JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY O F | NEW SOUTH WALES Volume 135 Parts 1 and 2 (Nos 403-404) 2002 ISSN 0035-9173 PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY PO BOX 1525, MACQUARIE CENTRE, NSW 2113 Issued July 2002 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES OFFICE BEARERS FOR 2002-2003 Patrons His Excellency the Right Reverend Dr Peter Hollingworth AC, OBE, Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia. Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, AC, Governor of New South Wales. President Mr D.A. Craddock, BSc (Eng) NSW, Grad.Cert. Management UWS. Vice Presidents Prof. P.A. Williams, BA (Hons), PhD Macq. Dr W.E. Smith, MSc Syd, MSc Ozon, PhD NSW, MInstP, MAIP. Mr C.F. Wilmot Hon. Secretary (Gen.) vacant (acting Hon. Sec. Prof. P.A. Williams) Hon. Secretary (Ed.) Mrs M. Krysko von Tryst, BSc, Grad.Dip.Min.Tech NSW, MAusIMM. Hon. Treasurer Prof. R.A. Creelman, BA, MSc, PhD Hon. Librarian Dr E.V. Lassak, MSc, PhD NSW, ASTC, FRACI Councillors Mr J.R. Hardie, BSc Syd, FGS, MACE. Prof. J. Kelly, BSc Syd, PhD Reading, DSc NSW Ms K. F. Kelly, BA (Hons) Syd Mr M.F. Wilmot, BSc Prof. M.A. Wilson, PhD, DSc Auck, FRACI, C.Chem. Southern Highlands Rep. Mr C.M. Wilmot The Society originated in the year 1821 as the Philosophical Society of Australasia. Its main function is the promotion of Science by: publishing results of scientific investigations in its Journal and Proceedings; conducting monthly meetings; organising summer science schools for senior secondary school students; awarding prizes and medals; and by liason with other scientific societies. Special meetings are held for: the Pollock Memorial Lecture in Physics and Mathematics, the Liversidge Research Lecture in Chemistry, the Clarke Memorial Lecture in Geology, Zoology and Botany, and the Poggendorf Lecture in Agricultural Science. Membership, as an Ordinary, Associate or Absentee Member, is open to any person whose application is acceptable to the Society. 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This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale. Responsibility for interpretations, opinions, reproductions and data published on behalf of authors rests with the relevant authors, not with the Royal Society of New South Wales. Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 1-15, ISSN 0035-9173/02/01001-15 $4.00/1 Antipodean Aeronautica DAVID A. CRADDOCK Abstract: December 17, 2003 will mark precisely one hundred years since the first pow- ered, controlled, sustained, heavier-than-air, human flight. A few months ago, on September 11, 2001, air travel was suddenly stopped throughout the USA. Although only a temporary grounding, the effects have been far reaching. Aviation has figured very prominently in so many aspects of life during the past century and is an appropriate subject for review. The scope of this address covers some of the aeronautical ventures in Australia during the nine- teenth century. The events discussed include both the elation due to success and the all too often desolation of failure, with an emphasis on Australia and its position in relation to Eu- rope. As the subject matter for this address has been extracted from research notes for an article proposed for 2003, the period covered will extend only to the end of 1903. For almost this entire period, aviation was really for the birds; for much of the populace, it was a joke. Several of the events I will describe exemplify the public’s perception of human flight in the 1800s and beyond. Keywords: aeronautics, Australian, Hargrave INTRODUCTION: THE This globe, by a flying man (Restif 1781). ANTIPODES Australia — the Great South Land — the last continent to be discovered by Europeans. That place on the Globe most directly opposite Eu- rope. Antipodes is defined as “those who dwell directly opposite to each other on the globe, so that the soles of their feet are, as it were, planted against each other” (Simpson and Weiner, 1989). Is Australia so different to Eu- rope? Australia has often been perceived as the antipodes, in more ways than just the obvious, opposite side of the world. At least a couple of European novelists certainly wrote so. Robert Paltock wrote about The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins — a Cornish man: relating particularly his shipwreck near the South Pole (Paltock 1751). During his ordeal of thirty years, Wilkins met and married a Gawrey — one of the flying people who inhabited the An- tipodes. This tale was published in 1751 in Eng- land, and has been subsequently republished in Australia in 1979. Not to be outdone by an Englishman, Nico- las Edmé Restif de la Bretonne wrote La Découverte Australe, par un homme-volant, lit- erally, the discovery of the southern part of the too was an adventure novel, set in the An- tipodes, the southern land, Australia. Restif sent the hero flying to the other side of the world, where he came upon even more flying people. Their wings were not dissimilar to the Glumms and Gawren of Peter Wilkins, except they also had a parasol arrangement above their heads. Apparently this was another wing, and not a parachute or sunshade! Restif’s novel was published in 1781, and he could very well have been influenced by the French translation of “Peter Wilkins”. Weird creatures did await the Europeans, although most were found to jump, rather than fly. Aeronautics is defined as “matters or facts pertaining to aerial navigation” , or more simply, sailing the atmosphere (Simpson and Weiner 1989). In 1783 the Montgolfier brothers con- structed a hot air balloon in which Francois Pilatre de Rozier made several tethered flights. On November 21 of that year he was accompa- nied by Francois Laurent, Marquis d’Arlandes on what was the first human voyage through the air. They floated across Paris in a flight, which lasted 25 minutes (Mackworth-Praed 1990). It had at first been suggested that convicts should be used as the first human cargo, but de Rozier 2 CRADDOCK protested, believing free citizens would be more appropriate as the first aeronauts. Just five years later Captain Arthur Phillip landed at “Sydney Cove with the First Fleet. European events then began to dominate Australia. Over- crowded gaols, famines and political unrest in Britain led to the creation of the colony of New South Wales. The most visible aspect of the colony was the transposition of British convicts. Often cast into hulks on English waterways, and set to work each day, the colonial scene must have ap- peared antipodean — or virtually so. Although still required to work for His Majesty when ar- riving in the Colony, the opportunity of a Ticket of Leave, a Pardon and sometimes a grant of land provided many British “poor” with a com- pletely new, if not voluntary start. The sixth governor of New South Wales, His Excellency Major-General (later General) Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane Bt., K.C.B, K.C.H., had a keen interest in science and brought out two astronomers in 1821 to begin the local quest for scientific knowledge (Pike 1968). Twenty-two years later news arrived from England of experiments in artificial flight. Natural flight was described as the emulation of animal flight, whereas artificial flight was what we would now consider the norm, aircraft with wings fixed in position. The news from England led to local correspondents describing their var- ious ideas on aerial navigation. Another decade and a half passed before the Australian colonials saw their first examples of aerial navigation, in 1858. So, what could possibly be antipodean about aeronautics? THE REALITY OF ANTIPODEAN FLIGHT French and English rivalry did not stop with the founding of the colony of New South Wales. A French aeronaut advertised his intentions to make a balloon flight in Victoria in 1853, but nothing more appears to have been done (Argus 1853). The first successful navigation of Aus- tralian skies occurred on February 1, 1858, over the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. An airship, or balloon, named the Australasian, piloted by an Englishman, William Dean, ascended from Cremorne Gardens (Argus 1858a). Later that same year, on December 13, Dean was accom- panied by C.H. Brown as they made the first balloon flight over Sydney (Argus 1858b; Syd- ney Morning Herald 1858). It must therefore appear strange indeed that an 1856 headstone in St Stephen’s Cemetery, Newtown, should be adorned with the carving of a balloon. The headstone marks the grave of an eleven-year- old boy, Thomas Downes. He was the first Aus- tralian to die as a result of an aviation mishap, almost fourteen months before any free flight was accomplished in Australia. The inscrip- tion declares the last resting place of Thomas Downes, “who was accidentally killed in the Do- main at the ascent of a balloon”. A French- man, Pierre Maigre advertised his reputation as a balloonist, apparently gained before coming to Sydney. Upon his arrival, he had a balloon con- structed locally and was keen to demonstrate his skills as an aeronaut. The method employed for filling balloons in the nineteenth century was to raise the empty balloon by a cord attached to its apex, as shown in figure 1. That cord was attached to another cord, which was strung between two poles. The two wooden poles stood somewhere between twelve metres and twenty-one metres high, de- pending upon the particular newspaper reports. The poles were secured in place by several guy ropes. In Maigre’s case, a fire of straw and wine spirits was lit in an iron furnace beneath the open lower part of the balloon such that the re- sulting hot air filled the limp envelope. On December 15, 1856, Maigre intended to make his hot air balloon ascent from the Sydney Domain. This would have been the first ascent in the Colony. The event had been well publi- cised and a crowd of five thousand rose to twelve thousand by late afternoon. Once the balloon was inflated, Maigre positioned himself on the framework beneath, but the balloon failed to rise more than a few feet. The rope attached to ANTIPODEAN AERONAUTICA 3 the top of the envelope was still secured, tangled in fact. Unfortunately the time taken to release the rope also permitted the air inside the bal- loon to cool. No flight ensued and the crowd be- came unruly. Members of the public had paid to watch, and depending on their proximity to the balloon, the prices