About the Author

I am a retired science writer with historical interests. `Beating the Odds in a Big Country (CSIRO Publishing 1996), a commissioned history of the campaign to eradicate brucellosis and tuberculosis from Australia's cattle, was my first book. Its encouraging reception - the Australian Veterinary Journal's reviewer wrote '...the manner of writing is such that I could not refrain from many bouts of laughter... I could not put it down - reading it from cover to cover with enjoyment...' - gave me confidence to write on.