ASTRONOMICAL LECTURE.

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 105, 31 October 1934, Page 3

ASTRONOMICAL LECTURE.

The subject of the free lecture to be given in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall tomorrow night by Mr. A. C. Gifford, M.A., F.R.A.S., who has been appointed Donovan Lecturer, will be "The Grandeur and Immensity of the Universe." Mr. Gifford is probably the most fully informed astronomer in the Dominion, and from his knowledge knows how to select the most interesting facts which will appeal to a gathering o£ the public. The Donovan Trust was formed in 1923 in terms of a gift by Thomas Donovan, of Sydney. The trustees appointed to administer the gift are:—The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales; the president, Royal Society of New South Wales; the president, New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Society. The trust provides for various prizes for essays dealing with matters of astronomical research, and also awards one or more prizes annually for practical astronomical research as evidenced by the discovery of a comet, a new star, a new variable star, or any other celestial object. Prizes are limited to residents in Australia and New Zealand. The inclusion of _ New Zealand in the scope of the trust is considered a generous gesture, as the donor is not a New Zealander. The trust also provides for the appointment from time to time of a lecturer in astronomy, it being a condition of acceptance that the lecture must be delivered free, and the subject matter thereof approved by the trustees. The appointment of Mr. A. C. Gifford ps the Donovan Lecturer, for 1934 marks the first occasion on which this diVnction has been conferred on a Xew Zsalander.