Opening Remarks
By Dr John O'Hagan, President, at the Inaugural Launch
of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences
Good evening!
Your Excellency, Major-General Peter Arnison AO and Mrs Barbara Arnison,
Emeritus Prof Ralph Doherty AO, Professor Peter Doherty AC FRS FAA Nobel
Laureate, and other distinguished guests.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you here tonight to the Inaugural
Launch of the Queensland Academy. There is historical precedence for giving
a special welcome to His Excellency.
Although there must have been innumerable instances when wise men congregated
for discussion of their arts and sciences during the 40,000 years prior
to European settlement in this country, the first recorded establishment
of a multidisciplinary cultural organisation in Australia was when an early
Colonial Governor, General Sir Thomas Brisbane FRS, presided over the first
meeting of the Philosophical Society of Australia in Sydney in 1821.
Other members of the society were a medical practitioner, a Supreme Court
Judge, the Colonial Secretary, the Colonial Surgeon, two sea Captains,
the Surveyor-General, an astronomer and two other gentlemen. They lent
each other books; scholarly papers were read, discussed and published.
In 1859, another Colonial Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, an Oxford
graduate and lawyer, presided over the first such cultural organisation
in this State - the Philosophical Society of Queensland. Among the topics
of interest recorded by this society were such diverse matters of practical
importance as the prevention and cure of disease, engineering problems
of drainage, and the practice of agriculture.
On this historic occasion it is fitting therefore that our current Governor
should be present and so we welcome you, Sir. To contribute to our proceedings
we would be grateful if Your Excellency would unveil our logo. Thank you
very much, Your Excellency.
Eminent Queensland artist John Rigby designed this beautiful logo. Dr
Peter Cook of the Queensland multimedia company QANTM digitalised it.
I hope you enjoyed its presentation.
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We interpret the logo thus -
1. The intersecting blue curved shapes reflect the mutual interaction between
disciplines while the converging red lines represent the focusing of minds
on a specific topic.
2. On the other hand, many thoughts can be thrown around seeking a solution to
a problem. When one is found there is what the novelist J B Priestley described
as "the sunburst of the Idea."
3. The now diverging lines and radiating circles depict the dissemination of
new knowledge resulting from "Thinking Together - Acting Together".
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The 19th and 20th Centuries saw a great expanse in the creation of specialist
societies, each embarking on its own agenda, often to the exclusion of
other considerations. Without question specialists have been outstandingly
successful in expanding knowledge beyond the dreams of their predecessors.
However, related aspects outside their fields of expertise have not always
been considered, to the detriment of their work and to the interests
of the community. This has often led to unnecessary impairment of true
progress.
Furthermore, many of the most outstanding discoveries have been made
at the interface between specialist disciplines and the discoveries of
our guest speaker tonight reflect this.
The most outstanding biological discovery of the 19th Century was that
of Charles Darwin. He starts his introduction to "The Origin Of
Species" with "When on board H.M.S. 'Beagle' as naturalist,
I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the organic
beings inhabiting South America, and in the geological relations of the
present to the past inhabitants of that continent." In other words
he was able to look across the interface of biology and geology to construct
his new theory of evolution.
Likewise, the greatest achievement in biology in the 20th Century was
the unravelling of the structure of DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid. This
work was performed not by classical biologists but by physicists, Francis
Crick, Maurice Wilkins and James Watson, aided by a theoretical chemist,
John Griffith. Knowledge of the structure of DNA has taken Darwin's discovery
a great leap forward since it allows a whole new approach to understanding
the mystery of life and its origins. It also gives us great hope for
the successful attack on many hereditary and other diseases hitherto
inadequately treated by current methods.
A convergence of disciplines can obviously allow great strides to be
taken in opening up new knowledge. That is what a multidisciplinary academy
is all about. It can bring together specialists in many fields for the
benefit of all. It can help solve practical problems that individual
minds may find daunting. It can stimulate discussion on complex issues.
It can inspire young persons to follow those who have already made outstanding
contributions to humanity.
But now to our Queensland Academy's launch. This event has had a long
gestation period. Our Council believe Queensland is now ready for it,
so I will invite one of the distinguished Dohertys, Emeritus Professor
Ralph Doherty AO, former Director of the Queensland Institute of Medical
Research, to introduce his younger cousin, our other distinguished guest,
Professor Peter Doherty, to address us and launch the Academy.
John O'Hagan
5 September 2000
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