The Basser Library is the library of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

, established in 1960 following the donation of £25,000 ($50,000), by philanthropist Sir Adolph Basser (1887–1965). The Library collects published and unpublished material documenting the history of science in Australia, with a particular emphasis on collecting biographical material about prominent scientists, and promotes related historical research. The library is open to the public by appointment.

Collections

Manuscript collection

The manuscript collection contains 219 sets of papers, ranging from singular letters through to extensive papers covering many shelf meters. Prominent individual scientists represented in the collection include Sir

David Rivett Sir Albert Cherbury David Rivett, KCMG (4 December 1885 – 1 April 1961) was an Australian chemist and science administrator. Background and education Rivett was born at Port Esperance, Tasmania, Australia, a son of the Rev. Albert Rivett ( ...

, Sir

Ian Wark Sir Ian William Wark CMG CBE FAA (8 May 1899 – 20 April 1985) was an Australian chemist and scientific administrator. He was the recipient of the ANZAAS Medal in 1973. First published in hardcopy in the Australian Dictionary of Biography ...

and Dr Lloyd Rees, academics such as Professor

Frank Fenner Frank John Fenner (21 December 1914 – 22 November 2010) was an Australian scientist with a distinguished career in the field of virology. His two greatest achievements are cited as overseeing the eradication of smallpox, and the attempted con ...

, Sir

Neil Hamilton Fairley Brigadier Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley, (15 July 1891 – 19 April 1966) was an Australian physician, medical scientist, and army officer who was instrumental in saving thousands of Allied lives from malaria and other diseases. A graduate of the ...

and Sir

Ernest Titterton Sir Ernest William Titterton (4 March 1916 – 8 February 1990) was a British nuclear physicist. A graduate of the University of Birmingham, Titterton worked in a research position under Mark Oliphant, who recruited him to work on radar ...

and more than 60 other Fellows of the Academy. A number of scientific societies records are also held, including the Australian Institute of Physics and the

Geological Society of Australia The Geological Society of Australia (GSA) was established as a non-profit organisation in 1952 to promote, advance and support earth sciences in Australia. The founding Chairperson was Edwin Sherbon Hills. William Rowan Browne was a founder of th ...

Books and journals

The collection holds some notable holdings including back sets of Australian scientific periodicals produced by the early colonial Royal Societies and the other voluntary scientific associations that flourished in Australia in the 19th century, such as the

Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succe ...

Moran Award for History of Science Research

Each year the Library offers an award of $2,500 to encourage use of the collections by postgraduate students and other independent researchers.bass-award
Australian Academy of Science

References

External links

Basser LibraryAustralian Academy of Science
{{Authority control Libraries in Canberra Archives in Australia