The dividing line between science and technology is not readily drawn, and some reference should be made to the development of facilities for teaching and research in mining and engineering. The need for these was early apparent, particularly in mining, for university development in New Zealand coincided with the dramatic upsurge of gold mining in Central Otago and the emergence of problems of gold recovery from ores which remained after the wealth of the poor man's diggings had been skimmed. The first meeting of the Council of the University of Otago had before it a letter from James Macandrew, the provincial Superintendent, in which he referred to the great practical importance to the province of a school of mines and of agricultural chemistry, and to the general need to develop teaching in natural science. One of the four foundation chairs was that of natural science, and special competence was sought in chemistry and mineralogy and in the applications of these sciences to agriculture and mining. Black, the professor appointed, was an excellent choice, and from the time of his arrival he actively promoted a service to the miners, a furnace for assay work being built in the University in 1872. Between that time and 1876 negotiations were completed which led to the Colonial Parliament agreeing to the establishment of a formal School of Mines, located in the University of Otago. The first Director was Professor Ulrich, who, like Black, proved an admirable appointment.
For many years training was concentrated in the field of metal mining, and the majority of the graduates and holders of the Associateship (A.O.S.M.) found ultimate employment overseas. Government regulations required three years' underground experience for a Mining Certificate and five years' for a Coal-mining Certificate, and in the absence of any reduction in these (for graduates) unduly onerous requirements, there was no incentive for students to acquire the necessary prerequisites to employment in New Zealand. More recently, following recommendations by the Dean of the Mining Faculty in 1945, the activities of the school have been linked more closely to the requirements of New Zealand industry by the development of teaching in coal mining and in secondary metallurgy. With these and other parallel and related developments within the University of Otago, a major change in the status of the school has recently been made by the establishment of a Faculty of Technology incorporating the Otago School of Mines, the Otago School of Metallurgy, the Otago School of Surveying, and the Otago University Industrial Liaison Services. (Unfortunately, by a recent decision of the Council of the University of Otago, the Faculty of Technology has been abolished and the teaching of Metallurgy discontinued).
Not long after the School of Mines had been established, the Government requested Black to visit the various mining centres where he gave lectures to miners and others on scientific methods of ore extraction. These were very well supported, and it was decided to establish a series of local schools of mines (the “Larnach Mining Schools”) giving a restricted and somewhat elementary course adapted mainly to the training of mine managers, the investigation of ores sent in for examination, and the general dissemination of recent information about treatment methods. Schools were set up at Lawrence, Thames (with branches at Coromandel, Waihi, Karangahake, Te Aroha, and Waiorongomai), Collingwood, Westport, Waimangaroa, Lyell, Reefton, Charleston, Boatmans, Greymouth, Kumara, Ahaura, Stafford, Hokitika, Kaniere, Rimu, Ross, Waipori, Roxburgh, Bannockburn, Bendigo, St. Bathans, Naseby, Arrowtown, Skippers, Queenstown, Riverton, and Orepuki. Others were later opened on the coalfields at Huntly, Runanga, Kaitangata, and Ohai. As might be expected, these met with varying success and at the time of the sitting of the Mining Education Committee, set up by the Minister of Mines in 1952, only eight remained-Coromandel, Thames, Huntly, Westport, Reefton, Runanga, Kaitangata, and Ohai. Only Thames, and to a lesser extent Reefton, achieved anything more than a local reputation. In 1956 the Department of Education assumed responsibility for the technical education of those seeking Certificates of Competency under the Coal Miners' Act, and all but Reefton are now closed.
An attempt to establish a school of mines within the university system at Auckland was made in 1906, but proved short lived, the school having ceased to function by 1912.
The needs for university instruction in the various branches of engineering are met by the two Schools of Engineering at Auckland and Canterbury Universities. The Canterbury School is the older, its origins going back to the 1890s, when lectures on machine construction, mechanical engineering, and applied science were given at the School of Art. Special lecturing staff were appointed culminating in the establishment of a Chair of Engineering in 1894 first filled by R. J. Scott. Specialisation is possible in mechanical, electrical, civil, and chemical engineering. The establishment of the Auckland School with full recognition for degree purposes, was subject to long negotiation with the University of New Zealand. Its origins may be traced to the establishment of a small engineering department in the University, connected with the activities of the School of Mines. After many rebuffs Auckland was granted recognition for the first and second professional examinations in 1927 and finally for the full (mechanical) degree in 1945. Specialisation is possible in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.
