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 hitherto unexplored regions of inland and northern Australia. Members of the expedition were issued with 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 most of 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.
It reveals for the first time the true extent and limits of the scientific achievements of both the Burke and Wills expedition and the various relief expeditions which followed.
Listen to an interview on Radio 6PR Perth with one of the editors Bernie Joyce.
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Read an article in the Courier-Mail about the legacy of the ill-fated journey.
Read an article in The Age about the book.
Listen to an interview on Bush Telegraph with chapter author Linden Gillbank.
Listen to an interview with the authors on 2UE and 4BC.
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 hitherto unexplored regions of inland and northern Australia. Members of the expedition were issued with 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 most of 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.
It includes the original instructions as well as numerous paintings and drawings, documents the actual science undertaken as recorded in notebooks and diaries, and analyses the outcomes. It reveals for the first time the true extent and limits of the scientific achievements of both the Burke and Wills expedition and the various relief expeditions which followed.
Importantly, this new book has led to a re-appraisal of the shortcomings and the successes of the journey. It will be a compelling read for all those interested in the history of exploration, science and natural history, as well as Australian history and heritage.
The book draws extensively on material held in the State Library of Victoria's collection. This includes the original instructions from Macadam to members of the expedition, the sketchbooks of Becker, Beckler and Strutt, and Wills' fieldbooks.
The book will lead to a re-appraisal of the successes of the journey.
Published in association with the State Library of Victoria and the Royal Society of Victoria.
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
Those interested in Australian heritage, and Victoria's heritage in particular
Cartographers
"I commend two of this year's books which, so far, I have not heard discussed. One is Burke & Wills: The Scientific Legacy of the Victorian Exploring Edition, a most scholarly book edited by E.B. Joyce and D.A. McCann. It is fascinating; nearly all experts have said that they left no scientific legacy, but this book shows how much the explorers and their team discovered."
Geoffrey Blainey, Australian Book Review 'Books of the Year', Dec 2011- Jan 2012, No 337
"The publicity for this outstanding collection of papers suggests that on the 150th anniversary of their public demise, the achievements of the Burke and Wills expedition are at last being "rediscovered". This is not an exaggeration. As Frank Leahy writes, while awaiting a lonely death on Cooper Creek, William John Wills "may have found some solace in the thought that he would be written about as a 'scientist' 150 years later".
Robert Willson, Canberra Times, 11 February 2012
"A compelling read for anyone interested in science and natural history, as well as Australian colonial heritage."
4 X 4 Australia, January, 2012
"We can choose from geology, zoology, hydrology, meteorology and anthropology, or read the lot, as a collection of deeply rewarding and unexpectedly lyrical socio-scientific texts… this book is even larger and more moving than the sum of its parts."
Evelyn Juers, Weekend Australian, 19-Nov-2011
Bernie Joyce is Honorary Principal Fellow at the School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne.
Doug McCann is Honorary Fellow at the School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne.
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