ranged from five shillings to one shilling. Maigre escaped, although his hat was destroyed (Sydney Morning Herald 1856a). The crowd burned the balloon, the large poles, seats and anything else they could find. Two — young boys were injured when one of the poles came crashing down. One of those, eleven years old Thomas Downes, suffered a fatal fracture of his skull. Accusations were brought against sev- eral sailors, who had been in the crowd, but the inquest found that the would-be aeronaut, Mai- gre should be chastised. He had offered a bal- loon flight for the entertainment of the public, but failed to deliver (Sydney Morning Herald 1856b). Figure 1: Author’s sketch of balloon being in- flated. INSURER’S NIGHTMARE The Australasian balloon was purchased by Messrs Green and Brown towards the end of 1858, from George Coppin. Coppin was the Manager of Melbourne’s Theatre Royal and had imported the balloon from England. The bal- loon’s envelope was twelve metres in diameter, constructed with varnished fabric and had a ca- pacity of 878000 litres of gas. In Sydney, on Monday April 18, 1859 it ascended from an open space down from the General Post Office (GPO), behind the premises of Abraham Po- lack, between George and Pitt Streets. This balloon was inflated with coal gas, not hot air. The gas was provided by the Australian Gas Light Company (Sydney Morning Herald 1859a; Argus 1859). The aeronauts were William Green and AlI- fred William Wardell, both visitors from Eng- land. Green was a nephew of Charles Green, one of the famous aeronauts of the nineteenth century. A number of pilot balloons were re- leased during the afternoon. They remained visible for quite a while and kept the crowd in- terested, as well as showing the aeronauts their likely aerial path. The balloon and its passen- gers began to ascend at 5 minutes past 5 o’clock in the afternoon and at first travelled westward. The balloon then drifted towards the east, but began to descend rapidly and landed in the yard of the Woolpack Inn. John Boyd’s Woolpack Inn was situated on the eastern side of George Street, next to Campbell Street, in the Haymar- ket (Sands 1859). Green had been cautious about their move- ment eastward, and tried to land in a pad- dock near Haymarket. That attempt was un- successful, but they had lowered the safety line, which was caught by four helpers in the Wool- pack yard. The aeronauts considered that yard unsuitable for emptying the balloon of its gas and called to their earthbound assistants to let the line go. All their pleading was to no avail. Green still wanted to go up again and land in the paddock he had earlier selected, and per- 4 CRADDOCK suaded Wardell to disembark. However, the bal- loon was now quite definitely on the ground and not going anywhere else. Wardell then began the process of deflating the balloon. As Wardell began to open the valve to re- lease the gas, he was overcome by the fumes, which had escaped through a 1.2 metre long rent in the balloon’s envelope. He was carried, half fainting to an adjoining shed. The crowds gathered around the balloon and into the yard through a narrow gateway. They also sat on the roofs of the sheds surrounding the yard. Large amounts of gas from the tear and the open valve soon filled the air. Things then suddenly took a turn for the worse. A spectator sitting on the roof of one of the sheds along George Street side of the yard, struck a match, or lucifer, and threw it into the yard below. Whether he intended mischief, or was just mindlessly amusing himself had not been determined. The resulting series of explo- sions caused numerous burns and other injuries as the frenzied crowd tried to escape. One wit- ness described the flames as “flying fiery ser- pent”s (Sydney Morning Herald, 1859a). Some escaped into Durand’s Alley (which no longer exists), while others scrambled over the stables into George Street. The police and firemen were in attendance and had done an amazing job of maintaining a semblance of order. After the ex- plosion that task of keeping order was virtually impossible. Those sitting on the roofs of the sheds were first to be burnt, although none of the re- ports identified the culprit as being one of those so injured. Several small children were tram- pled under foot and five or six were taken to the nearby medical doctor. Although about a dozen people were injured to varying degrees, amazingly none of their wounds were mortal. William Green had invested heavily in this bal- loon, which had been secured in the middle of the yard by a few courageous men. The flames were all around and eventually the carriage of the balloon caught alight. Then they realized they could not save the balloon, even though the envelope had been purposely cut open to expe- dite the release of the gas. The balloon quickly disappeared in an enormous final explosion. With all of the damage and injuries from the explosions, it would have been appropriate to set up a collection of some description. Such a benefit was offered by the management of the Prince of Wales Theatre, where Green had been expected to make an address about the balloon ascent. Other important people in Sydney dis- cussed the possibilities of raising a subscription. The Australian Gas Light Company agreed to remit the costs associated with filling the bal- loon. The twist in this story was that the bene- fits were all directed towards Green and Brown, who had lost their balloon! A pity about the poor burnt wretches and those injured in the rush to escape the explosions. Green wrote a letter to the newspaper, of- fering thanks to the citizens of Sydney for their great kindness before and after the ascension. He was, however, rather critical of the great number of people who viewed the proceedings from free vantage points around the GPO. For “a small fee others watched the ascension, while residents of wealth and position mingled with those unpaying poor”! (Sydney Morning Her- ald 1859b). A GOOD IDEA One of the earlier, local residents who became interested in aeronautics was William Bland. He had been asked by Francis Forbes to in- vestigate the possible theft of an airship de- sign. Forbes had written several letters to Syd- ney newspapers in 1843 about his proposed air- ship (Sydney Morning Herald 1843). He made a model, but failed to take it any further, before discovering someone in England had proposed a similar airship. Forbes had disclosed his ideas to friends, but still thought he had the exclu- sive rights to the use of those ideas. Bland was a friend and Forbes asked him to look into the matter during a visit to England. The author is not aware of the results of Bland’s enquiries. He did, however, bring his own aeronautical de- sign to public notice, following the germination ANTIPODEAN AERONAUTICA 4) of the idea in March, 1851. Drawings were cre- ated and dispatched to a professional engineer friend in England one month later. In 1852 he exhibited a model of his Atmotic Ship at the Crystal Palace in London. It was displayed at the Paris Universal Exhibition, in 1855. This craft was to be a large semi-rigid airship, in- flated with hydrogen. It was to be powered by a steam engine, driving four bladed propellers at each end of the airship. Bland referred to these propellers as “windsails” and described them by their direction of action as “propellents” and “repellents” (The Empire 1860). We now use the terms “pusher” and “tractor”. “Tractor” is the configuration of most modern light aircraft, with the propeller in front. HARGRAVE “Theft of ideas” was a concept that later con- cerned Lawrence Hargrave, and this subject will be discussed a little later. His is a name that looms large in Australia’s aeronautical history. Hargrave’s interests were much wider than just aeronautics, but this Address shall only touch upon some of his aeronautical work. Hargrave’s very first recorded interest in aeronautics was a sketch of an airship, which was drawn about 1872. The second idea for a flying machine was produced soon thereafter, but it was not until 1884 that he presented his first paper before the Royal Society of New South Wales (Hargrave 1884a). Hargrave proposed a theory of natural flight. Observations of worms, fish and birds provided the basis for what he called the trochoided plane theory. His first attempt at constructing a fly- ing machine along the lines of his trochoided plane theory, was successful in 1884. The ma- chine featured a large, flat flight surface, with slight dihedral and a smaller, diamond shaped wing in front, as depicted in figure 2. Between those two wings, Hargrave positioned a couple of flappers, which provided the forward thrust (Hargrave 1884a). In a 1909 issue of the London Illustrated News, two photographs appeared of the lat- est French experiments on aerial torpedoes. The close up photograph of the aerial torpedo showed it to be almost an exact replica of Har- grave’s 1884 model! This was intended to be launched at enemy balloons, and included a blade in place of the Hargrave foreplane (dia- mond shaped wing), which would tear the bal- loon and send it crashing down (London Illus- trated News 1909). Figure 2: Plan view of Hargrave’s 1884 flapping machine (Hargrave, 1884b, reproduced courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney). Hargrave never really let go of this tro- choided theory and it stopped his progression in aerodynamics to some extent. Figure 3 depicts Hargrave’s 1884 model of a spring powered, me- chanical worm. However, it should now be of in- terest to know that animal locomotion is again being researched. One of those new areas of re- search involves the creation of a synthetic Lam- prey, or eel-like animal. During the 1990s this “creature” was being developed by Joseph Ay- ers, at the Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Boston, USA (Adams 1998). Pro- teus the Penguin Boat has been developed in America at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology (MIT) to demonstrate fish type propul- sion. Rather than the now familiar propeller, this vessel was propelled through the water by the action of two foils. The foils were positioned at the stern (rear) of the boat, not unlike twin 6 CRADDOCK rudders. They were capable of side-to-side flap- ping as well as twisting motions, which were synchronized through computer control to ob- tain the best propulsion. Professor Michael Tri- antafyllou and James Czarnowski originally de- veloped Robo Tuna in the early 1990s during their study of fish propulsion. 