David Jacobus Bosch 13 December 1929 – 15 April 1992 was an influential missiologist and theologian best known for his book Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (1991) — a major work on post-colonial Christian mission. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK). On Freedom Day, 27 April 2013, he posthumously received
Phillip Vallentine Tobias FRS 14 October 1925 – 7 June 2012 was a South African palaeoanthropologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He was best known for his work at South Africa’s hominid fossil sites. He was also an activist for the eradication of apartheid and gave numerous anti-apartheid speeches at protest rallies and also to academic audiences. Contents
James Leonard Brierley Smith, known more commonly as “J. L. B. Smith“, 26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968, was a South African ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought to be long extinct. Contents 1Early life 2Discovery of the coelacanth 3Death and
Sir Basil Ferdinand Jamieson Schonland OMG CBE FRS 2 February 1896 – 24 November 1972 was noted for his research on lightning, his involvement in the development of radar during World War II and for being the first president of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Contents 1Birth and parentage 2Education 3World War I service 4Early research 5Marriage and children
Buyisiwe Sondezi became the first woman in Africa to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Experimental physics of highly correlated matter when she graduated at University of Johannesburg on 23 September 2014. Academic life Buyisiwe is the first born child and a sister of ten siblings. She grew up in Newcastle and learnt science at a rural school. The school had no
Ramotholo Rafael Sefako born 1971 is a South African astrophysicist. He is one of the first three black astro-physicists in South Africa. Biography Sefako matriculated with distinction from Khukhune High School in Botha-Bothe-Lesotho and obtained his BSc degree at the University of Lesotho. He received his doctorate in astronomy from the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated PU for
Peter Clive Sarnak FRS MAE born 18 December 1953 is a South African-born mathematician with dual South-African and American nationalities. Sarnak has been a member of the permanent faculty of the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study since 2007. He is also Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University since 2002, succeeding Andrew Wiles, and is an editor of the Annals
Austin Roberts 3 January 1883 – 5 May 1948 was a South African zoologist. He is best known for his Birds of South Africa, first published in 1940. He also studied the mammalian fauna of the region: his work The mammals of South Africa was published posthumously in 1951. The 7th edition of Roberts’ Birds of Southern Africa which appeared
Hans Merensky 16 March 1871 – 21 October 1952 was a South African geologist, prospector, scientist, conservationist and philanthropist. He discovered the rich deposit of alluvial diamonds at Alexander Bay in Namaqualand, vast platinum and chrome reefs at Lydenburg, Rustenburg and Potgietersrus, which led to some of the largest platinum mines in the world, phosphates
Thebe Rodney Medupe born 1973 is a South African astrophysicist and founding director of Astronomy Africa. He is perhaps best known for his work on the Cosmic Africa project that attempts to reconcile science and myth. Contents 1Biography 1.1Cultural Astronomy Research 2Cosmic Africa 3Notes 4External links Biography Thebe Medupe, born in 1972, grew up in a poor village outside Mmabatho,