Angus McEwan 1937–2018
Dr Angus McEwan FAA FTSE who died on 5 September 2018, aged 81, was a renowned Australian fluid dynamicist, specialising in designing and conducting experimental studies in geophysical fluid dynamics, and providing outstanding leadership of national and international research programs in oceanography and meteorology.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2024. It was written by Trevor J. McDougall, John A. Church and John Zillman.
William Russell Levick 1931–2022
William R. Levick was one of Australia’s most distinguished neuroscientists, making fundamental contributions to our understanding of the neural circuitry of the retina and the visual pathways.
Levick’s mastery of the extracellular, single-unit recording technology of his era elucidated the visual function of parallel networks of mammalian retinal neurons, each network transmitting via the optic nerve a unique rendering of the retinal image formed by the eye’s optical system. His physiological analysis revealed the presence of complex processing at the earliest stages of the visual pathway, thus overturning the prevailing view that complex visual analysis begins in the brain. His best-known example is the discovery of a class of retinal ganglion cells that detect moving objects and identify their direction of motion in the visual environment. Another pioneering line of investigation revealed the irreducible fluctuations of light quanta as a fundamental limit to visual sensitivity and the reliable encoding of visual information by retinal neurons.
Levick’s legacy as a consummate experimental physiologist rests on his attention to detail, mastery of medical physiology needed for maintenance of first-class animal preparations, innovative resourcefulness in creating custom laboratory apparatus, and sheer intellect for the design, conduct, and assessment of experiments.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Larry N. Thibos and Brian G. Cleland.
Severyn Marcel (Sever, Sev) Sternhell 1930–2022
Sever Sternhell DSc AO FAA FRACI CChem was a prominent figure in Australian organic chemistry, academia and public life for more than forty years.
He held the Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Sydney from 1977 until his retirement in 1998. He was very influential, not only directly through his science and his leadership in Australian chemistry, but also indirectly through the graduate students that he inspired and mentored, and the thousands of undergraduates he taught over the years.
Sev undertook his PhD with Professor D. H. R. Barton (later Sir Derek Barton) at Imperial College, London, and it was there that he was introduced to NMR spectroscopy: NMR would become Sev’s major research area for the rest of his career.
He was appointed as senior lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of Sydney in 1964 and, in 1977, he was appointed to the Chair of Organic Chemistry and Head of Department. Sev served as Head of the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney on two occasions.
He is probably best known for his pioneering research into the use of NMR as a tool to unravel the structures of organic compounds. His seminal monograph (with Lloyd Jackman), Applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in organic chemistry, published in 1969, became a ‘bible’ to generations of organic chemists.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Leslie D. Field.
S. C. B. (Ben) Gascoigne 1915–2010
Professor Sidney Charles Bartholomew Gascoigne AO FAA (1915–2010) was an Aotearoa New Zealand-born astronomer whose distinguished career was carried out mostly in Australia. Known to all as Ben Gascoigne, his warm personality and many contributions to Australian optical astronomy made him a respected and much-loved elder statesman of the science. His work on the development and commissioning of the Anglo-Australian Telescope (opened in 1974) is held in particularly high regard. In retirement, Ben took on a new career, supporting his wife Rosalie as she found fame as one of Australia’s most prominent artists.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Fred Watson.
Michael Robin Raupach 1950–2015
For four decades from the mid 1970s, Dr Michael Robin Raupach (Mike) was recognised around the world as a pre-eminent researcher in the fields of micrometeorology and Earth System science.
A scientist who combined a fertile imagination with outstanding analytical and mathematical skill, he played a pivotal role in transforming the way we understand and model interactions between those key components of the climate system, the living biosphere, and the atmosphere.
Based on the fundamental advances he had made in the understanding of flow and transport of heat, water vapour, momentum and trace gases at plant canopy scales, Mike proceeded to apply this knowledge at regional and then global scales, providing us with some of the essential tools that are now being used to understand anthropogenic climate change.
As well as a brilliant scientist, Mike was a much-valued mentor and supporter to colleagues around the world, especially to young scientists with whom he generously shared his help and insights.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Helen Cleugh and John Finnigan.
Marcello Costa 1940–2024
Marcello Costa (1940–2024) was a leading researcher in neuroscience. He was a lecturer in the School of Medicine at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia for 47 years; during this time his research concentrated on the autonomic nervous system, particularly the gastrointestinal tract and the control of motility.
