Editing Georg von Neumayer (section)

===Australia===
[[File:Portrait von Neumayer.jpg|left|thumb|Portrait of Neumayer in 1865 by [[Cäsar Willich]] (1825-1886)]]
Neumayer was one of a number of influential German-speaking residents {{em-dash}} such as [[Ludwig Becker (explorer)|Ludwig Becker]], [[Hermann Beckler]], [[William Blandowski]], [[Amalie Dietrich]], [[Wilhelm Haacke]], [[Diedrich Henne]], [[Gerard Krefft]], [[Johann George Luehmann|Johann Luehmann]], [[Johann Menge]], [[Carl Muecke (editor)|Carl Mücke (a.k.a. Muecke)]], [[Ludwig Preiss]], [[Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker|Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker (a.k.a. Ruemker)]], [[Moritz Richard Schomburgk]], [[Richard Semon|Richard Wolfgang Semon]], [[Karl Theodor Staiger]], [[George Henry Frederick Ulrich|George Ulrich]], [[Eugene von Guerard|Eugene von Guérard]], [[Robert J. Lendlmayer von Lendenfeld|Robert von Lendenfeld]], [[Ferdinand von Mueller]], and [[Carl Wilhelmi]] {{em-dash}} who brought their "epistemic traditions" to Australia, and not only became "deeply entangled with the Australian colonial project", but also were "intricately involved in imagining, knowing and shaping colonial Australia" (Barrett, et al., 2018, p.2).<ref>In relation to "Australasia", another German-speaking explorer and geologist, [[Julius von Haast|Julius von Haast (1822-1887)]], was appointed as the inaugural Curator/Director of the [[Canterbury Museum, Christchurch|Canterbury Museum]], in [[Christchurch|Christchurch, New Zealand]] in 1867.</ref>

After trying his fortune on the goldfields, Neumayer gave lectures on navigation to seamen, and spent some time in [[Tasmania]] at the observatory in [[Hobart]]. He returned to [[German Confederation|Germany]] in 1854 convinced that Australia offered a great field for scientific exploration, obtained the support of the King of Bavaria and encouragement from leading British scientists. He sailed again for Australia and arrived in Melbourne in January 1857. He asked the government of Victoria to provide him with a site for an observatory, about £700 for a building, and about £600 a year for expenses. He had brought with him a collection of magnetical, nautical and meteorological instruments valued at £2000, which had been provided by the King of Bavaria.

Neumayer suggested as a suitable site a block of land not far from the present position of the observatory, but this was not granted. He was, however, allowed the use of the buildings of the signal station on Flagstaff Hill creating the [[Flagstaff Observatory for Geophysics, Magnetism and Nautical Science]] at what is now [[Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne|Flagstaff Gardens]] in [[Melbourne]], Australia. From 1 March 1858 he carried on the systematic registration of meteorological and nautical data. A few weeks later he added regular observations on atmospheric electricity and changes in the magnetic elements.

Between 1858 and 1863, he, and a team of assistants, extracted data from hundreds of ship logbooks that was then analysed to find the best route of maximum speed and safety for sailing ships travelling between Europe and Australia.<ref>[https://snr.org.uk/note-professor-neumayers-average-track-chart-australia/ Mark Howard, “Professor Neumayer’s average track chart to Australia,” ''The Mariner’s Mirror'', 79 (3) August 1993, pp.336-7.]</ref> To obtain the logbooks he placed advertisements in the Victorian ''Government Gazette'', and posted signs at the Melbourne Customs House, requesting the masters of arriving vessels to deposit their logbooks at his offices in the Flagstaff Observatory with a promise they would be returned within four days. More than 600 logs were examined and the information extracted was analysed and the conclusions published in the second half of a book published in 1864.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EuJQAAAAcAAJ&q=Neumayer+%22results+of+the+meteorological+observations%22 George Neumayer, (1864) ''Results of the meteorological observations taken in the colony of Victoria during the years 1859-1862; and the nautical observations collected and discussed at the Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne, during the years 1858-1862'', Victorian Government Printer, Melbourne, pp.259-392.]</ref> He was also involved in continuing studies begun earlier to drop bottles with messages to reconstruct currents based on recoveries.<ref>{{Citation |last=Struck |first=Wolfgang |title=Cultural Techniques |chapter=A Message in a Bottle |date=2020-08-24 |pages=61–72 |publisher=De Gruyter |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110647044-004 |isbn=978-3-11-064704-4|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Neumayer was elected a councillor of the [[Royal Society of Victoria]] in 1859, a vice-president in 1860 and a life member in 1864.<ref>{{Cite book |title= Australian Dictionary of Biography|author=R. A. Swan |chapter=Georg Balthasar von Neumayer (1826–1909) |location=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University |access-date=6 December 2020 |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/neumayer-georg-balthasar-von-4290}}</ref>