Inaugural Arthur Bleksley Lecture

20 April 2012

Bruce and Debbie Elmegreen, Naledi Pandor, David Block Paying tribute to “Mr Science”, the first Arthur Bleksley Memorial Lecture was held at the University on Wits Astronomy Day on Thursday, the 19^th of April 2012.

Former students, colleagues and family of Bleksley, as well as Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor, attended the lecture presented by Prof. Debbie Elmegreen, President of the American Astronomical Association.

Bleksley (1908 – 1984) served as president of the Astronomical Society of South Africa from 1949 –50 and in 1953 became the Chair of Applied Mathematics and head of the Department of Applied Mathematics at Wits, positions he held for 15 years. He was also the first director of the Johannesburg Planetarium when it opened in 1960.

Prof. David Block from the Wits School of Computational and Applied Mathematics delivered a moving tribute to the “great man of science” in a lecture entitled Smashing the moulds of tradition: lessons from the genius of Wits Applied Mathematician, Arthur Bleksley.

Bleksley was well-known for his contribution to communicate perceived difficult science questions to the general public through radio broadcasting. During the 1950s he also campaigned for the rights of women and young girls to have access to higher education, especially in the sciences.

Elmegreen, who has been visiting Wits this week, exited the audience with new discoveries in the search for earth-like planets. Her lecture, entitled New Worlds: In search of other Earths, and focussed on exoplanets (planets outside of our solar system), and whether they have water on their surfaces and atmospheres which could sustain life.

To listen to the evening’s lectures, click here.