Historians and allied scholars of science, medicine and technology
Primum mobiles
Alistair Kwan
at the University of Auckland's Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education, which hosts this website. Alistair holds International Scholar status in the Society for History of Technology and is keen to connect New Zealand researchers with historians of technology elsewhere, via SHoT. Contact Alistair with suggestions for website content and purposes that you'd like it to serve.
Clemency Montelle
at the University of Canterbury's Department of Mathematics. Contact Clemency for updates to contact details and pointers to others whom we should contact.
Hugh Slotten
at the University of Otago's Department of Media, Film and Communication. Hugh is working on a bid for the ICHST to meet in New Zealand, and on arranging New Zealand's membership in the DHST.
Auckland
Ella Arbury
University of Auckland — History
medical history; architectural history; social history; cultural New Zealand
Ella Arbury is a doctoral student whose current research combines medical and architectural history. Her MA thesis was a history of breastfeeding in New Zealand from 1900 to 1963. She is currently writing her PhD thesis about the influence of ideas about health on the design (both interior and exterior) of Māori and Pākehā houses in Auckland from 1918 to 1949. Her research interests include medical history, architectural history and twentieth century New Zealand social and cultural history.
Geoff Austin
University of Auckland — Engineering Science
Ruth Barton
University of Auckland — History
science and culture; domestic technology; housework
My research covers three areas: science and culture in Victorian England, domestic technology and housework in 20th-century Western Australia; and the development of European science in New Zealand. The former is culminating in two books, The X Club: Power and Authority in Victorian Science (forthcoming Chicago, 2018), and vol 3 of the Correspondence of John Tyndall (edited, with Jeremiah Rankin and Michael Reidy; forthcoming Pittsburgh, 2017). My work covers biography, institutions, rhetoric, and scientific controversies and often spreads into social history and religous history. In 2012 I retired from the History Department of the University of Auckland. I had previously taught social science methodology at Curtin University of Tecnology in Western Australia and mathematics at Victoria Unviersity of Wellington.
Linda Bryder
University of Auckland — History
Tatjana Buklijas
University of Auckland — Liggins Institute
Brian E Carpenter
University of Auckland — Computer Science
I am a mainly retired computer scientist with a long-standing interest in the history of computing and networking. I have worked particularly on Turing as a computer designer, his former boss John Womersley, and on Internet history.
Grant Christie
Stardome
Bob Doran
University of Auckland — Computer Science
history of computing; totalisators
Developed displays on the history of computing, and website, at U of Auckland. Interested in horse race gambling, the totalisator, and machinery to support it. Have a particular interest in the contributions of Alan Turing to practical computing.
JJ Elridge
University of Auckland — physics
astronomy; astrophysics; stars; galaxies; supernovae
I am interested in the historical development of our understanding of astronomy and astrophysics. I am especially interested in development of stellar evolution, especially observations of historical Galactic supernovae.
Katrina Ford
University of Auckland — History
Bev France
University of Auckland — Education
Brian Gill
Auckland Museum
Kate Hannah
University of Auckland — Te Puna Matatini
cultural studies; gender studies; science and technology studies; cultural history of science
I am a cultural historian with research interests in gender, science, and power. Currently, I am working on developing a novel hybrid historiography, combining network science, narrative analysis methods and approaches, and aspects of deconstructionism, seeking to test a model that might better mitigate against the camouflaging of women’s and other under-represented minorities contributions to science, in both historic and contemporary scientific discourses. I am also interested in the intersection of science, decision-making, and subjectivity, particularly with regards to science and technology during wartime, or as an aspect of nationalist discourses. I also work on the contemporary culture of science, specifically with regards to the representation of women and other under-represented minorities.
Daniel Hikuroa
University of Auckland — Anthropology
Alistair Kwan
University of Auckland — Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education
scientific practise; science education; material culture; scientific instruments; medical instruments; architecture; university heritage
Alistair studies scientific practice including the practices of science education. He writes in ways that treat instruments, tools, specimens, buildings, furniture, students and technicians as principal protagonists, and treats material, visual and spatial evidence as primary sources. He uses critical replication as both a research method and a pedagogy, so has learnt how to do things like construct astrolabes, make iron gall ink, write in old scripts, bind books.
Robert Nola
University of Auckland — Philosophy
philosophy of science; metaphysics; epistemology
Atheism and the relationship between religion and science.
Emily Parke
University of Auckland — Philosophy
Meg Parsons
University of Auckland — Environment
Nick Rattenbury
University of Auckland — Physics
Richard Sorrenson
University of Auckland — Alumni Office
Tony Spalinger
University of Auckland — Classics and Ancient History
Garry Tee
University of Auckland — Mathematics
mathematics; computing; Babbage; Darwin
I have wide interests in the history of science and technology, especially in mathematics and computing. I have found much historical scientific material in NZ, especially for Charles Babbage and Charles Darwin. I have reviewed very many books and papers on history of science and technology, with some of those reviews detailing significant errors in the publication.