1995; Baker 1997). (Triantafyllou Figure 3: Spring powered, mechanical worm (Hargrave 1884b, reproduced courtesy of the Power- house Museum, Sydney). More recent work at MIT has included ex- periments with robotic fish, powered by real muscles. Microprocessor controlled electric sig- nals to frog muscles positioned along each side of the artificial fish were alternately contracted and then relaxed. The resultant side-to-side flapping motion of the fish tail provided forward thrust. One of the benefits is virtually silent, ef- ficient propulsion. (Samuel 2001). Another area of investigation involves shape memory alloys in place of muscles. Work is pro- gressing at Texas A & M University, but accu- rate comparison against propeller-driven vehi- cles will apparently have to wait for 2003. Such comparison between the two methods of propul- sion are too complex, until an untethered ver- sion of the fish-mimicking propulsor can be con- structed (Graham-Rowe 2001). Hargrave’s first successes were achieved with model aircraft, driven variously by propellers and flapping wings. By 1887 he had designed a man-powered ornithopter. He conducted a se- ries of tests to determine the lift and drag on a flat surface, moving through the air at different speeds and angles of incidence. The equipment he used for these tests was called a whirling arm. It would have looked something like a modern rotary clothesline, but with only one or two out- stretched arms. At the end of one of those arms he placed a flat plate, measuring 0.3m by 0.3m. An arrangement of rope, pulleys and lead weights turned the arms at various, adjustable speeds. He designed and built a clever instru- ment for measuring and recording the forces on that plate as it was moved through the air (Har- grave 1887). The results could have been of more use to Hargrave, but he failed to complete sufficient tests on the flat plate. He also did not test any curved surfaces on the whirling arm, which may have been of greater value than the experiments he did perform with candles and silk tufts (Craddock 1994). The candles and silk tuft experiments merely showed the existence of a vortex beneath the curved surface. Probably his greatest fame was achieved through kite flying. During 1893 he began to develop the box kite. Two events in 1894 confirmed Hargrave’s importance. In May and June he constructed a full sized glider after hearing about the work of Otto Lilienthal in Germany. Hargrave made several attempts to fly his glider at Stanwell Park. At forty-three years of age he decided that it was more important to maintain life and limb intact, than for him to achieve flight. The hang glider was too light and unwieldy, although he thought it too heavy, at about twenty-two kilograms (Hargrave 1894). ANTIPODEAN AERONAUTICA ih AN ANTIPODEAN BASIS FOR EUROPEAN AIRCRAFT The other event of 1894 set Hargrave firmly on the world stage of aeronautical history, although today it appears trifling. On November 12, 1894 he succeeded in leaving the ground, beneath a train of four box kites. A flight to 4.9m above the sand on Stanwell Beach demonstrated the suitability of his box kite structure for stable flight. The box kite became the norm for air- craft structures in France and England during the first decade of powered flight. Members of the Lawrence Hargrave Centenary Committee attempted a repeat of this event in 1994 at Stan- well Beach, but the winds did not achieve the necessary velocity to lift more than the kites alone. Hargrave detailed the aims of the kite lift ex- periment at Stanwell Beach, in a letter to Henry C. Russell, Government Astronomer at the Syd- ney Observatory. Hargrave had previously bor- rowed a hand anemometer from Russell and was again in need of one for these experiments. “If I can get the velocity of the wind and the head resistance I shall know what thrust my engine would have to give in order that I might let go C and transform my kite into a flying machine” (Hargrave 1894). The reference “C”, was the at- tachment of his tether on the beach, as shown in figure 4. ANTIPODEAN POWER Hargrave also developed the rotary engine. In such engines, the crank shaft remains station- ary, while the cylinders rotate. Even now, the idea of stationary crankshaft and rotating cylin- ders seems antipodean. This was a good idea, and according to Shaw (Shaw and Ruhen 1988 p. 179), quite original. Hargrave provided the details of his rotary radial engine by way of an address to the Royal Society of New South Wales, on August 7, 1889 (Shaw and Ruhen 1988, p. 188). The Seguin Brothers in France later devised a similar engine, the Gnome, which became the standard for many aircraft in World War One. The area of increasing interest to Hargrave during the 1890s, was “soaring” kites. Figure 4: Sketch of proposed kite lift (Hargrave 1894, reproduced courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney). SOMETHING FOR NOTHING Humans have always pondered the wonder of bird flight. So much so, that inventors have tried to replicate “natural flight” in a number of ways. Firstly, by trying to copy the flapping motion of their wings — this is an ongoing jour- ney, even to this day. However, “as far as prac- tical applications go, flapping flight has few at 8 CRADDOCK present — a fact that appears to bother none of the team members” (Chandler 2002). The quest for human powered, natural flight continues. The second way was to try and understand the concept of “soaring”, as ably demonstrated by eagles, vultures and the albatross. This concept was not understood for quite a while, but since those early times we have learned more about the passage of wings through the atmosphere. Figure 5 shows the relative gliding performance for several examples of flying machines, from the simple hang glider to the modern, high per- formance sailplane. The latter, like its animal world equivalent (the eagle) seems able to defy gravity. Indeed, that was how some of these creatures were seen to perform by early aero- nautical experimenters. Figure 5: Author’s diagram showing gliding performance of various aircraft. They termed the concept “soaring” or “aspi- ration” to describe the apparently amazing abil- ity of these birds to maintain or even gain alti- tude from a wind that blew horizontally. The reality is, as shown in figure 5, that unpowered aircraft all act under the force of gravity, but at rates dependent on their aerodynamic efficiency. So, the ability to “soar” depends somewhat on the shape of the wing, but predominantly on the existence of an upward component of the wind. Hargrave thought he had found the secret of soaring flight during the 1890s and devel- oped a number of experiments to demonstrate that. He observed a rotating region of air be- neath a cambered (or curved) wing. Hargrave believed (wrongly) that forward thrust was pro- vided through the action of that vortex upon the undersurface of the wing. Imagine driving along in an open top sports car, with the resul- tant wind rushing past the windscreen, and then curling around and apparently blowing back to- wards the rear (or your side) of the screen. That is what Hargrave saw, and believed that that wind was actually pushing the wing (or sports car) forward. We now understand something more about drag and fluid mechanics, but Har- grave’s thesis and “experiments” were unfortu- nately confirmed for him. His idea was gen- uinely antipodean, and caused him to suffer de- rision from America in particular. What he had proposed, and claimed to have proved experi- mentally, was in direct conflict with the laws of physics. Others correctly stated that there had to be some vertical component of wind to sustain such soaring flight. Of some more re- cent interest was an American experiment on an ANTIPODEAN AERONAUTICA 9 F106B, Delta Dart aircraft, to utilize the vortex identified by Hargrave. The experiments were part of a study into the use of a movable lead- ing edge flap instead of camber, to reduce tran- sonic drag. The flap would be deflected to its greatest downward extent upon touch-down, at which time the “Hargrave” vortex would appear and increase drag, reduce lift and help slow the aircraft (Flight 1985). Hargrave’s soaring kites were created to demonstrate that such wings could make head- way into the wind. The arguments that followed Hargrave’s claim about these kites, were about whether the wind was really blowing in a per- fectly horizontal direction. Hargrave was wrong in his assumption, and he effectively wasted time and effort with these kites. They are how- ever very interesting. These kites were flown, dangling from a cord stretched between two poles stuck in the sand. The poles were made from oregon, 41 mm in diameter and 7.3m high. They were spaced 14.6m apart and held in position by guy ropes. This arrangement is shown in figure 6 and pro- vided a perfectly safe environment for testing delicate kites. After so many balloon flights in Europe, it appears somewhat strange to see that only Aus- tralia (and perhaps Ireland) maintains an ongo- ing use for those tall poles — Australian Rules Football. The Irish have included a cross-bar for Gaelic Football. Development of the so-called “soaring” kites occupied a good deal of Hargrave’s time during the 1890s. He produced an alphabetic series of such kites, from A to Q. Some of the wing profiles or aerofoils (“aerocurves”, as described by Hargrave) are shown in figure 7. The work he did with these kites was published and dis- tributed around the world by way of the Jour- nal of the Royal Society of New South Wales (Shaw 1988, p. 188). Undoubtedly the Wright Brothers had access to this material by way of Octave Chanute and the Smithsonian Library. It is interesting to compare some of the aerofoils employed in the Wright’s aircraft with those of Hargrave, although some of the more inter- esting aerofoils were not considered so by Har- grave, and consequently not included in his pub- lished material. The Wrights did their own ex- perimentation and development, because they found they could not trust some of the material provided by other experimenters. Figure 6: Testing apparatus for soaring kites (Hargrave 1897). 