On 28 July 1999, Canada lost one of itsforemost chroniclers of the country’sastronomical heritage with the death of

Prof. John Edward Kennedy. Ed Kennedy was aprominent figure at astronomical gatheringsacross Canada from the 1960s until the 1990s,presenting learned papers on various topicsdealing with the history of astronomical sci-ence, especially of the 19th century, in Canada.

Ed Kennedy was born in Kemptville,Ontario, an agricultural town some 40 kmsouth of the nation’s capital, on 12 September1916. He was the one son among four children.After elementary education in a rural school,he attended high school (starting at the preco-cious age of 11) in Kemptville and was thenencouraged by his parents to continue his edu-cation at nearby Queen’s University inKingston, Ontario. He graduated from therewith a BA degree in mathematics and physicsin 1937. He then proceeded to McGill Univer-sity in Montreal, where he obtained his MSc inphysics, based on studies of the Stark Effect intin and lead, and was involved in the spectro-scopic analysis of carbon rods related to theManhattan Project.

Like so many young researchers of that day,he was absorbed into the war effort, joiningthe National Research Council of Canada,where he worked on the testing, refurbishingand calibration of optical equipment. In 1945,he became a member of the physics faculty atthe University of New Brunswick (UNB) inFredericton, New Brunswick. It was there thatfate defined his life-long passion for the histo-ry of astronomy and astronomical instrumen-tation. Summer work related to the analysis ofradio-therapy installations in the province wasfollowed by summer appointments at theDominion Observatory in Ottawa. This led tohis meeting Peter Millman, who prodded Edinto refurbishing and recording some of thehistory of the observatory at UNB, arguablythe first and certainly the oldest existing astro-nomical observatory in what is now Canada.This led Ed to research the work and teachingsof Brydone Jack, who built the observatory in1851 and carried out important longitudedeterminations relevant to the establishment ofborders with the United States. From thatpoint on, Ed was “hooked” on a life-longstudy of 19th century (and earlier) astronomyin Canada and elsewhere. As a physics studentat UNB at that time, I well remember hisardent enthusiasm for the recognition and

appreciation of our astronomical heritage. Itwas also through his association with PeterMillman and the Dominion Observatory thathe had the opportunity to operate a spectro-graph on-board an aircraft over the NorthAtlantic during the June 1954 total solareclipse – igniting another life-long interest: his-toric eclipse expeditions.

In 1956, Ed left behind his full professorshipat UNB to embark upon a period of applied-physics research with the Defence ResearchMedical Laboratories in Toronto. Over thenext nine years he became an expert in themicro-climate of arctic clothing and militaryfootwear. But this did not result in a decreasein his astronomical interests. He joined theRoyal Astronomical Society of Canada(RASC), and in 1958 he became National Sec-retary of the organization.

A new phase of his career began in 1965 whenEd returned to academia, accepting an appoint-ment as Assistant Professor of Physics at theUniversity of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Herehe initiated new courses in astronomy, lookedafter the University’s observatory, and resumedhis historical research. He continued to servethe RASC in various capacities in the followingyears and held the office of National Presidentfrom 1968–1970. In 1971, he became a chartermember of the newly created Canadian Astro-nomical Society and served as chair of its Her-

itage Committee from 1980–1982. He waselected a Fellow of the Royal AstronomicalSociety in 1974. Prof. Kennedy was a memberof the IAU and participated in the affairs ofCommissions 41 (History of Astronomy) and46 (Teaching of Astronomy).

At the University of Saskatchewan, his teach-ing, administrative and people skills werequickly recognized as he became a full profes-sor of physics in 1969, and served as AssistantDean of Arts and Science from 1968–1982.During sabbaticals in England, he delvedthrough astronomical archives and added tohis collection of several hundreds of 16th–19thcentury texts of historical astronomical signifi-cance (which was subsequently bequeathed toQueen’s University). His retirement from theUniversity in 1984 did not diminish this histor-ical research at all, and he continued to writeand publish up until his death. His last pub-lished paper dealt with Airy and the Maine–New Brunswick border surveys, and appearedin the Journal of Astronomical History andHeritage in 1999. A book on the lectures ofBrydone Jack, which had been accepted forpublication prior to his death, will be broughtto fruition by collaborators at the University ofSaskatchewan and the University of Alberta.

