Roderick Weir "R.W." Home (born 6 January 1939), is an Australian academic and historian of Science. Home has been Professor of History and Philosophy of Science,

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

from 1975 to 2002 on his retirement. Previously he was lecturer and then senior lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. He was Foundation Director of the Australian Science Archives Project (ASAP) 1985-96 and Chairman of its National Advisory Board. The work of ASAP is now carried on by the

Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre The Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre (Austehc), lasted from 1999 to 2006, was a non-profit organisation that received the majority of its funding from collaborative works with the government and industry groups. Austehc was a part ...

, a leading centre for the online documentation of the history of Australian science and technology. Professor Home is a prolific author, with major historical works to his credit; for example, documenting the scientific achievements of

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

, the German-Austrian scientist who was appointed Government Botanist for Victoria by Governor

Charles La Trobe Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australi ...

in 1853. R.W Home, A.M. Lucas, S. L. Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt, M. Wells. ''Regardfully Yours: Selected Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller'', Peter Lang Publishing (Berne), Vols. 1-3, 1998-2006.

Career highlights

*Educated at the University of Melbourne (BSc), and Indiana University (PhD), DLitt. Physics Master, Haileybury College 1960–64. *Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne 1967–70, Senior Lecturer 1970–75, Professor 1975–2002. *President, Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science 1977–80. Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

and a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of the History of Science. * Editor,

Historical Records of Australian Science ''Historical Records of Australian Science'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of science in Australia and the south-west Pacific and published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science. It w ...

1984-. * Foundation Director of Australian Science Archives Project 1985-96 and Chairman of its National Advisory Board. Although Professor Home retired from the University of Melbourne in December 2002, he continues to play a leading role in documenting and preserving the history of Australian science as Editor of the Historical Records of Australian Science (HRAS), the journal of record for the history of science, pure and applied, in Australia and the southwest Pacific.

References

External links

Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of MelbourneAustralian Science Archives Project (ASAP)
1939 births People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne) Australian historians Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Historians of science Living people Academic staff of the University of Melbourne {{Australia-academic-bio-stub