As well as requiring graduates in engineering, the country has need for technicians and there is a long tradition of education in this field in the technical colleges. The importance of well-qualified technicians has become increasingly apparent, and within the last few years the Government has set up an important system of certification, covered by the Technicians' Certification Act of 1958 which established the Technicians' Certification Authority. Amongst its committees this body includes the Executive Committee for Engineering and Draughting, which has taken over the responsibilities of the earlier (1954) Controlling Authority for the New Zealand Certificates in Engineering. It is clear that this development will greatly influence the future of engineering (and science) and should fill an important need.
Within the framework of governmental activity the work of the Dominion Physical Laboratory is of prime importance. In addition, much invaluable developmental work has been done by those other State organisations such as the Post Office, Ministry of Works, Department of Civil Aviation, Broadcasting Corporation, Electricity Department, Marine Department, and Railways Department that make use of engineering skills and staffs.
Attention has already been drawn to the peculiarly important role of scientific societies in fostering the growth of science. With the emergence of the giant technological industries of the twentieth century, and the expenditure of large sums of money on State, industrial, and institutional research, science as a career has offered attractive prospects to many able minds. This, in its turn, has meant the emergence of societies whose primary interests are in the more professional aspects of science, though it has never, in fact, meant the segregation of such interests. Taking into account also the many new fields of endeavour which derive from the historical disciplines, the pattern that emerges, particularly in the great industrial countries, is a complex one. In New Zealand the relatively small number of scientists and technologists has resulted in the scientific societies tending to take an interest in a wide spectrum of scientific and professional matters.
The senior body is the Royal Society of New Zealand, successor to the earlier New Zealand Institute, as constituted by the Royal Society of New Zealand Act of 1933. It functions under a Council consisting of the Minister for Scientific and Industrial Research, four members appointed by the Governor-General in Council, eight members (two per body) appointed by the Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago member bodies, one member appointed by each of the other member bodies, the president, vice-presidents, and honorary treasurer if not otherwise members of the Council, and two members elected by the fellows of the Society. In addition the immediate past president continues as a member for one year, and provision is made for the appointment by the Council itself of any fit person. The present member bodies are the Auckland Institute, the Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, Rotorua, Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Southland, and Waikato branches, and the Geological Society of New Zealand. Provided with a continuing annual grant from the Government (£5,000), it has the responsibility of issuing the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand and in a variety of ways plays an important part in the conduct of scientific affairs in the country – its representatives serve, for example, on such bodies as the National Parks Authority, the Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum, the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, the Carter Observatory Board, the Medical Research Council, the National Historic Places Trust, the Ross Dependency Research Committee, and the Ross Sea Committee. It organises, triennially, the New Zealand Science Congress, and through its awards encourages research by tangible recognition. These awards which include the Hutton Memorial Medal, the Hector Memorial Medal and Prize, the Hamilton Memorial Prize, the T. K. Sidey Medal and Prize, and the Cooper Memorial Award, are complemented by various special grants to assist in the prosecution of research projects. Its library is also an important contribution to New Zealand's resources for study and research.
At the international level the Society accepts a number of major responsibilities, being member body for New Zealand in the International Council of Scientific Unions and the Pacific Science Association, a nominating body for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Kalinga Prize for science writing, the Walter Burfitt Medal for scientific or medical research, the Nuffield Commonwealth Bursaries Scheme, and the like. It is also a corresponding society to many senior learned societies.
