The Great Barrier Reef

After graduating from the University of Sydney and completing a PhD at the University of Illinois, James Bowen pursued an academic career in the United States, Canada and Australia, publishing extensively in the history of ideas and environmental thought. As visiting Professorial Fellow at the Australian National University from 1984 to 1989, he became absorbed in the complex history of the Reef, exploring this over the next decade through intensive archival, field and underwater research in collaboration with Dr Margarita Bowen, ecologist and distinguished historian of science. The outcome of those stimulating years is this absorbing saga.

Part I. Navigators and Naturalists in the Age of Sail: 1. Quest for the great south land; 2. Voyage of the 'Endeavour': Cook and the Labyrinth; 3. Endeavour naturalists: 'a separate creation'; 4. Matthew Flinders: voyage of The Investigator; 5. The reef explored: early surveys 1821–1844; 6. Reef charts completed 1846–1862; 7. The reef as a maritime highway: colony of Queensland 1859–1900; 8. From natural history to science, 1850–1900: voyages of the Challenger and Chevert; 9. Exploitation and resource raiding 1860–1890; 10. For maximum yield: reef biology; Part II. A New Era in Reef Awareness from Scientific Investigation to Conservation and Heritage: 11. Origin and structure of coral reefs: from Forster to Darwin; 12. Darwin's legacy: coral reef controversy 1863–1923; 13. Exploitation challenged rise of ecology: the subversive science; 14. Reef research and controversy 1920–1930; 15. The Low Isles expedition 1928–1929: Planning and preparation; 16. Biological research of the Low Isles expedition; 17. From depression to war: tourism, conservation and science 1929–1939; 18. The Pacific War and its aftermath; 19. A new problem: the conservation controversy 1958–1972; 20. Crisis resolution: formation of an environmental management authority; 21. A new era: research-based management; 22. The reef under pressure: problems of management; 23. The reef as heritage: a challenge for the future.