He published many multidisciplinary studies based on a wide range of highly innovative methods. He played a key role in defining the roles of neuropeptides, in devising methods to characterise different classes of nerve cells, and in the quantitative analysis of intestinal motility.
He was also a humanist and a passionate advocate for public education in science.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Simon J. H. Brookes, David A. Wattchow, Nick J. Spencer and Phil G. Dinning.
Gordon Elliott (Tim) Wall 1925–2023
G. E. (Tim) Wall was one of Australia’s leading algebraists, whose work intersected many of the important algebraic themes of his era (roughly 1960–95). This biographical memoir follows his life from his birth in 1925 in Adelaide, through his professional career, mostly at the University of Sydney, giving some details of his family, personal interactions and research.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Gustav Lehrer.
George Adrian Horridge 1927–2024
Adrian Horridge is famous for his pioneering studies of invertebrate vision, wherein he used a variety of techniques, including optical analysis of the eyes, electrophysiology of the visual pathways, investigation of behaviour, and development of mathematical models of visual capacity and performance.
Born, raised and educated in the United Kingdom, Horridge moved to Australia in the late 1960s to take up a position as a Founding Professor of the Australian National University’s Research School of Biological Sciences. He established a thriving department of neurobiology, which became one of the world’s leading entities in this field. He went on to establish a Centre for Visual Science at the university to foster collaboration across several laboratories on campus. This ultimately led to the establishment of a very successful Australian Centre for Excellence in Vision Science, funded by the Australian Research Council and including participation from other laboratories across Australia, as well from overseas.
He was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society (1969) and the Australian Academy of Science (1971). Horridge continued to study and publish the results of his investigations on insect vision well beyond the date of his official retirement. He has received several awards and honours in recognition of his work.
Horridge is also known for his studies in another quite unrelated field—the design of Indonesian sailing craft from antiquity to the twentieth century.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Mandyam V. Srinivasan.
Derek Ashworth Denton 1924–2022
Derek Denton was born on 27 May 1924 in Launceston and educated at Launceston Grammar School. He studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1947.
During his residency at Royal Melbourne Hospital he cared for critically ill post-operative patients. This experience stimulated him to question accepted medical wisdom, leading to a lifelong quest to understand physiological mechanisms regulating body fluid and electrolyte homeostasis.
He joined the University of Melbourne’s Department of Physiology in 1949. There, together with Dr Victor Wynn, he initiated the Ionic Research Unit, investigating renal mechanisms regulating sodium and water balance, and began a mobile emergency service working across Melbourne hospitals to rapidly assess, and provide, fluid and electrolyte therapy for patients with life-threatening conditions.
In 1951, Denton moved to Cambridge, working with Professor E. Basil Verney to develop expertise in large animal physiology. While in Cambridge, he married Margaret Scott, a leading ballet dancer.
On returning to the Ionic Research Unit in 1953, he elucidated many aspects of the physiological regulation of bodily sodium and potassium balance utilising sheep with a chronic parotid fistula to induce sodium depletion, and sheep with transplanted adrenal gland to make groundbreaking discoveries regarding the physiological regulation of the salt-retaining hormone aldosterone. He also pioneered studies of salt appetite.
In the early 1960s, Denton played an important role in establishing the Howard Florey Laboratories in the University of Melbourne, and was appointed the first Director of the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine in 1971, retiring from this position in 1989. He continued experimental work during the next thirty years, focusing on brain function and instinctual behaviour.
Derek Denton was elected FAA in 1979, FRS in 1989 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2005. He died at his home on 18 November 2022.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by Michael J. McKinley.
David Headley Green 1936–2024
David Headley Green AM FAA FRS was an outstanding Australian geologist and world leader in experimental petrology and geochemistry.
His research, initially at the Australian National University with A. E. Ringwood, and later at the University of Tasmania, shaped our understanding of the composition of the Earth’s mantle and the origin of the wide spectrum of volcanic rocks erupted in different global tectonic settings.
David also had a significant impact on Antarctic science through studies of high-grade metamorphic rocks, but more broadly in fostering marine and climate science by championing the establishment at the University of Tasmania of a multidisciplinary research centre (now the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies).
His achievements and scientific leadership were recognised with many international and national awards, including membership of the Order of Australia. A considerate and compassionate man, David is also remembered for his interest in and care for others.
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About this memoir
This memoir was originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 36, 2025. It was written by A. Lynton Jaques, Gregory M. Yaxley and Simon L. Harley.