Australasian Science
Australian science magazine
Australasian Science was a bimonthly science magazine published in Australia and was the longest-running scientific publication in the country, from 1938 to 2019. It contained a mixture of news items, feature articles, and expert commentary.
History
Australasian Science was Australia's longest-running scientific publication. It was first published in 1938 as The Australian Journal of Science by the Australian National Research Council, which was the forerunner of the Australian Academy of Science.
In 1954 the journal was transferred to ANZAAS – the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, and published as Search. Throughout this time the journal published the research of eminent Australian scientists, including Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, whose groundbreaking clonal selection theory was published in the journal in 1957.
The journal evolved considerably over the following decades, with ownership transferring from ANZAAS to Blackwell Science in the 1980s and finally to Control Publications in 1992.
In 1998 Search merged with Australasian Science Mag, a quarterly science magazine published by the University of Southern Queensland, and the merged entity was published as simply Australasian Science. Published by Control Publications and available in newsagents, it was the only magazine dedicated to Australian and New Zealand science.
Australasian Science's Patrons in this time were Nobel Laureate Prof Peter C. Doherty and ABC broadcaster Robyn Williams.
“Australasian Science” enters the record as australian science magazine. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Australasian, Science and Australian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Australasian Science” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Australasian, Science and Australian provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4823462. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1938, 2019, 1954 and 1957.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Australasian Science”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Australasian Science primary sources, Australasian Science archive and Australasian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Australasian Science”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Australasian Science” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.