Return to Booloominbah, 2005: Forty years from Wright and Mary White via Booth Block, Botany, Physics and the World

Abstract

Many things change in a space of forty or fifty years, and some do not change at all. Those elements that have changed prompt wistful nostalgia. Did deep tradition fall at Wright College with the passing of the great oak tree? Was fashion sense dashed forever by the spectacle of rural scientists collecting with beer mugs affixed to the neck? Or indeed, did table napkins emerge as necessity after the demise of formal gowns at dinner? Actually, there were much deeper changes afoot in the 1960s. Emancipation, promoted so elegantly by Eric Baume, struck a permanent blow when the University allowed female residence south of the mighty Dumaresq. Even doubters had to believe that attitudes were malleable! Yet, we still feel today the flood and ebb of inspiration and ignorance, of charity and malice, wash back and forth around the globe as it has for ages past. When we were young, we lived in a young society beset by old values. Ours was a white Australia, but it was nevertheless unclear what 'white' meant: was it orange or green? Staunchly English or somewhat European? Aligned with Britain or with the USA? Opportunity had a glass ceiling that was pervasive for females and daunting for men who lacked pedigree. For the other, the original Australians, the ceiling was heavy and sombre; altogether opaque. I arrived at Wright College with purpose in mind: to acquire skills and set forth toward a different destiny. Science was my chosen field, having tasted the stimulation of new horizons at the first Summer Science School for Physics held at Sydney University in 1962. The teachers at that school were individuals who, in time, had a major impact on the exploration and understanding of space. My career is notable for success in commercial technology - I hold 26 US patent cases and many foreign equivalents - but it rests primarily on a lasting interest of mine in the dynamics of cultural difference and human interaction.