American Scientist

The flora and fauna of Australia and New Zealand, not to mention their geology and astronomy, are distinctly different from those we are familiar with in America, while at the same time retaining easily recognizable similarities. Eucalyptus trees are ubiquitous in seemingly endless varieties, as are tree ferns, with their cores of crosiers, and jacarandas, with their lavender flowers brightening the spring days of October. The animals are equally exotic, with plump emu, playful kangaroo, slothful koala, disagreeable wombat and impertinent ibis as common and intrusive as big-city pigeons. However, I was in the Southern Hemisphere not for the botanical gardens or the nature preserves but to attend the 1998 Australasian Structural Engineering Conference in Auckland and to lecture to various divisions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. What I experienced of engineering down under, like its flora and fauna, held both similarities and dissimilarities to American practice.