10 CRADDOCK Hargrave aerofoils 1892 0€°0 9T'0 Tc0°0 920°0 ¢00°0 O0F0'0 6¢0°0 eT €00°0> 80°0 Gc0'0 660 0 vO'V G00 vO00'0 TSO OF'0 cv0'0 200°0 v00°0 cV0 0 0100 LL°0 €00°0> 90°0 T€0°0 0c0°0 O1'G v0'°0 T00°0 cT0 6€°0 vr00 200°0 €00°0 120°0 vrv0'0 GG 0 G00 G00 Tc0°0 Tc0°0 vc T 90°0 T00°0> 9T'O 0€'0 ve0'0 900°0 y00°0 cT00 €10°0 eLINUICIINY, 95°0 €00°0 10°0 8é0°0 c100 SET 90°0 6000 T€0 9F'0 GVO 0 9T0°0 v00'0 Tc0°0 €¢0°0 Te 90°0 v0°0 610°0 €20°0 92'S OT'0 v00'0 vL°0 ce0 TE0'0 L10°0 900°0 T80°0 G00°0> 6T 600 €0°0 TT0°0 9100 6c°€ 60°0 T00°0> 6r'0 ve 0 6100 1c0°0 G00°0 150°0 800 9AOD) OUR] 9250 €00°0> G00 600°0 ¢T0°0 9G €0°0 v00°0 LT0 120 €20°0 900°0 €00°0 cr0'0 ¢00°0> 31 ATMOSPHERIC TRACE ELEMENTS ‘(qjuou/,u1/SuI se) eare AoUpAG o[} UL SUOT}EIOT doIY} Ye VOUBIYIUBIS [eYUSUIUOILAUS UMOUY OU YIM SJUIUIaJo dVI} OJ S}NSAY :Z% aque, G60 PO0'0> S000 8100 G00 7000 STO P00 200°0 T00°0> G00'0 020°0 6G 0 re v0°0 100°0> P00'0 F000 10°0> T00°0> 910 10°0> 200°0 100°0> T00°0> 800°0 80°0 ian CSIVIN-G24 = 849M -UeL GE 100°0> 400°0 ST0°0 SOC 100°0> 0c°0 700 200°0 100°0> 600°0 0€0°0 0&0 GG Gauel [323d Ainqieyuesy ips G00'0 L00°0 600°0 £00 T00°0> 2180 €0°0 900°0 100°0> T00°0 920°0 £10 VT LL0 T00'0> v00'0 600°0 G00 T00°0> ZT 0 €0°0 900°0 T00°0> €00°0 Z10°0 1d 0 ST V8°0 C000 2400°0 600°0 v0'0 T00°0> €2 0 v0'0 900°0 T00'0> 600°0 800 860 TG C8teAN-F84 «=c8qed-uer = egUuel-Ty99q eLINWeIINY, 98°0 T00°0> v00'0 v00'0 G00 ¢00°0 61°0 €0°0 800°0 100°0 G00°0 610°0 JO lig ve'0 G00'0 €00°0 HOR) 100 T00°0> SIC 600 L00°0 T00°0> T00°0> TTO0°0 80°0 ZT vo'0 100°0> €00°0 G00°0 10°0 100°0> 60°0 G00 900°0 T00°0> G00'0 600°0 Peo 1% COIPIN-G2H = G8qed-uef = egUuel-T8929q dAOD our] a7, GL SL ES oe) NY eT JH 90 oo) Gl 0) J) Tq 32 SWAINE Lane Cove Turramurra Canterbury Rural site As 0.042 0.080 0.068 0.008 B 1.8 0.63 0.13 0.25 Be 0.014 0.015 0.013 0.005 Cd 0.044 0.029 0.049 0.002 Co 0.073 Qal2 0.10 0.012 Cr 0.96 be 1.0 0.12 Cu 14 0.62 1.4 0.13 Mo 0.008 0.003 0.007 0.005 Ni’ 0.22 0.16 0.18 0.08 Eb) 32 4.7 13 0.81 Sb 0.054 0.053 0.064 0.002 Se 0.039 0.08 0.044 0.012 Th 0.09 0.18 0.16 0.03 V 0.08 0.023 0.020 0.10 Zn 5.7 1.6 5.0 0.32 Table 3: Comparisons of results for Sydney locations with a NSW rural site (as mg/m?/3-month). The data for each element are summations of the three 1-monthly results given in Table 1. Cd Cr Ni Pb Sb ATMOSPHERIC TRACE ELEMENTS UK 7 urban sites UK, West Midlands, urban NSW rural Sydney 3 locations Rain and dust input NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations Cardiff, Wales Germany, towns Germany legislation West Germany Tulsa, Oklahoma Sydney, 3 locations Cardiff, Wales NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations Tulsa, Oklahoma ~ NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations Cardiff, Wales Germany, average Europe, urban/industrial NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations France rural NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations Cardiff, Wales Europe, rural Tulsa, Oklahoma NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations UK, cities Cardiff, Wales Germany, towns Germany legislation West Germany New York City NSW rural Sydney, 3 locations UK, 7 non-urban sites NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations 2.5-6 0.12-1.1 0.032 0.17-0.32 4-8 1 0.25-1.8 0.4-1.9 Up to 27 av. 0:7 Should not exceed 1.8 0.37-1.4 0.85-1.6, av. 0.95 0.12-0.20 0.7-2.2 0.048 0.29-0.48 18-33, av. 26 0.48 3.8-4.6 3-3.7 ~1.8 8.00 avo2 0.52 2.5-5.6 il 0.020 0.012-0.032 7 0.7-10, av. 3.2 9-48, av. 25 0.32 0.64-0.88 70 15 ~70 Should not exceed 180 14-58 350 a2 19-50 0.27-0.82 0.008 0.21-0.26 Galloway et al. (1982) Simmons and Pocock (1987) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Bowen (1979) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Goodman and Smith (1975) Nurnberg(1983) Nurnberg (1983) Rohbock et al. (1981) Tate and Bates (1984) This study Goodman and Smith (1975) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Tate and Bates (1984) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Goodman and Smith (1975) Nurnberg (1983) Jeffries and Snyder (1981) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Alary et al. (1981) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Goodman and Smith (1975) Jeffries and Snyder (1981) Tate and Bates (1984) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Chamberlain et al. (1979) Goodman and Smith (1975) Nurnberg (1983) Nurnberg (1983) Rohbock et al. (1981) Volchok and Bogen (1971) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Cawse (1977) Swaine et al. (1984) This study 33 continued next page 34 continued from previous page Se Zn UK, 7 non-urban sites NSW rural Sydney, 3 locations UK, 7 non-urban sites Cardiff, Wales Copenhagen area, Denmark Germany Gottingen, Germany Europe, urban/industrial North America, urban/industrial New York City Albany, NY, USA NSW, rural Sydney, 3 locations SWAINE O:19-OF 71 0.048 0.08-0.32 44-140 75 40-170 190 47 52-190, av. 103 4-381, av. 319 320 120 b2 6.4-23 Cawse (1977) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Cawse (1977) Goodman and Smith (1975) Andersen et al. (1978) Lindberg and Harriss (1981) Ruppert (1975) Jeffries and Snyder (1981) Jeffries and Snyder (1981) Volchok and Bogen (1971) Lazrus et al. (1970) Swaine et al. (1984) This study Table 4: Comparisons of results for Sydney locations with those for published results worldwide (as mg/m?/y). ATMOSPHERIC TRACE ELEMENTS 39 REFERENCES Alary, J., Bourbon, P., Esclasson, J., Lepert, J.G., Vandaele, J., Lecuire, J.M. and Klein, F., 1981. Environmental molybdenum levels in industrial molybdenosis of grazing cattle. The Science of the Total Environment, 19, 111-119. Andersen, A., Hovmand, M.F. and Johnsen, I., 1978. Atmospheric heavy metal deposition in the Copenhagen area. Environmental Pollu- tion, 17, 133-149. Ayers, G.P., Keywood, M.D., Gras, J.L., Co- hen, D., Garton, D. and Bailey, G.M., 1999. Chemical and physical properties of Aus- tralian fine particles: a pilot study. Report to Environment Australia, 97 pp. Bowen, H.J.M., 1979. Environmental chemistry of the elements. Academic Press, London, 333 pp. Cawse, P.A., 1977. A survey of atmospheric trace elements in the U.K.: results for 1976. Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Rep. 8869, 17 pp. Chamberlain, A.C., Heard, M.J., Little, P. and Wiffen, R.D., 1979. The dispersion of lead from motor exhausts. Philosophical Transac- tions of the Royal Society of London, A290, 077-989. Charlesworth, $.M. and Lees, J.A., 1999. The distribution of heavy metals in deposited ur- ban dusts and sediments, Coventry, England. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 21, 97-115. Galloway, J.N., Thornton, J.D., Norton, S.A., Volchok, S.A. and McLean, R.A.N., 1982. Trace metals in atmospheric deposition: a re- view and assessment. Atmospheric Environ- ment, 16, 1677-1700. Godbeer, W.C. and Swaine, D.J., 1995. The deposition of trace elements in the environs of a power station, in Environmental Aspects of Trace Elements in Coal, pp. 178-203. D.J. Swaine and F. Goodarzi (eds). Kluwer, Dor- drecht. Goodman, G. and Smith, S., 1975. Relative burdens of airborne metals in South Wales, in Report of a Collaborative Study on Certain Elements in Air Soil Plants Animals and Hu- mans in the Swansea-Neath-Port Talbot area. Welsh Office, 333-365. Jeffries, D.S. and Snyder, W.R., 1981. Atmo- spheric deposition of heavy metals in Central Ontario. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 15, 127-152, Latushkina, E.N. and Stanis, E.V., 2002. The state of snow cover as deduced from eco- geochemical studies. Geochemistry Interna- tional, 40, 100-104. Lazrus, A.L., Lorange, E. and Lodge, J.P., 1970. Lead and other metal ions in United States precipitation. Environmental Science and Technology, 4, 55-58. Lindberg, S.E. and Harriss, R.C., 1981. The role of atmospheric deposition in an eastern US deciduous forest. Water, Air and Soil Pol- lution, 16, 13-31. Nurnberg, H.W., 1983. Annex: acidity of rain and wet precipitation of metals. Chemo- sphere, 12 (7/8), N11-N12. Rohbock, E., Georgii, H.W., Perseke, C. and Kins, L. 1981. Wet and dry deposition of heavy-metal aerosols in the Federal Repub- lic of Germany. Proceedings of International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environ- ment, Amsterdam, 310-313. Ruppert, H., 1975. Geochemical investigations on atmospheric precipitation in a medium- sized city (Gottingen, FRG). Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 4, 447-460. Simmons, S.A. and Pocock, R.L., 1987. Spatial variation in heavy metal deposition rates in urban areas. The Science of the Total Envi- ronment, 59, 243-251. Swaine, D.J., 1990. Trace Elements in Coal. Butterworths, London, 278 pp. 36 SWAINE Swaine, D.J., 1994. Trace elements in coal and their dispersal during combustion. Fuel Pro- cessing Technology, 39, 121-137. Swaine, D.J., Godbeer, W.C. and Morgan, N.C., 1984. Environmental consequences of coal combustion. CSIRO Division of Fossil Fuels Report, 167 pp. Tate, M.B. and Bates, M.H., 1984. Bulk depo- sition of metals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 22, 15-26. Volchok, H.L. and Bogen, D.C., 1971. Trace metals fallout in New York City. Health and Safety Laboratories Environment Quarterly Report No. 242. D.J. Swaine CSIRO Energy Technology PO Box 136 North Ryde NSW 1670 Australia (Manuscript received 23.5.2002) Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 37-37, 2002 ISSN 0035-9173/02/010037-1 $4.00/1 The Society’s Medal 2001 THE SOCIETY’S MEDAL 2001 The Society’s Medal is awarded for scien- tific research and services to the Royal Society of New South Wales. Peter Allan Williams graduated from Mac- quarie University with a BA in 1970, earning his BA honours in 1971. His academic qual- ifications were gained for both chemistry and geology. Peter then completed his PhD at Mac- quarie University, in 1975, concentrating on studies in X-Ray crystallography. Upon completion of his studies, Peter trav- elled to the University of Wales, where he lectured in chemistry, at University College Cardiff. During his sixteen years at the Uni- versity of Wales, as lecturer, senior lecturer and Reader in Chemistry, Peter also gained several Visiting Fellowships and Professorships. His re- search interests span a number of areas of ap- _ plied inorganic chemistry, and he has numerous publications in the field. His first book “Ox- ide Zone Geochemistry” was published in 1990 and he was translation editor for “Natural Ze- olites” which was published in 1992. Peter has authored more than three hundred