Knowledge & power: lectures »

Publication date: 1976

In mid-1975, Professor F R Jevons visited The Australian National University under the auspices of the ANU Advisory Committee on Science and Technology Policy Research. The purpose of his visit was to stimulate interest in the study of science and technology policy issues. During his stay Professor Jevons gave a number of lectures covering the relationship of basic scientific research to techno logical innovation in industry, the organisation of scientific research, the nature of knowledge, and science in literature. The lectures and other material, edited by Dr C E West, are now made available to the wide range of people interested in the relationships of science, technology and society.

View title

Greek children in Sydney »

Publication date: 1976

In many o f the inner city Sydney schools the often numerous Greek pupils are usually seen by their teachers as problems. They are said to be unpunctual and immature; their levels of achievement are low. Their parents ignore notes from the school and do not insist that homework is done. They shift house frequently, so that the children are forever changing schools. The children do not mix with Australian children any more than necessary in school, and they mix only with other Greek children out of school. These Greek pupils reach only low standards and, as they are usually older than the class average, leave school without having mastered basic skills. In this unusual book we find explanations for these characteristics. The children and their parents speak for themselves about what it is like to grow up in Australia w ith in a family that attempts, against serious odds, to preserve traditional Greek ways of life in spite of the influences of schools and the parents' jobs . Their voices are heard with little interruption, comment or interpretation - they are vivid, instructive and often movinq.

View title

Portents of protest in the Later Han dynasty: the memorials of Hsiang K'ai to Emperor Huan »

Publication date: 1976

Among the chief reasons for the weakness and ultimate collapse of the imperial system of Han were the social and political divisions which arose between the emperor and the scholar-officials who served him. Portents of Protest, which forms part of a continuing study of the reigns of the Emperors Huan and Ling, the last effective rulers of Han, discusses the criticisms that were made of imperial policies and the philosophical background to the debate. It studies in some detail the means by which critics of the imperial government sought to urge their case by reference to supernatural or unusual phenomena as warnings to the throne.

View title

Studies in the eighteenth century III: papers presented at the Third David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminar, Canberra 1973 »

Publication date: 1976

This volume of essays, from the Third David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminar, continues the valuable and lively tradition established in the two earlier seminars and volumes. The essays, by distinguished international scholars, range over many of the topics that make the eighteenth century a rich area of study: the burgeoning of ideas about man and his place in the world, social history, philosophy and literature, literary criticism and traditions, the poetry and prose of the giants of the age. For all students of eighteenth-century studies this book will be vital reading.

View title

Opportunity and attainment in Australia »

Publication date: 1976

Australia is often referred to as a classless society, with few of the class distinctions of the old world, but this description has never been tested systematically. More radical writers now assert that there is a rigid class structure and much special privilege. They maintain that there is little opportunity for persons to advance materially by their own efforts. This book attempts to provide an answer to these conflicting claims. It examines how far equality of opportunity exists, in the educational system and elsewhere. It describes the long-term trend in the distribution of wealth and income and estimates how far Australian society is stratified compared with other countries. These and related questions are examined systematically by means of the results of a national sample survey conducted by the authors in 1965 and by comparison with other evidence relating to education, employment and income. The authors{u2019} main conclusion is that, while Australian society is clearly stratified in each generation, high rates of mobility limit significantly the extent to which inequality is transmitted within the family from one generation to the next. Though primarily intended for use in senior undergraduate and graduate courses in the social sciences there is much to interest readers concerned with contemporary Australian society in particular and advanced industrial countries generally.

View title

Public servants, interest groups, and policy making: two case studies »

Publication date: 1976

Published Press Archives http://press.anu.edu.au/node/3225 1885_115097.jpg ANU Press Public servants, interest groups, and policy making: two case studies Wednesday, 18 August, 1976 Not available Archive Scholarly Information Services Smith, R. F. I

View title

Kormilda, the way to tomorrow?: a study in Aboriginal education »

Publication date: 1976

Aborigines in Australia are demanding a kind of education that does not estrange Aboriginal children from their culture and their kin. This book discusses a situation in which such alienation was brought about. Kormilda College, a residential school for tribal Aborigines in the Northern Territory, is the focus of the study. In the college Dr Sommerlad observed young Aborigines trying to reconcile their own values and behaviour with those of the white teachers and administrators. Some students were unable to choose between black and white societies and became marginal members of both. Some felt their black identity degraded by the experience and were left in a state of confusion and self-doubt. If the education of these children is to be in harmony with the values and ideals of the community in which they live, educational reforms will have to be undertaken. From her experience at Kormilda, and drawing on the experience of United States workers with American Indians and Eskimoes, Dr Sommerlad suggests directions such reform might take and pitfalls it will need to avoid. This book must be read by all who wish to see Aborigines take their place in Australian society without losing their unique cultural identity.

View title

Class and politics: New South Wales, Victoria and the early Commonwealth, 1890-1910 »

Publication date: 1976

What has class to do with Australia - the working man{u2019}s paradise, the egalitarian society, where mate is as good as master? Dr Rickard shows that class is more relevant than most Australians would care to believe. The period 1890-1910 is a critical one in Australian history. In 1890 Australia was little more than a collection of provincially minded colonies; by 1910 it was a nation, poised to prove the fact in a European war. Those twenty years saw the emergence of the labor party and of the basic party system as we know it today. As the trade unions gave birth to the labor parties, the employers worked to establish an anti-labor party. Until now historians have tended to study the Australian labour movement in isolation. This book places both the movement itself and the anti-labour forces, those of capital, firmly in the context of Australian society, its mores and its myths. For those interested in class and politics, and in the myths that give Australian class and politics their characteristic flavour, this book will be a welcome contibution.

View title

Colonial town to Melanesian city: Port Moresby 1884-1974 »

Publication date: 1976

Published Press Archives http://press.anu.edu.au/node/3303 1885_115035.jpg ANU Press Colonial town to Melanesian city: Port Moresby 1884-1974 Wednesday, 18 August, 1976 Not available Archive Scholarly Information Services Oram, Nigel

View title

New Guinea vegetation »

Publication date: 1976

The island of New Guinea is rich in vegetation varying from mangrove swamps through savanna to dense forests. Here, for the first time in one book, this vegetation is considered from the diverse viewpoints of the botanist, the ethnobotanist, the ecologist and the biogeographer. New Guinea Vegetation contains a wealth of information on the geographical and altitudinal distribution of the island{u2019}s flora, the way in which plants have migrated to and from neighbouring countries, the ecology of the various plant communities and the uses to which the people put the plants - as food or medicine, in magic and rituals, and for the manufacture of the goods needed in their day to day life. This usefully illustrated book will be invaluable for those interested in tropical plants, their ecology and uses.

View title