Professor C. N. Watson-Munro has been closely associated with the newer developments in physics over the past twenty years. In radar during the early years of the war he energetically led the team that developed the first 10 cm. operational microwave equipment in the Southern Hemisphere. In atomic energy he was largely responsible for the design and construction of the first reactors built in Canada and the United Kingdom. As the first Chief Scientist of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission he played a major role in the establishment of the Lucas Heights facilities including the reactor.
In academic life he has been active in research as Professor of Physics in Wellington from 1951-54, and Professor of Plasma Physics in Sydney from 1960.
The major scientific achievements of the candidate have arisen from his studies of copper poisoning in animals. These have resulted in the discovery of (i) the conditions determining the incidence and control of the field manifestations of the disease, (ii) the metabolic interrelations of copper and molybdenum in animals and their dependence upon inorganic sulphate, and (iii) the profound influence of sulphate upon molybdenum metabolism. New meaning has been given to the whole concept of mineral interrelations in animals and of their significance to deficiency and toxicity states. Related studies of the hepatoxic action of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids have greatly extended knowledge of the relationship between their structure and activity and led to the development of a hypothesis concerning their mode of action.
Ritchie' s valuable contributions to heterocyclic chemistry in respect both of his structural studies of naturally occurring substances and of his synthetic work in the field of nitrogen heterocycles have stimulated much work abroad, for example in relation to the synthesis of furoquinoline alkaloids. In the course of his investigations of natural products he has discovered many new alkaloids and coumarins including such quite novel types as the himbaoine group of alkaloids and the dibenzopyrrocolines the occurrence of which had been predicted twenty years previously. Extensive synthetic work on heterocyclic nitrogen compounds includes studies in the phenanthridine series and the synthesis of a number of alkaloids, of particular significance being his extension of the Robinson-Schoff scheme of syntheses under "physiological conditions".
Giovanelli is distinguished for his theoretical and experimental contributions to astrophysics in the fields of solar physics, radiative transfer and astronomical optics. His theoretical contributions comprise the two-column theory of the chromosphere, the electromagnetic origin of solar flares and of runaway electrons in plasmas, basic ideas on the emission of radiation from high temperature atmospheres which instigated general studies of three dimensional radiative transfer. He is also
responsible for the method of quantitative chemical analysis by diffuse reflection spectrophotometry, which is important in studies of the rapid pigment changes in bacterial cells and of the influence of diffusion on the resolving power of photographic emissions.
Giovanelli early drew attention to the significance of electromagnetic phenomena that accompany the growth of sunspots in the formation of solar flares and this stimulated much of the observational and theoretical work, to which he has also contributed, on chromospheric disturbances, during the last 15 years. Recently he has developed greatly improved methods of observing the velocity and magnetic field distributions in the photosphere and chromosphere and in solar disturbances which are extremely relevant to the interpretation of many phenomena that occur in the earth's upper atmosphere that have been the subjects of world-wide study. The improved methods have depended upon his development of new optical instruments, in particular a 1/8° filter, with which to obtain photographs that reveal the distribution of the velocities and magnetic fields at various levels in the solar atmosphere.
Distinguished for his contributions to the methods for porphyrin isolation and separation, and for the elucidation of the pathway of haem and porphyrin biosynthesis from δ -aminolaevulinic acid and porphobilinogen
Professor Alexander is a distinguished physical chemist whose contributions to science have been almost entirely in the field of colloid chemistry. His work in this field commenced when he was Deputy Director of the School of Colloid Science in the University of Cambridge and has continued during his tenure of office as Professor of Chemistry in the NSW University of Technology. Throughout this period he has produced a steady flow of publications which constitute a considerable addition to our knowledge in the fields of surface and colloid chemistry. In Australia he has taken an active part in the development of the work of the research associations concerned with bread and leather. He is the author of a number of books in his own field and his work has been marked by its excellence in scientific perception and quality and also by his interests in the industrial applications of such knowledge.