refereed arti- cles on geochemistry and chemical mineralogy, studies of chiral metal complexes, and general inorganic and coordination chemistry. He is a member of the Editorial Board, Journal of the Russell Society, Member of the Editorial Board, Australian Journal of Mineralogy, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Coordination Chemistry. In addition to his academic work, Peter has a wide ranging experience in consul- tancy, covering sponsored research on geochem- istry and hydrometallurgy, process mineralogy, exploration geochemistry, supergene processes and exploration and groundwater geochemistry. Peter is actively involved in research on su- pergene mineralogy and geochemistry, as well as hydrometallurgical methods to recover met- als from their ores. His current interests in- clude the formation of supergene base metal de- posits, cobalt mineralogy and geochemistry, the chemistry of salts containing oxyanions, solid solution and transport phenomena in acid mine drainage and the hydrometallurgy of base and noble metals. He is an Honorary Research Fellow of Mac- quarie University and of the National Museum of Wales, a Chartered Chemist and a Member of several learned societies. These include the Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Geological Society of Aus- tralia, Mineralogical Society of Great Britain, Mineralogical Society of New South Wales, the Russell Society and, since 1973, the Royal So- ciety of New South Wales. Peter’s employment at the University of Western Sydney since 1991, as Foundation Professor of Chemistry, had in- cluded four years as Dean of the Faculty of Sci- ence and Technology, and Chair of the School of Science on the then Nepean Campus. He has served as a Council Member of the Royal Society of New South Wales since 1999, as President in 2000 and currently as Vice- President. During that time Peter has endeav- oured to include tours and lectures on modern art and history into the Society’s monthly pro- gramme, which fits the aim of the Royal Society of New South Wales to encourage “studies and investigations in Science, Arts, Literature and Philosophy”. Professor Williams is therefore a most worthy recipient of the Medal of the Royal Society of New South Wales. D.A. Craddock, President ew . ) bait | — as ye eres i ae, Weye ei Seer, ny a 5 Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 39-40, 2002 ISSN 0035-9173/02/010039-2 $4.00/1 Edgeworth David Medal 2001 SAMANTHA JANE RICHARDSON The Edgeworth David Medal is awarded for distinguished contributions by a young scientist, under the age of thirty-five years, for work done mainly in Australia or its Territories; or, for contributions to the advancement of Australian science. Dr Richardson first joined the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Melbourne is Department as an Honours student to work with Dr A. Jaworowski on the transport of transferrin in isolated rat yolk sac membranes. She took up a research assistantship with Pro- fessor G. Schreiber at the same institution in 1990 and then a PhD candidature with Pro- fessors Schreiber and R. Wettenhall. During her PhD candidature she further developed her skills in protein biochemistry. The topic of her PhD work was the relationship between struc- ture and function of thyroid hormone-binding plasma proteins, using evolutionary change as a guide to understanding function. She discov- ered that the first appearance of transthyretin synthesis in the liver of adult higher vertebrates during evolution occurred during the radiation of Australian marsupial species about 30 to 40 million years ago. This was considerably later than the first appearance of transthyretin gene expression in the adult brain of the stem reptiles about 350 million years ago. Thus, a change in the pattern of distribution of gene expression lead to transthyretin becoming a plasma pro- tein, after having first evolved as an extracel- lular brain protein. Together with other mem- bers of my research group, Ms Richardson found that the different parts of the transthyretin molecule evolved with different speeds and that acceleration in rate of molecular evolution of transthyretin occurred after the initiation of transthyretin gene expression in the liver. A total of 13 publications resulted from her PhD work and presentations at numerous na- tional and international scientific meetings at- tracted various prizes for her presentations, in- cluding those for the best student presentation at the Lorne Protein Conference and meetings of the Australian and New Zealand Societies of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry. She was the recipient of the Progen/ ASBMB Fellow- ship in 1996. After completion of her PhD in 1995 Dr Richardson stayed on in several research posts in the Department and was involved in the preparation of a successful three year National Health and Medical Research Council project grant application. She was the second chief in- vestigator of an ARC grant for the years 1998 to 2000. She was also awarded an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow- ship for this period. In 2000, she was sole chief investigator of an Australian Research Council Small Grant. Currently, Dr Richardson holds an Australian Research Council Research Fel- lowship for 2001 until 2005. In 1998, she was invited to give the main lecture at a Symposium of the Annual Meet- ing of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Adelaide. This was followed by an invitation from the same society to organise and chair the symposium on Com- parative Biochemistry during the 1999 Annual Conference in Queensland. She organised a ses- sion at the Australian and New Zealand Society for Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry Meeting in 1999, and was consequently asked to organise the Comparative Biochemistry sessions for the 6*" International Congress of Compar- ative Physiology and Biochemistry in 2003. In 2000 the was the recipient of an Technology Dif- fusion Program Award for Young Researchers to attend the Symposium on Australia’s Scientific Future at the Australian Academy of Science, and in 2001 she received a further Young Re- searcher’s Award from the Australian Academy of Science to attend the Forum for European — Australian Science and Technology conference. She also represented the Australian Society for 40 EDGEWORTH DAVID MEDAL Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Science meets Parliament Day in 1999, 2000 and 2001. During her time in Melbourne, Dr Richard- son has established probably the largest collec- tion in the world of serum samples from differ- ent vertebrate species and, together with other group members, organised and improved a col- lection of plasma protein cDNA probes, ge- nomic libraries, and liver and brain cDNA li- braries. She considerably enlarged the serum collection during a four month visit to the De- partment of Integrative Biology of the Univer- sity of California in Berkeley, leading to the in- clusion of specimens from American marsupi- als and reptiles in the collection. In December 1997, Dr Richardson was appointed leader of the transthyretin research group at the University of Melbourne. She has established numerous local, national and international collaborations. Dr Richardson has carried out all her re- search in Australia, with the exception of a four month visit to the University of California at Berkeley in 1994 when she investigated thyroid hormone binding proteins in the blood of Amer- ican marsupials. The uniqueness of the Aus- tralian fauna and the insight it has afforded into the evolution of thyroid hormone distri- bution systems meant that not only has she done her research in Australia, but her research has added to knowledge of Australian fauna, in particular marsupials, monotremes and reptiles. Her data on thyroid hormone binding proteins in the blood of Australian and American mar- supials has also assisted in clarifying the phylo- genic relationships of marsupials, in particular of the Australian marsupials. Professor G. Schreiber Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 41-42, 2002 ISSN 0035-9173/02/010041-2 $4.00/1 Walter Burfitt Prize for 2001 MICHAEL WILLIAM PARKER The Walter Burfitt Prize is awarded at in- tervals of three years to the worker in pure or applied science, resident in Australia or New Zealand, whose papers and other contributions published during the past six years are deemed of the highest scientific merit, account being taken only of investigations described for the first time, and carried out by the author mainly in these countries. Professor Parker holds a BSc(Hons) degree (first class) from The Australian National Uni- versity and a PhD from the University of Ox- ford, UK. He is currently the Head of the Pro- tein Crystallography Unit at the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. The major aim of Professor Parker’s research has been to determine the structures of bio- logically important proteins using X-ray crys- tallography as a basis for understanding their function, with the long term goals of under- standing disease processes, as well as exploit- ing the data for biotech applications such as drugs and biosensors. A substantial body of his work has included studies of membrane pro- teins, which are critical participants in cellular communication, and glutathione-dependent en- zymes, which are essential components of an or- ganism’s detoxification mechanism. In 1997, he solved the structure of per- fringolysin O (PFO), a virulence factor of the gas gangrene-causing bacterium, Clostridium perfringens, which belongs to a large toxin fam- ily responsible for many life-threatening dis- eases including meningitis and pneumonia. The PFO structure led to a model for membrane insertion and pore formation, revealing as an extraordinary feature the transition of part of the structure from helix to membrane-spanning sheet. Having determined the structure in 1994 of the Aeromonas pore-forming toxin, aerolysin, Parker discovered in 1997 that aerolysin and pertussis toxin (the causative agent of whoop- ing cough) share a common receptor-binding do- main. The APT domain was found to share common features with C-type lectins, suggest- ing it acts as a receptor binding site by binding carbohydrate of glycoproteins. This suggestion has since been confirmed experimentally. These findings provide the basis for the