FRIENDS OF IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN
MUSEUM Non-Profit Organisation 052-511-NPO Postal address: P O Box 61 Cape Town 8000 South Africa Physical address: 25 Queen Victoria Street Cape Town South Africa Phone: 021 481 3913 Fax: 021 481 3993 Cell: 072 225 6893 E-mail: samfriends@iziko.org.za Website http://www.iziko.org.za/; http://www.iziko.org.za/ static/page/friends-of-the-south-african-museum
NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2013
The year is speeding by and there are still many interesting lectures and activities to enjoy as Spring approaches. I hope you will join in and enjoy some new experiences with the Friends.
LECTURE PROGRAMME The lecture programme continues on the last Tuesday of each month. All lectures will be in the TH Barry Lecture Theatre at Iziko South African Museum, as always at 19:00, unless otherwise advertised. Entrance is free to members on presentation of a valid 2013 membership card. Visitors are asked for a donation of R30. Tuesday 27 August Speaker: Dr Helen Robinson Topic: The villages of the Liesbeek River Years of research and personally exploring the area surrounding the Liesbeeck River has revealed interesting stories and characters which emphasise the role the river has played in the formation of the Southern Suburbs, as we know them today. Dr Robinson has written a book of the same name with numerous illustrations, some of which she will use in this lecture. NB: THE SEPTEMBER LECTURE COINCIDES WITH A PUBLIC HOLIDAY AND WILL THEREFORE MOVE TO TUESDSAY 1 OCTOBER
Tuesday 1 October Speaker: Dr Wayne K Florence, Curator of Marine Biology at Iziko Topic: African ‘Bryodiversity’: a contribution to the works on the neglected marine invertebrate fauna of southern Africa. Our knowledge of the southern African marine fauna is outdated and fragmented, with previous work focused on commercial species of crustaceans, molluscs and fishes. In this talk Dr Florence will introduce the Bryozoa; a neglected, but increasingly important group of, lesser known, colonial animals. He will explore their fascinating biology, usefulness and diversity, while making reference to the potential applications of Iziko’s current research on these beasts. Tuesday 29 October Speaker: Professor Mike Bruton Topic: Life and Death of the Dodo Professor Mike Bruton has a fondness for island animals that are endangered or extinct, like the coelacanth and the dodo. In this presentation he explores the natural and cultural history of one of the most famous extinct animals, the dodo, and attempts to answer a number of questions: How did a large, flightless bird reach Mauritius? Why did it go extinct? Why is it still so well known? Could we rebreed it? The answer is ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’, as Churchill would have said. The plot includes hungry Dutch sailors, an inquisitive school teacher, a maths boffin, a little girl and a famous book. Don’t miss it!