SCIENCE CONGRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22620, 7 January 1937, Page 11

SCIENCE CONGRESS

IMPORTANT VISITORS SOME DISTINGUISHED MEN ARRIVAL NEXT MONDAY MANY FIELDS OF RESEARCH Many distinguished figures in the | Australian scientific world will take part in the biennial meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, which is to be held in Auckland from January 12 to 19, inclusive. More than 200 members will arrive from Sydney by the Awatca on Monday, in addition to those who are already in the | Dominion. The New Zealand roll stands at present at a little over 500, and it is expected that this number will be considerably exceeded before the meeting opens. The president of the association for I the past two years has been Sir Dougj las Mawson, professor of geology at ! the University of South Australia, but | better known to the general public as | a colleague of Sir Ernest Shackleton in i the Antarctic and the leader of two j subsequent expeditions from which j much valuable knowledge was obtained. Sir David Rivett, the president-elect, j was formerly professor of chemistry at ] Melbourne University. He is now : deputy-chairman and chief executive j officer of the Commonwealth Council ! for Scientific and Industrial Research. Former New Zealanders ! Mr. E. C. Andrews, one of the three j vice-presidents who is attending, is a ; former Government Geologist for New i South Wales and a leading authority I on Australian physiography. Dr. A. 13. j Walcom, of Sydney, the honorary 1 general secretary, is a member of the National Research Council and an authority on Australian fossil plants, j Among the 16 presidents of sections j are two former New Zealanders who ; have won distinction in the Commonwealth. Dr. J. A. Gilruth (veterinary science) was a veterinary officer under the New Zealand Government from 1893 to 1907 and latterly Chief Veterinarian, in which capacity he did much for the improvement of the Dominion's livestock. From 1912 to 1920 he was Administrator of the Northern Territory, and he is now chief of the Division of Animal Health under the Commonwealth Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Sir Stanton Hicks (physiology), who has been professor of human physiology at the University of Adelaide since 1926, w as born at Mosgiel and educated at the Otago Boys' High School and Otago University. He served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force as a non-commissioned officer, continued his studies at Cambridge, and was for a period on the staff of Otago University before going to Australia. Attending the meeting as a representative of the Australian Veterinary Association is Dr. H. 11. Seddon, Director of Veterinary Research under the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. Dr. Seddon was born at Tauranga and is an old boy of the Au<-k----land Grammar School. Presidents of Sections Presidents of sections include the following:—Mathematics, physics and astronomy: Professor J. P. Madsen, professor of electrical engineering, Sydney University, a leading authority on wireless. Chemistry: Professor A. K. Macbeth, professor of chemistry, University of South Australia. Geology: Dr. W. G. Woolnough, geological adviser to the Commonwealth Government. Zoology: Dr. G. A. Waterhouse, of Sydney, joint author of the standard work on Australian butterflies. History: Mr. K. R. Cramp, 0.8. E., inspector of secondary schools, Sydney, and honorary secretary of the Royal Australian Historical Society. Economics: Professor T. Hytten, University of Tasmania, economic adviser to the Bank of New South Wales. Anthropology: Mr. A. S. Kenyon, of Melbourne, a leading Aus tralian water engineer. Engineering; Mr. A. J. Gibson, of the engineering firm of Julius, Poole and Gibson, Sydney. Medical science: Dr. A. R. Southwood, chairman of the Central Board of Health, Sydney. Education: Professor A. Gunn, Melbourne University. Agriculture and forestry: Professor J A. Prescott, professor of agricultural chemistry at the University of South Australia and principal of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. Botany: Mr. E. Clieel, botanist and curator of the National Herbarium, . Botanical Gardens, Sydney. Pharma- . ceutical science: Dr. Byron L. Stanton,, jof Melbourne. Geography and ocean- ' ography: Dr. C. T. Madigan, lecturer m geology at the University of South j Australia, a member of Sir Douglaii I Mawson's first Antarctic expedition and I a leader of aerial and ground exploraI tion in Central Australia. Sydney Bridge Engineer Other scientists who are attending the meeting as representatives of various societies include:—Professor J. K. Murray, professor of agriculture. Uni- | versity of Queensland, and principal of : the Queensland Agricultural College; Professor O. U. Vonwoller, professor of physics at Sydney University; Professor E. W. Skeets, professor of geology and mineralogy at Melbourne University: Professor J. McLuckie, professor of botany at Sydney University:; Professor H. O. Richards, professor of geology and mineralogy at the University of Queensland; and Dr. W. E. L. Crowther, of Hobart, an authority on Australian anthropology. Among members who will contribute papers are: —Dr. J. J. C. Bradfield, chief engineer in the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Metropolitan railway and" the Brisbane River Bridge; Professor' A. P. Elkin, professor of anthropology at Sydney University and one of the principal authorities on the Australian aborieinies. Mr. T. Dunhabin, the well-known journalist and writer on travel and Australian history.