challenges and pathways
Brian Abbey November 2021
The colour of cancer: could ‘smart’ microscope slides transform tissue diagnostics?
Cameron Simmons October 2021
Creating stop signs in mosquitoes; is this the end-game for Dengue?
Madhu Bhaskaran September 2021
Unbreakable sensors the future is here
Anne Marie Tosolini August 2021
Fossil Leaves from Cretaceous and Paleogene Polar Environments
Geoff Brooks July 2021
Green Steel: Can we decarburise steel production?
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