design of new therapeutics against both toxins. In branching out from the study of toxin interactions with membranes, Parker has made a special con- tribution to understanding of key processes in Alzheimer’s Disease. He embarked on a major project to determine the complete structure of amyloid precursor protein (APP), a membrane- bound receptor that plays a central role in Alzheimer’s disease, beginning with determina- tion of the structure of two APP fragments. The first structure, consisting of the whole N- terminal domain, revealed a highly charged ba- sic surface that may interact with heparin in the brain. Structural similarities with cysteine-rich growth factors suggested it could function as a growth factor in vivo. The second structure is that of a copper binding domain located adja- cent to the growth factor domain. The struc- ture revealed how this domain binds and re- duces copper. Tthis led to work indicating that copper binding to this domain causes greatly re- duced production of the APP proteolytic pep- tide thought responsible for Alzheimer’s disease. After having solved the first structure of a human glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in 1992, Parker continued to work on determin- ing the crystal structures of GSTs from various organisms in complex with a range of substrates and inhibitors as a basis for understanding the molecular basis of substrate recognition and catalysis by GSTs. Some major findings since 1995 include the crystal structures of four im- portant species, including those of human theta- class hGST T2-2, a bacterial GST, PmGST B1-1, the human pi-class GST and two folding mutants of GST P1-1. Structure comparisons 42 WALTER BURFITT PRIZE 2001 provided compelling evidence that theta class GSTs evolved from an ancestral member of the thioredoxin superfamily. In addition to these, a number of protein structures solved by the Parker laboratory over the last few years that have brought Australian science right to the forefront internationally. The structure of the protein kinase, twitchin kinase provided direct proof of the theory pro- posed by Kemp and colleagues of intrasteric reg- ulation of enzyme activity. Another striking ex- ample is the determination of the structure of the common chain of the human GM-CSF, IL-3 and IL-5 receptors, complexed to the Fab frag- ment of a monoclonal antibody. The elucidation of the structure of this ligand-binding domain suggests how three different cytokines recognise a single receptor subunit that may have impli- cations for other analogous receptor systems. Analysis of the interface between the antago- nist antibody and the common chain provides a rational basis for designing single molecule an- tagonists of three cytokines directly implicated in allergic inflammation and myeloid leukemia. Professor Parker has maximised opportuni- ties for the protein crystallography group by initiating and nurturing collaborations both in Australia and overseas, as well as making the most of all opportunities that present them- selves for the solution of structures in the In- stitute itself. Structural biology is essentially collaborative and Parker’s leadership has been instrumental in the successes of the Institute laboratories. He is an outstanding independent scientist and leader whose original research has had a major impact in structural biology. His achievements over the past 6 years have been especially notable. Dr T.J. Martin Journal € Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 43-43, 2002 ISSN 0035-9173/02/010043-1 $4.00/1 The Clarke Medal for 2001 GORDON HOWARD PACKHAM The Clarke Medal is considered for award annually for distinguished work in natural sci- ence done in, or on, the Australian Common- wealth and its Territories. Dr Packham took a BSc(Hons) degree (first class) at the University of Sydney and _ pro- ceeded to complete a PhD at the same univer- sity in 1959. He became Associate Professor in the Geology Department of the University in 1973 and since then has held a number of posts there, most recently as Acting Director of the Ocean Sciences Institute. He remains an Hon- orary Associate of the School of Geosciences. Dr Packham’s geological work has centred on large scale problems of the Australasian re- gion and his publications have earned him an enviable international reputation. His early work on the Lachlan Fold Belt defined the framework for the work on this region of New South Wales which has continued to the present day. His ideas were taken up by myriads of workers and extended both north and south into ~Queensland and Victoria. The recognition of the fundamental divisions of the Lachlan Fold Belt by Dr Packham remain essentially unchal- lenged some forty years after they were defined in his paper Sedimentary history of part of the Tasman Geosyncline (1960). Refinements of this work continued in maps and papers pub- lished in 1962, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2001. Al- though some of this work was published jointly, his colleagues will attest to the intellectual as well as physical contributions made by Dr Pack- ham through his leadership with ideas and ob- servations. However there have been numerous other important advances by Dr Packham. A sin- gle paper Sedimentary history as an important factor in the classification of sandstones, pub- lished in 1954, set out some of the basic char- acteristics of sandstones enabling the recogni- tion of the tectonic environments of the various types of sandstone. This work, while most sig- nificant for Australian geology, of course goes well beyond, and has been taken up by sedi- mentologists world-wide. Associated papers on the physical analysis of sediments (1955) and the implications of the diagenetic facies concept (1960) built on this original idea. Dr Packham has also been a continuing re- searcher in palaeontology, particularly in the study of graptolites, refining the work of pre- vious researchers, such as a previous Clarke Medallist, Dr D. Thomas. While this work (1953, 1954, 1955, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1975, 1982, 1995, 2001) has been largely Australian based it has implications for international grap- tolite research and biostratigraphy. In the years from 1970, while not abandon- ing his researches in the Lachlan Fold Belt and in palaeontology and biostratigraphy, Dr Pack- ham turned his formidable intellect to problems of the Australian continental margin and the re- lation between Australian and other portions of the Australian Plate. In this work (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996) he has carried out an extraordinary range of re- search in projects, some in association with in- ternational (and Australian) colleagues, search- ing the ocean deeps, others personally directed to the Indonesian boundary of the Australian Plate. The implications of this work for under- standing the stratigraphic and tectonic devel- opment of the Australian Plate continue to be appreciated by younger researchers. I believe this work will be an essential reference for years to come. Not content with this corpus of work Dr Packham has engaged in smaller but important projects, including the study of Late Palaeozoic glaciation. He has also been involved in the broader educational aspects of geology through the publication of reference volumes and popu- lar publications. Dr D.F. Branagan Ry LM opehrs e ae i) vi i . , ® : - \ ’ i) hy ot Syed 6 = i — 5 ’ . EY % Ys! ~ i i —_<—- ~~ Es Lm ene ee a « 1 f ‘ 4 = 4 t ¢ “2 $ J ’ y it? Sy) : wert 4 AG atoriso Ruan : tee ; oy) CMs ae a ' bauct Sad 0 SA INIA : en : (oqctsya get eae soe Ub > . P ie: i ii Seay Gtr is alps candies, Pe 974 vale an — ee we Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 45-46, 2002 ISSN 0035-9173/02/010045-2 $4.00/1 Biographical Memoir Vale Emeritus Professor SAMUEL WARREN CAREY AO D.Sc.(Syd.), F.N.A.L, F.A.A. 1944 — 2001 Born at Campbelltown, NSW on 15* Novem- ber 1911, he matriculated from Canterbury High School in 1928, was Foundation President of the Students Geological Society of the Uni- versity of Sydney, graduated Master of Science in 1934, and Doctor of Science in 1938. He also received Honorary Doctorates from the Univer- sities of Papua New Guinea and Urbino (Italy). A petroleum exploration geologist in New Guinea and Papua from 1934 to 1942, in 1940 he married Austral Robson. He is survived by Austral, their four children, seven grandchildren and two great granddaughters. In WW2 he served in the Australian Im- perial Force as a paratroop captain in Z Spe- cial Unit, 1940-1944, and was Mentioned in Despatches. His brother in the same unit was captured by the Japanese and beheaded by -sword. Since the War, Carey had been an active participant in Legacy. In 1944 he was appointed Chief Government Geologist of Tasmania, and served as Chairman of Trustees of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. In 1946 he was appointed Professor of Geology of the University of Tasmania, and served as Dean of the Faculty of Science, Chair- man of the Professional Board, and Chairman of the Staff Association. He was also Chairman of the Schools Board of Tasmania, President of the Geological Society of Australia, and President of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science. He was Con- venor and editor of six International Symposia:- Glacial Sedimentation, Dolerite, Lyell Schists, Syntaphral Tectonics, Continental Drift, and Expanding Earth. He was author of Elsevier Amsterdam: “The Expanding Earth”, 488 pp., and Stanford University Press: “Theories of the Earth and Universe”, 413 pp. Carey was an Honorary Life Member of the Geological Society of Australia, the Geological Society of London, the Geological Society of America, The Australian Geophysical Society, the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Indian Na- tional Science Academy. He was awarded the Clarke Medal of the Royal Society of New South Wales, the John- stone Medal of the Royal Society of Tasmania, the Browne Medal of the Geological Society of Australia, the Gondwanaland Gold Medal of the Mining, Metallurgical and Geological Society of India, the Weakes Gold Medal of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Associ- ation, the Gold Medal of the Australian Geo- physical Society and the ANZAAS Medal of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science. He was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and an Officer of the Order of Australia. The “Carey Medal” is awarded annually by the Geological Society of Australia. Samuel Warren Carey joined the Royal Soci- ety Of New South Wales on 5th October 1938 as a paid Life Member and a practicing petroleum geologist, his address being c/o Oil Search Ltd, 350 George Street, Sydney. He had been nom- inated by W.R. Browne, Leo G. Cotton, and G.D. Osborne, three of the “greats” of the Uni- versity of Sydney. Papers published in the Journal and Pro- ceedings of the Royal Society of NSW: (i) Vol LXXII, 1938, pp. 199-208:- S.W. Carey & G.D. Osborne:- “Preliminary Note on the na- ture of the stresses involved in the late Palaeo- zoic Diastrophism in New South Wales”. (ii) Vol. LXXI, 1937-1938, pp. 591-614:- S.W. Carey & W.R. Browne:- “Review of the Car- boniferous Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Palaeog- 46 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR raphy of New South Wales and Queensland”. Official Responsibilities Involving Protocol: 1951 Representative of Australian Government at the Centenary of the Geological Survey of India. 