In 1998, the RASC honoured Ed Kennedywith a Lifetime Service Award, the first everpresented, in recognition of his “untiringefforts to promote and preserve the historicalrecord of the development of astronomy inCanada”. Those of us who have had theopportunity to know Ed Kennedy will longremember a true gentleman, an irrepressibleraconteur, and an enthusiastic scholar.

He is survived by his wife Virginia, his sonDavid, his daughters Barbara and Janet, eightgrandchildren, and two step-daughters. Hisfirst wife, Caroline, died in 1994. Lloyd Higgs, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics,Penticton, Canada.

2.36 April 2000 Vol 41

OBITUARIES

Ed Kennedy

John Edward Kennedy 1916–1999 Fellow of the RAS, President of the RASC, scholar of astronomical history.

Deaths of Fellows

Mr W H BarnettBorn 1 December 1915Elected 12 April 1957Died 22 December 1999

Prof. W Becker*Born 13 September 1917Elected 12 February 1965Died 20 November 1996

Dr N U Mayall*Elected 10 April 1959Died 5 January 1993

*Associates

GEN

E H

ATTO

RI,

SASK

ATO

ON

2.37April 2000 Vol 41

OBITUARIES

Professor Charles Gorrie Wynne, whowas born in Leicester on 18 May 1911,was one of the principal figures in the

small and select international community ofoptical designers involved with the design ofastronomical instruments.

In the astronomical field, Charles Wynne isknown for his major contributions to thedesign of field correctors for astronomicaltelescopes and for the optical systemsinvolved in astronomical spectroscopy. In thewider field of optical design he is most wide-ly known for his method of lens optimiza-tion, which has had more influence on mod-ern lens design than any other singlecomputational technique.

Charles Wynne first started work as a lensdesigner in 1936, with the Taylor, Taylor andHobson (TT&H) company in Leicester. Hejoined that company as a young graduatealmost by chance. He had gone to OxfordUniversity from the Wyggeston GrammarSchool in Leicester with the aid of a scholar-ship to Exeter College, but his undergraduatelife had been badly disrupted by tuberculosis.He was at home convalescing when a relativesuggested that he might apply for a job in thelens factory which was about half a milefrom his home. He did that and was recruit-ed by Arthur Warmisham, who had designedthe world’s first zoom lens in collaborationwith the Bell and Howell company in Chica-go a few years before. Lens design at thattime was a gruelling, numerically intensivetask, where the only tools were mechanicalcalculators, trigonometric tables (purchasedin bulk because they wore out so quickly)and the assistance of human “computers”. Itwas in this arduous but flourishing environ-ment that Charles Wynne had the opportuni-ty to learn the lens designer’s trade.

Although Charles Wynne’s undergraduatelife had been badly disrupted by TB, it cannothave been completely disrupted because itwas at Oxford that he first met his futurewife Jean Richardson. They were married in1937 and had three children.

Charles Wynne worked for TT&H until1943, and then moved to the Wray (OpticalWorks) company in Bromley in Kent, wherehe stayed until 1960. It was while he workedfor the Wray company that he first becameprofessionally involved with astronomicaloptics, and where, at a very early date, he

was in the forefront of the deployment ofelectronic computers in lens design and wherehe developed his method of lens optimiza-tion. His period with the Wray company wasmarked by a prolific output of innovativeoptical design work: significant improve-ments to aerial reconnaissance and aerial sur-vey camera lenses; an internationally respect-ed suite of lenses for the Wrayflex camera(Britain’s only full field of view, single lensreflex camera); field correctors for the Palo-mar 200 inch telescope (and then many othertelescopes); a remarkable f/0.71 cameraobjective for the mass radiography pro-grammes in the 1950s (giving particular satis-faction to a former TB patient); a catadiop-tric microscope objective; several catadioptricastrographic camera objectives, and the manylens designs required as grist in a busy opti-cal company.

