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Otago Daily Times, Issue 26709, 2 March 1948, Page 6

TAMOUS THEORY RECALLED Contributed by J. C. Begg. Mr A C. Gifford, whose death is reported from Wellington, might be regarded as the doyen of New Zealand astronomers. Without m any way depreciating the able present-day or former workers on the observational or theoretical sides, Mr Gifford was probably the most outstanding of the astronomers who have spent thenlives in the Dominion. It is true that the late Professor A. W. Bickerton and Dr L. J. Comrie, the latter now on a visit to hi 9 native land, New Zealand, have made the Dominion well known in astronomical circles abroad, and Mr Gifford, himself a disciple of Bickerton, would not be likely to claim priority over his master, but by his sustained work he has probably interested more people in our land in astronomical matters. As a school science teacher, he made a point of including astronomy in its simple aspects, and by his pen, notably in * a series of articles contributed to “In Starry Skies,’’ he described the southern heavens with skill and lucidity. He was one of the founders of the New Zealand Astronomical Society, and was a constant contributor to its journal. His bent was mathematical rather than observational, but he delighted in appyling rigorous reasoning to astro-physical problems in the light of the best observational results. This led him to follow Bickerton with enthusiastic approyal in the famous theory of “ partial impact,” which explained the formation of the solar system, and generally, the regeneration of dead and dying stars by their grazing impact which would form a third body (our sun). This accounted also for “ novae ” or new stars which are seen suddenly to shine forth from time to time. In supporting this theory. Mr Gifford was not afraid to cross swords with some of the most famous mathematical astronomers of our day such as Sir James Jeans, whom he charged with gross and fundamental blunders. He was decidedly of the tradition of Galileo and Newton. He looked somewhat askance at the innovations of Einstein and finding confirmation in this attitude to the notable Indian physicist, Sir Shah Sulaiman, Mr Gifford, however, probably considered that his most important work was to confirm Bickerton’s theory, and without doubt he applied outstanding skill to that end.