1960 Representative of University of Tasmania at the Tercentenary of the Royal Society, Lon- don. 1963 United Nations Technical Expert assigned to Government of Israel (3 months). 1964 Australian delegate to the International Geological Union in Delhi; exercising Aus- tralia’s only vote. In 1976 Professor Sam Warren Carey be- came Hon. Life Member of the Royal Society of New South Wales. This was the year when he retired from active departmental work, but his work continued. In 1996 the University of Tasmania published, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the foundation of the Geological Department of the University of Tasmania, a major work (ISBN 085901 715X qto 231 pp. 127 figures) “Earth Universe Cosmos: An Inquest into our Creeds”, by S. Warren Carey, AO. Because of the general interest and the wide field, this was reviewed in the Journal and Pro- ceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 132, pp. 118-122, 1999. It would be fair to suggest that perhaps only Professor Sam Warren Carey would have possessed the breadth of knowledge and the authority dur- ing such an exciting half-century of geological teaching creeds to be able to validly criticise them. J.C. Grover OBE Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 47-47, 2002 ISSN 0035-9173/02/010047-1 $4.00/1 Biographical Memoir ANDREW JOHN CORBYN 1944 — 2001 Our friend and colleague, Dr Andrew John Corbyn passed away in September 2001 in Papua New Guinea. Born 1944 in Chippen- ham, England, educated at the Royal School of Mines, London, Andrew graduated in Min- ing Engineering and also studied for MSc in Geophysics at the same School. He earned PhD from Murdoch University in 1999 while he was with us. His Doctoral work was on Air Movements and Sudden Infant Death. Dr John Andrew Corbyn joined the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1999 (elected 27'® Oc- tober, 1999). Dr Corbyn contributed an article on “Air Movement in the Sleeping Environment and Sudden Infant Death” (Vol. 132, 1999) to the Society’s Journal and Proceedings. In 1968, he came to Australia and was hold- ing dual citizenship of England and Australia. He worked in different mining and geophysical operations in England, Chile, Denmark, South Africa and Australia. He was also Lecturer in Mining Engineering at the Kalgoorlie School of Mines, Western Australia. Andrew came to our Department in January, 1997 as Lecturer in Mining Engineering. Andrew was a great teacher, lecturer, re- searcher, adventurer and lived his life with in- tensity and enthusiasm. To his students, he al- ways taught them to work with their hands, do manual and practical things; to build, design and create mine plans, laboratory experiments and mechanically moving things rather than re- lying on calculators and computers. He wanted his students to go out to villages to help villagers to improve their living conditions by transfer- ring the knowledge they acquired here. Andrew will be remembered for odd-looking ingenious experimental set-ups, which he cre- ated in our laboratory, to explain basic princi- ples of mechanics and dynamics to our students. We also remember him for his wonderful stories, rattling car and his love for bush walks and al- luvial miners. Andrew was always concerned for the weaker sections of the society and was always ready to help them in whichever way he could. We all sadly miss him. Whenever we were stretched in the teaching resources, I used to ask him to take additional teaching load and he would gladly take it on without any hesitation. He is survived by his wife Pamela and three daughters, Zoe, Sarah and Naomi. As far as I know, Andrew is also survived by two brothers, Pearce and Jeremy. Jeremy is a British Member of Parliament. Professor S. Bordia Mes Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 135, p. 49-53, 2002 ISSN 0035-9173/02/010049-5 $4.00/1 Annual Report of Council For the year ended 31°* March 2002 PATRONS The Council wishes to express its gratitude to His Excellency the Right Reverend Dr Peter Hollingworth AC, OBE, Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Her Ex- cellency Professor Marie Bashir, AC, Governor of the State of New South Wales for their con- tinuing support as Patrons of the Society during their term of office. MEETINGS Nine ordinary monthly meetings and the 134** Annual General Meeting were held during the year at various locations. SPECIAL MEETINGS AND EVENTS 29** April 2001 The President, Mr David A. Craddock and Hon. Secretary, Mrs M. Krysko v. Tryst, attended the 2324 Anniversary of the landing by Captain James Cook RN at Kurnell by invitation from the Mayor of the Sutherland Shire Council. 17** May 2001 The Pollock Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor Marcela Bilek, Professor for Applied Physics, in the School of Physics, the Univer- sity of Sydney in the Carslaw Building of the University of Sydney. The title of the lecture was:- “Enhancing the Functionality of Materi- als: Recent Advances in Surface Modification Technology”. 18* December 2001 The President Mr D.A. Craddock and Mrs J. Craddock attended by invitation the “Cente- nary of Federation” celebrations at Falconbridge on the 15* of December, 2001. The invitation was extended by the Committee to the Presi- dent of the Royal Society of New South Wales on account of the involvement of Sir Thomas Brisbane, the 6*® Governor General, with the Philosophical Society of Australasia in 1821. That Society was the forerunner of the present Royal Society of New South Wales. 12** February 2002 The Society was a co-sponsor with the Aus- tralian Nuclear Association, the Australian In- stitute of Energy and the Nuclear Engineering Panel of the Institution of Engineers Australia, of a meeting held at the Institute of Engineers, Milsons Point. Dr Clarence J. Hardy, secre- tary of the Australian Nuclear Association, ad- dressed the Meeting on “The Renaissance in Nuclear Science and Technology”. Mr George Fox offered the thank-you vote. 285 February 2002 The Annual Dinner of the Royal Society of New South Wales was held at the Holme and Suther- land Rooms, the Holme Centre, at the Univer- sity of Sydney. The after- dinner speech on “The Greenhouse All Hot Air? — A Short His- tory of Planet Earth”, was delivered by Profes- sor Ian Rutherford Plimer. The President, Mr D.A. Craddock presented the Society’s awards for 2001. 6'® March 2002 The 51%* Clarke Memorial Lecture in Geology, which was scheduled to be delivered by Profes- sor William J. Collins of the Department of Ge- ology, School of Geosciences, University of New- castle, NSW, had to be cancelled due to unfore- seen circumstances. Attendances at Vice-Regal Events The President, Mr D.A. Craddock and the Hon. Secretary Mrs M. Krysko v. Tryst called on Her Excellency, the Governor of New South Wales on Wednesday, 13th June, 2001. The President, Mr D.A. Craddock and Mrs Craddock attended the 75'* birthday celebration for Her Majesty the Queen on the 12*? June, 2001 and the 50 ANNUAL REPORT Christmas Reception on 10** December, 2001 at Government House. MEETINGS OF COUNCIL Eleven Meetings of Council were held, ten Meet- ings were held at the Society’s office at 6/142 Herring Road, North Ryde, one special Meeting in April, 2001 at the Sydney Tattersall Club in Pitt Street, Sydney. One meeting in September comprised the Executive only. PUBLICATIONS Journal Vol. 134 (Parts 1-4 incl.), 2001 was published during the year in two issues: July 2001 and De- cember 2001. Parts 1 and 2 contained the Pres- idential Address 2001 (Colour and Cash: the Exquisite Minerals of the Oxidised Zone), one peer-refereed paper on Aboriginal language, the Pollock Memorial Lecture in Mathematics and Physics 2001 and three Higher Degree Abstracts (geology, medicine and reef-studies), two re- ports on recipients of Studentships Awards and the Annual Report of Council for 2001-2002 in- cluding the Financial Statement and Biograph- ical Memoirs. Parts 3 and 4 carried three peer- refereed papers on Geomechanics, Seed Germi- nation Under Stress, and Factors in the Use of Breast Screening, a symposium on Geodi- versity and a Critical Review paper. Also in- cluded was one Higher Degree Abstract (Ante- rior Mandible of Homo sapien sapien, Biograph- ical Memoirs and Citations for Awards in 2000. An Index to Vol. 134 concluded the issue. Coun- cil wishes to thank all the voluntary referees for their time and efforts. The Society received var- ious requests for permission to reproduce ma- terial from the Society’s earlier volumes of its “Journal and Proceedings” . Bulletin Bulletin Nos 239 to 249 incl. were published dur- ing 2001-2002. Council’s thanks are extended to the various authors of short articles for their contributions and to the other voluntary helpers who facilitated the production and distribution of the Bulletin. AWARDS The following awards were made for 2001:- The Royal Society of New South Wales Medal: Professor Peter A. Williams, of the University of Western Sydney, for achievements in science and service to the Society. The Clarke Medal (Geology): Dr Gordon H. Packham (formerly University of Sydney) The Edgeworth David Medal: Dr Samantha J. Richardson, of Melbourne University. The Walter Burfitt Prize: Professor Michael W. Parker, of the