ROYAL SOCIETY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 117, 19 May 1936, Page 10

ROYAL SOCIETY.

THREE N.Z.-BORN FELLOWS. A COVETED HONOUR. (By Telegraph-"—Own Correspondent.) DUNEDIN, this day. Dr. A. C. Aitken, who was recently elected a fellow of the Royal Society, is a roil of the Rev. James Aitken, a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Now Zealand. Writing to the Press on the> subject of Dr. Aitken's election, Dr. W. B. Benham, F.R.S., curator of the Otago Museum, says the fellowship is awarded to members of the British Empire for research in any of the pure or applied sciences, but that research must have some quality of particular brilliance rather than mere quality. To illustrate the difficulty of obtaining this coveted honour it is enough to mention that of the 147 candidates this year only 17 were elected. "Dr. Aitken," he says, "is the third New Zealand-born fellow, the others being Dr. J. W. Mellor (1027) and Lord Rutherford (1003). Each of these three came from comparatively humble homes and, without any influence or financial advantages, worked his way by means of scholarships at each stage of his educa/ tional career. "The earliest*fellowship to be conferred on a resident in New Zealand was that awarded to the late Sir James Hector, a noted geologist and naturalist. It may not be without interest that in addition to those mentioned last week, namely. Professor Coleridge Farr (1028) 'and the late Dr. L. Cockayne (1012), who had the further distinction of receiving the Darwin Medal in 1028, may be added Dr. Tillyard (1925), some time director of the Cawthron Institute and now at Canberra. Considering the small number of scientific workers in the Dominion, this record is rather notable."