Spot the CV

[benguela]

@ingwe post:15

(November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996)He was an American astronomer, astrochemist, author, and highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

He is world-famous for writing popular science books. He also wrote the novel Contact, the basis for the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film of the same name starring Jodie Foster. During his lifetime, he published more than 600 scientific papers and popular articles and was author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books. In his works, he frequently advocated skeptical inquiry, secular humanism, and the scientific method.

pick me, pick me … John Steinbeck?

[ingwe]

@benguela post:21

@ingwe post:15

(November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996)He was an American astronomer, astrochemist, author, and highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

He is world-famous for writing popular science books. He also wrote the novel Contact, the basis for the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film of the same name starring Jodie Foster. During his lifetime, he published more than 600 scientific papers and popular articles and was author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books. In his works, he frequently advocated skeptical inquiry, secular humanism, and the scientific method.

pick me, pick me … John Steinbeck?

It was Carl Sagan as Mintaka said on the 14th

[ingwe]

@ingwe post:20

He(November 30, 1866, Paisley – April 6, 1951) was a South African doctor and paleontologist. He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1895 and received his DSc in 1905 from the University of Glasgow. In 1893 he married Mary Baird Baillie.

From 1903 to 1910 he was professor of zoö and geology at Victoria College, Stellenbosch, South Africa, and subsequently he became keeper of vertebrate paleontology at the South African Museum, Cape Town.

He was first known for his study of mammal-like reptiles. After Raymond Dart’s discovery of the Taung Child, an infant australopithecine, his interest in paleoanthropology was heightened. his career seemed over and he was sinking into poverty, when Dart wrote to Jan Smuts about the situation. Smuts exerting pressure on the South African government, managed to obtain a position for him, in 1934 with the staff of the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria as an Assistant in Palaeontology.

In the following years, he made a series of spectacular finds, including fragments from six hominids in Sterkfontein, which he named Plesianthropus transvaalensis, popularly called Mrs. Ples, but which was later classified as an adult Australopithecus africanus, as well as more discoveries at sites in Kromdraai and Swartkrans. In 1937, he made his most famous discovery of Paranthropus robustus. These discoveries helped support Dart’s claims for the Taung species.

The remainder of his career was devoted to the exploration of these sites and the interpretation of the many early hominid remains discovered there. In 1946 he proposed the Australopithecinae subfamily. He continued to write to the very last. Shortly before his death he finished a monograph on the Australopithecines and remarked to his nephew:

“Now that’s finished … and so am I.” [1]

[Mintaka]

Thanks for that interesting piece Ingwe. I for one need to brush up on my SA archeology!

Mintaka

[bluegray]

I think technically ingwe is still it, but I’m stealing it
I was thinking of this guy, but the timeline didn’t match up:

He is a South African palaeoanthropologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is best known for his pioneering work at South Africa’s famous hominid fossil sites, and is one of the world’s leading authorities on the evolution of humankind.
He is best known for his research on hominid fossils and human evolution, having studied and described hominid fossils from Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia. His best known work was on the hominids of East Africa, particularly those of the Olduvai Gorge. Collaborating with Louis Leakey, he identified, described and named the new species Homo habilis. He is closely linked with the archaeological excavation at the Sterkfontein site, a research programme he initiated in 1966.
In 1959 he became Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy and Human Biology, succeeding his mentor and eminent scholar, Professor Raymond Dart.

[Spike]

Robert Broom?

[ingwe]

@Spike post:26

Robert Broom?

Broom died in 1951. So he is out.

[ingwe]

I would put the initials as P V T

[Spike]

Ah man!! Talk about not seeing the wood for the trees! I attended some of his lectures, for FSM’s sake.

Tobias. Duh. Phillip Tobias.

[bluegray]

;D ;D Spike, your turn.

[Spike]

Let’s keep it light and entertaining (hope it’s not too cryptic):

Which American SF writer and political activist unsuccessfully pursued political office between 1999 and 2003? His CV includes Prometheus Awards and an essay “Why Did it Have to be … Guns?”

[Mintaka]

I will venture Gene Roddenberry with a 10% confidence level.

Mintaka

[Spike]

His first book was published in 1981 and won him the first of three Pometheus awards. He has since written or co-written over 20 books, and contributed to a few more. His work includes SF series, novels, graphic novels and nonfiction as well as several short stories contained in SF anthologies.

[Mintaka]

??? Ok Spike … enlighten us!

[ingwe]

He wrote The Forge of the Elders?

[Spike]

Yikes!! Sorry for dropping the ball like this, I was awaaaaay! for a long time. If anyone is still interested, it is L Neil Smith, or “El Neil” as he is affectionately known to his fans. I came across his book “The probability broach” a few years back and was sold to anarchism on the spot.

[skepticdetective]

@Mintaka post:19

Not bad! After all this time Gary Brolsma’s Numa Numa clip still has the power to turn me from a big Grinch into a mere grouch in one minute flat.

Maiya Hee!!
Mintaka

“numa numa” rocks! makes me laugh every time

[bluegray]

Spike, since nobody guessed right, you’re still it

[Mintaka]

Born in London in 1940 and raised an Orthodox Jew.
Medical doctor, scientist, author and television presenter.
Sits on the Labour Party benches in the House of Lords.
Fan of the Arsenal Football Club.

?

Rigil

[brianvds]

@Rigil Kent post:39

Born in London in 1940 and raised an Orthodox Jew.
Medical doctor, scientist, author and television presenter.
Sits on the Labour Party benches in the House of Lords.
Fan of the Arsenal Football Club.

?

Rigil

Robert Winston. One of the very few reasons to bother watching TV at all.