Simon Thode
Network 4 Learning
Shae Trewin
MOTAT
Ruth Watson
University of Auckland — History
Erena Wikaire
University of Auckland — Population Health
Peter Wills
University of Auckland — Physics
Jill Wrapson
AUT University
social history of medicine; nineteenth and twentieth century; New Zealand
I have a particular interest in the social history of medicine. Although my work is in the field of health-related/social science research, I find the social history of medicine frequently intersects with the present-day projects with which I am involved. I am currently collaborating as a co-author on a journal article regarding surgical gloves – involving the history and the global changes in purpose, meaning and use of surgical gloves over the past century or so. Another area of interest is the development of children’s hospitals in New Zealand since 1840.
Emma Zuroski
University of Auckland — History
Canterbury
Philip Armstrong
University of Canterbury — English
Jane Buckingham
University of Canterbury — History
Douglas Campbell
University of Canterbury — Humanities and Creative Arts
philosophy of science; philosophy of technology; species extinctions; de-extinction
I am a philosopher with broad interests in metaphysics, epistemology, logic, and the mind. I teach courses on critical thinking (with a particular focus on the science/pseudoscience distinction), on the philosophy science, and on the philosophy of technology. One of my areas of research concerns the philosophical issues and problems thrown up by de-extinction technology.
Philip Catton
Independent
Garrick Cooper
University of Canterbury — Aotahi
Jack Copeland
University of Canterbury — Humanities and Creative Arts
Liz Cornwall
University of Canterbury — Mathematics and Statistics
Jambugahapitiye Dhammaloka
University of Canterbury — Mathematics and Statistics
history of mathematics in Sanskrit sources
Amy Fletcher
University of Canterbury — Political Science
John Hannah
Independent
John Hearnshaw
University of Canterbury — Physics and Astronomy
Rosie Ibbotson
University of Canterbury — Art History
visual and material cultures; representation; environment; long nineteenth century
Rosie’s current research concerns the intersections of visual representation and environmental change in the long nineteenth century, and she has recently published on the entanglements of visual and material culture and de-extinction. She is particularly interested in the limits and potential distortions of images and other forms of visual representation, and the implications of these within scientific discourses. Rosie also has a long-standing research interest in the transnational Arts and Crafts Movement.
Carolyn Mason
University of Canterbury — Philosophy
Euan Mason
University of Canterbury — Forestry
Clemency Montelle
University of Canterbury — Mathematics and Statistics
history of mathematics; history of mathematical astronomy in Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek
Annie Potts
University of Canterbury — English
Andy Pratt
University of Canterbury — Chemistry
Diane Proudfoot
University of Canterbury — Humanities and Creative Arts
Tanya Robinson
Ashburton District Council
Michael-John Turp
University of Canterbury — Philosophy
philosophy of nature; early modern; classical Greek; Hellenistic
Our changing understanding of nature affects both our sense of self and our conception of what it is to lead good human lives. Alongside an ongoing fascination with this topic, I have research interests in the history of emotions and Early Modern animal studies.
Heather Wolffram
University of Canterbury — History
forensic medicine and science; psychology; psychiatry; spiritualism; occultism; psychical research; parapsychology
Manawatu
Matthew Henry
Massey University — People, Environment and Planning
Mike Roche
Massey University — People, Environment and Planning
geographical sciences; colonial/imperial forestry; agriculture; New Zealand
I have longstanding interests in forestry, currently focussing on the spread of forestry practices through the British Empire as well as the meat industry in NZ and on the establishment of geography as a university discipline in NZ.
James Watson
Massey University — School of Humanities
Otago
Tony Ballantyne
University of Otago — History
Barbara Brookes
University of Otago — History
Tom Brooking
University of Otago — History
Rosi Crane
Otago Museum
zoology; evolution; museums; nineteenth century
1. The origins of Otago Museum the curators (FW Hutton FRS (1836-1905), TJ Parker FRS (1850-1897) and WB Benham FRS (1860-195)) and the early collections they assembled
2. The Parker family (William Kitchen Parker FRS (1823-1890), TJ Parker, William Newton Parker (1854-1925)) and their relationships with the Royal Society of London, TH Huxley FRS (1825-1895) and his circle.
3. Taxidermists and ornithologists who contributed to the Otago Museum, the major ones include Edwin Jennings (1835-1910), Dr Otto Finsch (1839-1915), Henry Ogg Forbes (1851-1932), William Smyth (1838-1913) and a whole host of other characters. 1. The origins of Otago Museum the curators (FW Hutton FRS (1836-1905), TJ Parker FRS (1850-1897) and WB Benham FRS (1860-195)) and the early collections they assembled 2. The Parker family (William Kitchen Parker FRS (1823-1890), TJ Parker, William Newton Parker (1854-1925)) and their relationships with the Royal Society of London, TH Huxley FRS (1825-1895) and his circle. 3. Taxidermists and ornithologists who contributed to the Otago Museum, the major ones include Edwin Jennings (1835-1910), Dr Otto Finsch (1839-1915), Henry Ogg Forbes (1851-1932), William Smyth (1838-1913) and a whole host of other characters.