In 1960, on the strength of his astronomicalwork, and his work on the computer-assistedoptimization of lenses, he was invited byPatrick Blackett to join the long-establishedTechnical Optics Section at Imperial Collegein South Kensington as the director of a

newly formed Optical Design Group. Hestayed in this post, teaching and doingresearch until 1978. Notable lens designwork in this period was the design of thedoublet achromatic corrector plates that wereretro-fitted to the sibling Palomar and Anglo-Australian 1.2 metre Schmidt cameras, andthe design of a unit magnification microlitho-graphy objective for the printing of wide fieldelectronic microcircuit patterns.

In 1972, while still at Imperial College,Charles Wynne joined two senior opticalmaster craftsmen from the Hilger and Wattscompany, Harry Yates and Charles Pataky,and three academic colleagues, ProfsWelford, Ring and Garton to form an opticalcompany under the aegis of Imperial College.The purpose of this company, IC Optical Sys-tems Ltd, was (and still is) to make specialistoptical instruments for mainly scientificapplications. He remained on the board ofthis company until 1996 and was chairmanduring the years 1975–88, during which timehe saw the company move outside the uni-versity and become an independent commer-cial concern.

In 1978 he retired from Imperial College totake up a full-time post with the RoyalGreenwich Observatory to work on telescopedesign and on the development of spectro-graphs for astronomical applications. Fromthere he moved to the Institute of Astronomyat the University of Cambridge in 1987,where he remained in more or less full-timescientific work until last year, when he sub-mitted his last scientific paper for publica-tion. This is on the aberrations of the 8 mGemini telescopes (a collaboration betweenthe UK and three other international part-ners).

In addition to the hard core of opticaldesign work in industry and in academicresearch, Prof. Charles Wynne held asequence of policy-making committee postsas an honorary secretary with the Institute ofPhysics from 1947 to 1966. He was also theeditor of the scientific journal Optica Actafrom 1954 to 1965. In 1970 he was elected tothe Royal Society as a Fellow. He received theThomas Young Medal of the Institute ofPhysics in 1971, the Royal AstronomicalSociety Gold Medal in 1979, the RumfordMedal of the Royal Society in 1982, and in1999 he was awarded the Conrady medal ofthe International Society for Optical Engi-neering (SPIE).

Charles Wynne died in Cambridge on 1October 1999. He is survived by his wife Jeanand two of their three children.Jonathan Maxwell.

Charles Wynne

Charles Gorrie Wynne FRSFellow and Gold Medallist of the RAS, Fellow of the Royal Society; outstandingoptical designer for astronomy.

2.38 April 2000 Vol 41

OBITUARIES

Becky Elson was a leading exponent ofstudies of stellar populations using thecapabilities provided by the Hubble

Space Telescope. Becky’s scientific interestsfocused on observational studies of stellar pop-ulations in a variety of environments, from thesolar neighbourhood, to the Virgo and Fornaxclusters, to distant star-forming regions in theHubble Deep Field. She is best known for herwork on the structure and luminosity functionsof rich star clusters, especially the clusters ofthe Large Magellanic Cloud and the MilkyWay galaxy. She was most recently extendingthis work through a large project using theHubble Space Telescope.

Becky Elson died peacefully on 19 May 1999,from lymphoma. Becky remained brave, posi-tive, cheerful and indomitable until the last, asshe was through her many years of treatment.

Becky grew up in Montreal, earned an under-graduate degree from Smith College in Massa-chusetts, an MSc from the University of BritishColumbia, including time spent at the Univer-sity of St Andrews, and a period as a summerstudent at ROE, working with Tim Hawarden.This experience was followed by a PhD at theInstitute of Astronomy, Cambridge (1982–1986), where she was supervised by Mike Falland collaborated with Ken Freeman. Her PhDresearch began the work on star clusters in theMagellanic Clouds which was to remain a sub-stantial part of her scientific focus throughout

her career. Following Cambridge she was apostdoctoral fellow at the Institute forAdvanced Study, Princeton (1986–1989),beginning work on the relationship betweenthe stellar mass function and the subsequentdynamical evolution of globular clusters. Shewas then Science Scholar at the Bunting Insti-tute, Radcliffe College, and Center for Astro-physics, Harvard, being actively involved inteaching writing and developing her own liter-ary interests, to complement her research.