St. Vincent Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Victoria. The following were not awarded for 2001: The James Cook Medal, The Archibald Ollé Prize MEMBERSHIP At 318 March, 2002, Membership of the Society was: Patrons 2 Honorary Members 11 Full Members 247 Associate Members 22 Total (incl. Spouse members) 282 Resignation 10 Council announces with regret the names of the following deceased members: Dr J.E. Banfield Mr G.W. Collett Dr J.A. Corbyn Emeritus Prof. L.W. Davies Mr M.E. Scott Mr K.P. Sims New members admitted: 11 ANNUAL REPORT o1 LIBRARY Acquisition of journals by gift and exchange has been continued during 2001/02. Exchange ma- terial from overseas sources has been forwarded to the Dixson Library, University of New Eng- land in Armidale where it is available locally or on inter-library loan. Australian journals and other printed material are kept in the Royal So- ciety’s collection at the North Ryde Head Office in the grounds of Macquarie University where they are available to members and approved vis- itors. Council thanks the staff of Dixson Library for their continuing maintenance of the Soci- ety’s Collection. The Dixson Library advises the Hon. Librarian of any missing issues of over- seas journals who then takes appropriate action. An accession list of literature received during the year has been compiled and an appropriate notice will appear in the Society’s Bulletin for the information of members. The Hon. Librar- ian wishes to inform Council that the present manner of book storage in cardboard boxes is not satisfactory. It encourages the breeding of large cockroaches which cause significant dam- age to some of the older books. This unsatisfac- tory situation will, hopefully, be redressed once the Society has acquired more spacious and per- manent accommodation. ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS 4th April 2001 The 134" Annual General Meeting and the 1096" General Monthly Meeting were held at the City Tattersalls Club, Sydney, NSW. The President, Professor Peter A. Williams was in the Chair. The Annual Report of Council and the Financial Report for 2000-2001 were adopted? Mr B.E. Holden, Chartered Accoun- tant was re-appointed Auditor for 2001-2002. Professor P.A. Williams yielded the chair to the incoming president, Mr D.A. Craddock who thanked the outgoing Committee for its work during the preceding year and invited the out- going President, Professor P.A. Williams to de- liver his Presidential Address “Colour and Cash: The Exquisite Minerals of the Oxidized Zone”. The following awards were announced for 2000:- The Royal Society of NSW Medal: Dr Philip Richard Evans, The Clarke Medal (Botany): Prof. Sarah Elizabeth Smith, The Edgeworth David Medal: Dr Michael Soon Yoong Lee The following members were elected to Council for 2001-2002:- President: Vice-President: Mr D.A. Craddock Prof. P.A. Williams Dr W.E. Smith Mr C.F. Wilmot A/Prof. A.T. Baker M. Krysko v. Tryst Prof. P.A. Williams Prof. R.A. Creelman Dr E.V. Lassak Mr J.R. Hardie Ms K.F. Kelly Mr M.F. Wilmot Prof. M.A. Wilson Honorary Secretaries: Acting Secretary: Honorary Treasurer: Honorary Librarian: Councillors: Southern Highland Branch Rep.: Mr H.R. Perry 2-4 May 2001 The 1097" General Monthly Meeting was held at the Sydney Tattersalls Club, Pitt Street, Sydney. The meeting was addressed by the Construction Director for the Parramatta Rail Link, Mr Michael Flynn on “The Government Rail Link”. Professor Peter A. Williams offered a vote of thanks. 6" June 2001 The 1098'" General Monthly Meeting was held at Macquarie University. Emeritus Professor Ray Cattell spoke on “How children learn to speak”. Dr Edmund Potter offered the vote of thanks. Ath July 2001 The 1099? General Monthly Meeting was con- vened at the “Search and Discover Room”, Aus- tralian Museum, Sydney. James Woodford, En- vironmental Writer at the Sydney Morning Her- ald, gave a talk on “Wombats and Wollemis: Amazing Organisms and What They Have in Common”. 52 ANNUAL REPORT 1** August 2001 The 1100'* General Monthly Meeting took place at the ASN Theatrette, The Rocks, Syd- ney. Mr Wayne Johnson of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority lectured to the Meeting on “Archaeology and New Perspective on the Set- tlement of Sydney:- the Excavation and Recon- struction of the Dawes Point Battery, Sydney’s earliest fort”. Vote of thanks offered by Profes- sor P.A. Williams. 5th September 2001 The 1101%* General Monthly Meeting was held at the “Search and Discover Room”, Aus- tralian Museum, Sydney. Professor Bernard A. Pailthorpe of the Vislab, School of Physics, University of Sydney, addressed the Meeting on “Visualisation of Galaxies, Oceans, Brains”. Mr Matthew Wilmot gave the vote of thanks. 3™¢ October 2001 The 1102"¢ General Monthly Meeting took place at the “Search and Discover Room”, Aus- tralian Museum, Sydney. Dr Stephen Bourke of the School of Archaeology, University of Sydney, addressed the Meeting on “Excavating Pella’s Bronze Age Migdol Temple:- The 2001 Field Season”. Professor P.A. Williams offered the vote of thanks. 7°» November 2001 The 1103°¢ General Monthly Meeting was held at the “Search and Discover Room”, Australian Museum, Sydney. An address entitled “Soft Matter, Rheology and Leonards” was given by Professor Roger Tanner of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Uni- versity of Sydney. Dr Edmund Potter offered a vote of thanks. 34 April 2002 The 1104'* General Monthly Meeting took place at the City Tattersalls Club, Pitt Street, Sydney. It was combined with the 135*" Annual General Meeting. SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS BRANCH The Southern Highlands Branch held eleven well attended meetings (average attendance about 60 members and visitors). Some new members, attracted by the lecture programme, joined this Branch of the Royal Society of New South Wales during the year. 22"™¢ March 2001 Professor Peter A. Williams, Professor of Chem- istry, University of Western Sydney and Presi- dent of the Royal Society of New South Wales presented a lecture on “Chemistry in the Desert — A Mineral Bonanza”. Some 49 people at- tended including 8 students from local schools. 11° April 2001 The Branch’s Annual General Meeting was held at the Fitzroy Inn and the incom-— ing Committee for the Branch was elected:- Chairman: Mr Clive Wilmot Vice-Chairman: Mr Roy Perry Hon. Secretary: Cmdr. David Robertson, CBE Ms Christine Staubner Ms Marjorie Roberts Mr Imre Holmik Mr Brian Maher* * retired during the year due to other commit- ments Hon. Treasurer: Members: 19* April 2001 Dr Charles Barton, OIC Geomagnetism Group of the Australian Geological Survey Organiza- tion, spoke on “The Quest for the Magnetic South Pole”. His talk included a brief histor- ical account and personal experiences. 17°° May 2001 An audience of 79 people was addressed by Dr Robert Rheinberger, Vice-President of the World Association of Cattle Veterinarians, on the subject of “Foot and Mouth and BSE or Mad-Cow Disease”. His talk included references to control measures and effects on rural popu- lations as well as aspects of cross-infection of humans. ANNUAL REPORT o3 21°t June 2001 Dr Vijoleta Braach-Maksuytis, co-inventor of the ion-channel switch and Project Leader of Biomimetic Engineering, CSIRO Telecommuni- cations and Industrial Physics Division, gave a general talk on the development of nanotechnol- ogy and the impact of materials development on human civilisations. 19* July 2001 48 members and visitors were addressed by Mr Don White Eng., Principal of the private Aus- tralian meteorological firm “Weatherwatch” on the “Art and Science of Meteorology Today”. 16° August 2001 “The Politics, Economics and Nature of Future War” were the subject of a talk given by Dr Michael McKinley, Senior Lecturer in Global Politics, ANU Dept. of International Relations and Strategic and Defense Studies Centre. 20° September 2001 One of the few remaining life members of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Mr Fred Blanks AM spoke on the subject: “Music Crit- icism: Conspiracy or Lifeline”. The speaker - commented on the legal, social and political as- pects affecting freedom of expression and the uses to which published criticisms are put. 18‘ October 2001 Dr Ray Binns, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Exploration and Mining, gave an overview of the recent history of deep sea-bed mining ac- tivities. The speaker included examples from various localities around Australia and nearby areas and pointed out the importance of results obtained for, among others, biodiversity, ocean chemistry and perhaps climate change. 13°" November 2001 Prof. A.T. Baker, of the Department of Chem- istry, Materials, and Forensic Science, Univer- sity of Technology, Sydney, spoke on a number of recent projects using plasma mass spectrom- etry (ICP-MS) to identify origins of manufac- tured products as well as its usefulness in the field of archaeology. 21°* February 2002 Professor Bernard Pailthorpe and Dr Nicole Bordes gave an outline of the work of VISLAB and a progress report on work undertaken in the United States. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Chairman, Mr Clive Wilmot, acknowledges the enthusiastic support given to the Branch by the Head of Winifred West Schools Ltd., Ms Julie Gillick, and the hard work of members of the Branch Committee. NEW ENGLAND BRANCH The New England Branch at Armidale NSW has terminated its activities. The funds of the Branch have been remitted to the Royal Society of New South Wales. ws v, . ia NOTES CONTENTS Vol. 135 Parts 1 and 2 CRADDOCK, DAVID, A. Antipodean Aeronautica, Presidential Address 2002 KADER, M:A., OMARI, M.A. & HATTAR, B.I. Aerial and Below Ground Biomass Production of Acacia as Influenced by Organic Waste Substrates During Nursery-Stage Seedling Growth SWAINE, D.J. Deposition of Trace Elements from the Atmosphere in the Sydney Region AWARDS The Society’s Medal 2001 Edgeworth David Medal 2001 The Walter Burfitt Prize for 2001 The Clarke Medal for 2001 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS Samuel Warren Carey AO Andrew John Corbyn i | 130 ANNUAL REPORT OF COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31% MARCH 2002 ADDRESS Royal Society of New South Wales, PO Box 1525, Macquarie Centre, NSW 2113, Australia http://nsw.royalsoc.org.au DATE OF PUBLICATION July 2002 ITUTIO' } A i 3 IES Ih 17 Page 37 39 41 43 45 47 49