| Description | Present at the meeting: Professor W V D Hodge in he Chair; Sir Miles Clifford; Rear Admiral K St B Collins; Dr G E R Deacon; Sir Vivian Fuchs; Dr E Hindle; Brigadier M Hotine; Mr H H Lamb; Mr J Paton; Dr G de Q Robin; Mr G Seligman; Professor F W Shotton; Professor J E Smith; Dr R Stoneley; Sir Graham Ssutton; Sir James Wordie
1. Terms of Reference and Membership
Committee appointed by Council at its meeting on 18 December 1958 where it agreed to the following membership and terms of references of the British National Committee on Antarctic Research, set up at its meeting of 16 October 1958;
(a) Membership
Chairman - Sir Raymond Priestley
Ex Officio - The Physical Secretary (Acting Chairman); The Biological Secretary; The Foreign Secretary; Scientific Director, Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, Sir Vivian Fuchs; Director of Overseas Survey, Brigadier M Hotine; Hydrographer of the Navy, Rear Admiral K St B Collins; Director of the National Institute of Oceanography, Dr G E R Deacon; Director General of the Meteorological Office, Sir Graham Sutton; United Kingdom delegate to SCAR, Dr G de Q Robin
Representatives from the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Miles Clifford and Dr E Hindle; British Glaciological Society, Mr G Seligman; Scott Polar Research Institute, Dr S Evans; Royal Society of Edinburgh, Mr J Paton; Medical Research Council, Dr L G C E Pugh; Royal Meteorological Society, Mr H H Lamb; Royal Society, Mr A H Sheffield, Professor F W Shotton, Professor J E Smith, Dr R L Smith-Rose, Dr R Stoneley, and Sir James Wordie
(b) Terms of Reference
(i) To co-ordinate United Kingdom activities in connection with research in Antarctica, particularly with regard to the activities of the Special Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) of the International Council of Scientific Unions
(ii) To report to the Council of the Royal Society
2. SCAR Constitution
3. SCAR Scientific Programme
(a) Meteorology
(b) Ionosphere
(c) Auroral Physics
(d) Geomagnetism
(e) Cosmic Rays
(f) Geology
(g) Glaciology
(h) Geomorphology
(i) Cartography
(j) Seismology
(k) Gravity
(l) Vulcanology
(m) Oceanogrphy
(n) Sea Ice
(o) Marine Biology
(p) Biology
(q) Physiology
4. Antarctic Radio Communications Working Group
5. Halley Bay Programme 1960
6. SCAR Meeting, Canberra, March 1959
7. Other Expeditions
8. Proposed Visit to England by Dr M M Somov, Deputy Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Institute in Leningrad
9. Application to Join USSR [Union of Societ Socialist Republics] Antarctic Expedition
10. Antarctic Symposium, Buenos Aires
11. SCAR Bulletin
12. Next Meeting
It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the Committee at 10.30 am on Monday, 13 April 1959
13. Polish Antarctic Expedition
It was reported that a small party of Polish scientists was proceeding to the Antarctic aboard a Soviet ship with the intention of manning the Bunger Oasis Station previously occupied by Soviet International Geophysical Year scientists. It was not known whether the Polish scientists would be at the base only for the summer of 1959 or if they would be spending twelve months there. In the light of a letter dated 7 January 1959 from the Scientific Secretary of the Polish National IGY Committee, it was agreed that they were probably doing sufficient scientific work for Poland to be considered eligible for membership of SCAR.
Summary of recommendations to Council;
Minute 3(a): that Sir Raymond Priestley, Professor Frank Debenham, Dr G de Q Robin and Mr J MacDowall be appointed the United Kingdom representatives at a Symposium on Antarctic Meteorology to be held in Melbourne, 18-25 February 1959, and that grants be made for their expenses and fares within Australia.
Minute 6 : that Sir Raymond Priesteley, Professor Frank Debenham and Mr J MacDowall be appointed advisers to the United Kingdom delegate, Dr G de Q Robin, at the Third Meeting of SCAR to be held in Canberra, 2-6 March 1959, and that grants be made for the travelling expenses within Australia of these three advisers. |