In 1991, Becky returned to Cambridge,working on HST data. This was as part of theMedium Deep Survey, one of the three HSTKey Projects. The Medium Deep Survey exist-ed to exploit the parallel data obtained withthe WF/PC camera during spectroscopic obser-vations. The early years of this project, as withall HST work, were complicated by the tele-scope problems, imposing on all of us a steep-er learning curve than anticipated. Nonethe-less, Becky and her collaborators rose to thechallenge, producing substantial science ongalaxy morphology at much fainter magni-tudes than previously possible, initiating stud-ies which much later culminated in the HubbleDeep Fields.

Following HST repair it was possible toreturn to detailed studies of stellar populationsin globular clusters, in field stars of nearbygalaxies, and globular clusters of distant galax-ies. Becky set the record in the latter field, dis-

covering and analysing the globular cluster sys-tem of a galaxy in the HDF-N which has dis-tance modulus 39 magnitudes, where thebrightest clusters are magnitude 28.3. Amongher other substantial scientific contributions,one notes discovery of bimodal colour distrib-utions in globular cluster systems, and in thefield stars of a very distant S0 galaxy. Themajority of Becky’s papers, however, are relat-ed to her first love, the nature and evolution ofglobular clusters in the Local Group, a subjectmade quantitative by HST, and muchadvanced by Becky’s contributions.

In addition to her scientific excellence, Beckylived life to the full, including among her manytalents being a keen soccer player and a talent-ed and much published poet. She is survived byher artist husband, Angelo di Cintio. Gerry Gilmore.

Rebecca Anne Wood Elson 1960–1999 Fellow of the RAS, quantitative observer of star clusters and poet.

Becky Elson

Astronomy & Geophysics is a journal for thepublication of serious scientific articles ofinterest to a broad range of astronomers andgeophysicists. Submissions can cover anytopic likely to be of interest to members of theRAS. Introduce material at a level compre-hensible to a graduate in the subject, but donot limit discussion to this level. The Editorencourages contributions of accuracy and sci-entific authority, with a topical slant wherefeasible. The Editor welcomes lively writingand a variety of personal styles, but reservesthe right to reject unsuitable material.

Articles should be provided in electronicform if possible; we use Word6. Paper sub-missions are also acceptable. Other wordprocessor formats, Tex and LaTeX are alsopossible; rtf files are preferred. In all cases,authors submitting electronically must post or

fax a print-out of their paper (including fig-ures) to the Editor before the manuscript willbe considered. Manuscripts must include abrief, informative abstract of about 150words. The body of the text should be divid-ed using subheadings. Use SI units whereappropriate and explain acronyms. We prefera small number of high-quality illustrations,at the Editor’s discretion: the main criteria arecontent and quality. Illustrations should besent digitally in a vector file format, prefer-ably tif. Good quality prints or transparenciesare also suitable. Give brief but informativefigure captions. Page proofs are faxed toauthors for approval; corrections and changesmust be returned promptly.

References follow the style of MNRAS. Inthe text, cite authors and date, using et al. forthree or more authors.

A&G News pieces are shorter items of top-ical interest, reports on major internationalmeetings, summaries of advances in specialistfields and so on. Suggestions are welcome:please contact the Editor. A&G Views pub-lishes letters of general interest and timely sci-entific correspondence. All may be edited forreasons of clarity and space.

All contributions should be submitted to theEditor, Dr Sue Bowler, Astronomy & Geo-physics, Department of Physics and Astrono-my, The University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT,Britain. E-mail to a.and.g@ast.leeds.ac.uk.

Submission implies that the manuscript hasnot been previously published nor currentlysubmitted for publication elsewhere. Onacceptance of a manuscript, authors arerequired to transfer the copyright to the RAS.It is the authors’ responsibility to obtain per-mission to publish any copyright material.

Guidelines for authors submitting to A&G