Unity Books Wellington, Simon Nathan and the
Geoscience Society of New Zealand warmly invites you to the launch of
Geoscience Society of New Zealand warmly invites you to the launch of
JAMES HECTOR
Explorer, Scientist, Leader
Explorer, Scientist, Leader
By Simon Nathan
Published by Potton & Burton
Thursday 17th September 6pm
Unity Books Wellington
57 Willis Street
James Hector was the dominant personality in
the small nineteenth-century scientific community in New Zealand. As the first
scientist employed by the government, he was the founder of the Geological
Survey (now GNS Science), Colonial Museum (now Te Papa), New
Zealand Institute (now Royal Society of New Zealand) and the Colonial
Botanic Garden (now Wellington Botanic Garden), as well as being a
trusted government advisor.
Whenever a tricky technical problem arose, the
first question was often, ‘What does Dr Hector think?’ Among his many
achievements, Hector was the first to recognise and describe Hector’s dolphin,
to introduce and spread seeds of radiata pine and macrocarpa around New
Zealand, and to standardise New Zealand time. He set up a national
earthquake-recording system, the forerunner of today’s GeoNet, and was one of
the first observers to report on the disastrous 1886 Tarawera eruption.
James Hector: Explorer, Scientist, Leader describes the life and work of this multi-talented man and the
organisations he founded. It is aimed at the general reader with an interest in
New Zealand’s history and natural environment, and is generously illustrated.
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