Australia in the forefront of science: Australian contributions to "Big Science"

自1788年以来，澳大利亚一直处于科学的前沿。包括女性在内的地球科学家提出了一些想法，她们的贡献远远超过了参与其中的人数。1957年至1970年期间，以大陆漂移为中心的思想发生了剧变。这促使澳大利亚进行了一项重大的研究工作，以促进后来成为国际地质对比计划（IGCP）的工作，该计划一直持续到今天。最近竞争优先驱动的研究趋势是否总是在国际期刊上产生令人难以置信的结果，甚至是好的科学，还是像IGCP这样的草根合作研究是开展科学和提高澳大利亚国际形象的方式？审查澳大利亚对IGCP的贡献将衡量科学和经济效益。

Since 1788 Australia has been at the cutting edge in science. Geoscientists, including women, have initiated ideas and their contributions far outweigh the number of people involved. One period 1957 to 1970 saw upheavals in thinking centred on continental drift. This prompted a major Australia research effort to promote what became the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP), which continues today. Does the recent trend for competetive priority-driven research always produce mind-boggling results in international journals or even good science or is grassroots-derived co-operative research like IGCP the way to conduct science and increase Australia's international profile? Examination of Australian contributions to IGCP will gauge scientific and economic benefits.