Although numbering distinguished physical scientists amongst its fellows (who are elected on the basis of their scientific achievements), the Royal Society has always derived its chief support from those interested in the non-physical sciences. Amongst those societies whose concern is with the physical sciences the most important is the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, a body with a very large professional membership. It is the national successor to the smaller local societies, such as the Auckland Chemical Society (founded in 1925), which preceded its formation in 1930. Following the lead of this body Professor H. G. Denham of Canterbury University College prepared a scheme which resulted, under the chairmanship and subsequent presidency of Professor W. P. Evans, in the formation of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, registered in 1932 as an incorporated society. It consists of the fellows and associates (with a small group of local members) organised under its Council into six branches – Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago. The elected Council consists of the president, vice-president, honorary general secretary, and one delegate from each branch. Since 1936 it has published its own journal and conducts examinations as required. Like the Royal Society, it encourages scientific endeavour in a variety of ways including the making of local awards to undergraduates and national awards to professional chemists – the Chemical Essay Prize, the I.C.I. Prize, and the Morcom Green Edwards Prize.
The New Zealand Association of Scientists (formerly the Association of Scientific Workers) was established in 1941 with the general aims of promoting the interests of scientists and securing the widest possible application of science and scientific methods. It has a wide membership, with branches at Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury, and presents a research medal annually. It publishes the New Zealand Science Review and the invaluable Directory of New Zealand Science.
A number of smaller bodies cater for such special interests as bacteriology (the New Zealand Association of Bacteriologists), dairy science (the New Zealand Dairy Science Association), ecology (the New Zealand Ecological Society), electronics (the New Zealand Electronics Institute), entomology (the Entomological Society of New Zealand), genetics (the New Zealand Genetical Society), ornithology (the Ornithological Society of New Zealand), astronomy (the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand), soil science (the New Zealand Society of Soil Science), and statistics (the New Zealand Statistical Association). A full list of these bodies may be found in the above-mentioned directory. Mention should be made of the very large and active New Zealand Institution of Engineers, whose interests merge with those of the more purely scientific societies.
Not all scientific work in New Zealand is undertaken through the channels already described. There remain, in particular, certain privately endowed and otherwise financed institutions and activities. Chief amongst these is the Cawthron Institute, arising from a large bequest from Thomas Cawthron, of Nelson. Established in Nelson in 1920, its main effort has been devoted to solving problems in agriculture and horticulture of special significance to New Zealand. It now collaborates very closely with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
Other privately endowed, activities have stemmed largely from a desire on the part of the community that every effort should be made to prosecute medical research with full vigour, and several active research centres in the Otago Medical School (founded 1875) are at least partly financed by private or publicly subscribed funds. These include a cancer research laboratory, initially established through the assistance of the New Zealand Branch of the British Empire Cancer Campaign and strengthened through the Hugh Adams Cancer Research Fund of the Medical School and by the Medical Research Council. In 1940 the Travis research trustees established a laboratory for the study of the intermediate metabolism of the acid-fast bacteria associated with tuberculosis, and more recently various medical research foundations have been set up in different centres to foster medical research, such as the Auckland Medical Research Foundation (1956). The Auckland Division of the British Empire Cancer Campaign Society in addition supports a research laboratory in Auckland.
The State contribution to medical research is largely channelled through the Medical Research Council, initially a Department of Health departmental committee, but since 1950 an independent authority. It maintains research units in the Medical School and generally facilitates and encourages medical investigation.
Finally, mention may be made of the continuing contribution to science of the various museums, and of some of the quasi-amateur organisations, notably in astronomy, which carry out scientific investigations, and of the fructifying influence of private and corporate gifts, particularly to the universities, for the support of full-time research.
It is quite impossible to draw up a precise statement of national expenditure on science, partly because of the multitudinous sources of expenditure, partly because of the difficulty of defining those activities which are to be classified under this heading. Nevertheless, a reasonable picture may be obtained from the budgets of several of the major national organisations which undertake substantial responsibilities for scientific activity.
The latest consolidated information available is that provided in the tables, taken from the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the State Services in New Zealand (Appendix 7, p. 447, Government Printer, 1962), which set out in convenient form the estimated expenditure for 1961–62 by State Departments and other agencies. A more detailed analysis of expenditure on research may be found in Scientific Research in New Zealand—Expenditure and Manpower 1953–62 (Information Series No. 41, New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government Printer, 1964).
by Stanley Nelson Slater, M.SC.(N.Z.), D.PHIL.(OXON.), F.R.I.C., Professor and Head of Chemistry Department, and Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Victoria University of Wellington.