Australia's Nobel Laureates

State of Our Innovation Nation and Beyond

In 2004, our company produced the first and only ever major book on Australian Nobel Laureates. Our research showed that these great Australian heroes were relatively little understood or appreciated, with little attention accorded them in mainstream media. 

Though general awareness of the status and importance of Nobel prizes generally is high, far less than 1 per cent of our educated populace was aware that our country has not only won a significant number of Nobel Prizes, but that we have a very high per capita ratio of prizes. By this measure, we have indeed punched above our weight.

A FIRST EVER TRIBUTE, 2004 

This first volume, with a preface by then Prime Minister, the Hon. John Howard, proved to be a smash hit. It saw multiple printings. Appreciation of our Nobel Laureates climbed considerably and there were multiple instances of the mainstream media picking up the story which ran in different notable publications across the country. 

We published two different editions, one composed solely of the stories of our then nine Nobel Prize winners. Another edition, which contained significant additional content devoted to innovation in the second half of the book.

The next edition carried the subtitle “Adventures in Innovation” and contained focussed reportage on various company, organisation, government and scientific institute innovation displayed in a practical manner. This edition attracted a much wider audience and response.

Always interested in media research ourselves, we conducted a readership behaviour survey. Our findings showed the audience of the second, larger volume, with its spectrum of contemporary innovation stories, found the hybrid edition more useful, compelling or otherwise preferred it. 

WHO READS ABOUT SCIENCE? INNOVATION? 

Importantly, over 90 per cent of the updated edition’s readers read with pleasure and interest about our Nobel Laureates. Though 57 per cent indicated that the presence of innovation material comprised a primary reason for initially reading the volume. Nearly a third of these respondents indicated that it was “their first or a very rare instance of their reading anything about science”.

Fascinating, we thought. It’s true from our long experience that most businesspeople and their leaders do not read much about science; this is also true of many senior political leaders. 

From 2004 through 2011, Australia won an additional four Nobel Prizes, including our first in Physics (Prof Brian Schmidt, now Vice-Chancellor of ANU) and our first female Laureate, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her contributions to the field of molecular biology.

We were asked from many quarters to revise and update the book, which we published once more in 2012 with a major sub-theme of “Women in Science”. Again, this extensively revised volume (including all new content on innovation) was a great success. Then Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, wrote the preface and provided context as to the Nobel Prize and Australian history. 

Requests for a new revision have been coming in since 2015 and have risen since. These have come from both business and academic leadership, as well as government. 

Back in November 2018, we created a small editorial and innovation research team to evaluate stories as well as confirm interest in a third edition.

We surveyed business, government and academia and uncovered a very large appetite for a significantly revised and expanded edition with altogether new sections on aspects of innovation lead by another and appropriate tribute to our great achievers: our Australian Nobel Laureates.

Volume III of Australia’s Nobel Laureates, State of our Innovation Nation 2020 and Beyond is vastly wider and deeper than its predecessors. This is due, in significant part, to our growing expertise in whole book digital delivery—which will lead to an unprecedented audience size of over 500,000. 

Digital books provide a world of new communication possibilities via video inclusion, additional links, instantly downloadable PDFs and an array of other beneficial features. 

As a social enterprise, we are committed to serving the Australian public with a meaningful tribute and substantial new intelligence as to our innovation nation, its prospects, promises, needs and concerns.

We have enlivened this permanent "living" 3rd volume with many examples of current effective innovation at work today across a spectrum of companies, government departments and other organisations to create a definitive compendium of our manifold achievements. 

And as a committed social enterprise, we will be funding scholarships for the distinguished global Science Olympiad contestants, an area of high achievement by Australian students, which to date has received too little recognition.