Lea Doughty
University of Otago — Pharmacy
medicines; WWI; military pharmacy; emergency pharmacy; vaccination
am a current PhD candidate investigating the development of military pharmacy practice and profession, and the supply of medicines to the ANZAC forces during WWI. My research interests include the history of health commodities (medicines in particular) during times of adversity, locating pharmaceutical products within a wider context of emergency medicine. I am also interested in the intersections between the philosophies of the dedicated health professional (health and wellbeing), and the military structure and purpose (state-sanctioned violence), charting the change over time of the development of the profession. Vaccination, the antivaccination movement, and the right of refusal by captive populations are also part of my research area.
Sue Heydon
University of Otago — Pharmacy
Peter Holland
University of Otago — Geography
Donald Kerr
University of Otago — Special Collections
collecting; print culture; book history; history of libraries
Dr Donald Kerr is Special Collections Librarian at the University of Otago, Dunedin. In between writing books on the formation of private libraries, he curates exhibitions and organises the Printer in Residence Programme at the University of Otago. He is currently working on a book about twelve prominent New Zealand book collectors.
Jacqueline Leckie
University of Otago — Anthropology
Angela McCarthy
University of Otago — History
migration; mental health; migrants and health
Angela has published widely on migration, including ‘madness’ and migration in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is currently developing research on health issues for migrants.
Hugh Slotten
University of Otago — History
Hamish Spencer
University of Otago — Zoology
eugenics; evolution; genetics
My primary research interests are in evolution and population genetics, but I am also interested in the history of these subjects and how they have impacted society. I have worked for many years with the eugenic historian, Diane Paul. Together we have published on the history of eugenics as well as the laws and attitudes surrounding cousin marriage.
Paul Star
Independent, Dunedin
New Zealand environmental history
I am particulary interested in New Zealand environmental history during the period 1850-1920 - especially South Island attitudes to the indigenous environment and to exotic introductions, and early examples of conservation and of acclimatisation. More generally, I seek to compare evidence on these topics with a wider field of information relating to North Island, Australia and other overseas countries, and to a wider time frame (up to the present). Insofar as environmental transformation increasingly relied upon the application of western science and technology, and was increasingly understood through the lens of ecology, the history of science in New Zealand is an intrinsic component of my area of study.
John Stenhouse
University of Otago — History
Michael Stevens
University of Otago — History
Tim Stokes
University of Otago — Schl of Medicine
Darryl Tong
University of Otago — Dental School
Wellington
Catherine Abou-Nemeh
Victora University — History
James Beattie
Victoria University — Science in Society
Claire Bretherton
Carter Observatory
Alexander Brown
Network 4 Learning
Pauline Harris
Victoria University — Māori Studies
Ben Jaffares
Whitireia Polytechnic
Simon Nathan
GNS Science
history of geology; James Hector; Harold Wellman
In 2015 Rebecca Priestley and I convened a conference at VUW on the history of New Zealand science. A selection of 19th century papers from this conference has just been published in the latest issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, which is freely available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tnzr20/47/1?nav=tocList
Sascha Nolden
Alexander Turnbull Library
Germanic connections with New Zealand and the Pacific; Sir Julius von Haast (1822-1887); Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829-1884); Andreas Reischek (1845-1902)
I am interested in the history of science and related biographical research, especially based on archives, manuscripts and other unpublished source documents. My primary research interests are around the themes of the Germanic connections with New Zealand, especially the life and work of Sir Julius von Haast (1822-1887), Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829-1884), and Andreas Reischek (1845-1902). Scholarly and professional interests in writing, editing, translation (German-English), and archival arrangement and description.
Rebecca Priestley
Victoria University — Science in Society
New Zealand science history; Antarctic science history; nuclear histories; history of science communication
I have a broad interest in New Zealand and Antarctic science history, with a focus on the second half of the twentieth century. My interest in nuclear history spans the early use of radiation technologies in New Zealand to national responses to the Fukushima disaster in Japan. As a link with my science communication practice, I am also interested in the history of science communication in New Zealand.
Jonathan West
Office of Treaty Settlement
Waikato
Other places
Ross Galbreath
Independent
Rosalie Hosking
University of Yakkaichi
history of mathematics in Japan
Pamela Wood
Eastern Institute of Technology
nursing history, health history, dirt
My research focuses on the way nurses trained and worked in hospitals, and created new ways of nursing in the marginal settings of backblocks, slums and war. I am also particularly interested in the meaning of 'dirt' and how notions of dirt have shaped public health policy, medical and nursing practice, and the idea of a civilised society. My research also examines historical lay health beliefs and practices, captured especially in home nursing texts and domestic health guides, and the blurred lay-professional boundaries of knowledge and care for the sick.
Vaughan Wood
fertilizers; agricultural chemistry; economic botany; introduced grasses
I am an environmental historian, and I am the current editor of e-journal Environment and Nature in New Zealand (ENNZ). My main areas of research interest relative to the history of science are agricultural science in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and more particularly agricultural chemistry and economic botany. In 2014, Canterbury University Press published my history of the Akaroa cocksfoot grass seed industry. I am also interested in nineteenth century New Zealand cartography and resource exploration. Prior to starting my PhD in History, I completed a BSc(Hons) in Chemistry.
David Young
Independent
