Fellows' biographical memoirs

Hans Freeman was a leading figure in X-ray crystallography and other advanced X-ray techniques in Australia and internationally. He played an important role in gaining access for Australian scientists to international facilities such as synchrotron radiation sources at the dawning of the era of ‘Big Science’.

With the death of Herbert Cole ('Nugget') Coombs on 29 October 1997, Australia lost its greatest public servant, a man who spent his life as an employee of the Commonwealth initiating major civilizing activities in economic and cultural fields, and after his retirement became a great champion of the rights of Aboriginal Australians.

Herbert George Andrewartha was born in Perth on 21 December 1907, the second of three children of George and Elsie Andrewartha. His father was a primary-school teacher, later a headmaster. The family moved often to country towns in Western Australia where his father was posted, but they maintained a base in a small farm at Gosnells, about 40 km from Perth.

Bert Green's influence on the development of theoretical science in Australia during the nearly fifty years he lived here cannot be overestimated. From the time he arrived in Adelaide in July 1951, until his death on 16 February 1999, he produced articles and books covering topics as diverse as particle physics, environmental science and neurophysiology. In each of the areas in which he worked, his contributions were always marked by erudition and originality.

When the Australian fifty-dollar note was issued in 1972, it bore the heads of two scientists. On one side was Howard Florey, co-discoverer of penicillin. On the other side was Ian Clunies Ross. His reputation was due in part to concrete achievements, but also to the fact that, with a distinctive appearance, personality and style, he caught the imagination of many of those who met him or heard him speak.

Ian McDougall was a renowned Earth scientist who gained worldwide distinction for his research in the fields of K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology.

Ian Thornton was a fine zoologist, an accomplished academic acknowledged internationally as an authority in his field, and an admired leader and mentor to his colleagues and to generations of students. He came to Australia in early 1968 as Foundation Professor of Zoology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and remained associated with that department, latterly as Emeritus Professor, for the rest of his life.

James Meadows Rendel was born on 16 May 1915 in England. He moved to Australia in 1951 to join CSIRO and was appointed Chief of the Division of Animal Genetics in 1959. He was elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 1960, retired from CSIRO in 1980 and died on 4 February 2001. His influence on genetics and the development of the theory and practice of animal breeding in Australia was profound.

Jeremy Pickett-Heaps was a biologist whose acute observational powers were fed by a deep fascination for how cells work; he had an affinity for the myriad diversity of algae and other protists in general and for what they could teach us about all cells.

John Atherton Young conducted research on the physiology of epithelial ducts – beginning with those of the kidney but later centring on salivary glands and the pancreas – bringing him international recognition as a leader in the field.