Astronomy students at the University of Manitoba in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s could never be certain who would be teaching their class on a given day.
It might have been Prof. Martin Clutton-Brock, but it could, just as easily, have been Galileo.
That was one of the reasons Clutton-Brock’s classes were especially popular. Students, delighting in his depictions of famous astronomers, often responded with applause and standing ovations at the end of one of his educational performances.
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University of Manitoba professor Martin Clutton-Brock, seen here portraying the astronomer Copernicus, died in July at the age of 90.
Longtime UFO guy, science writer and educator Chris Rutkowski knew the notable professor, and took several of his classes at the University of Manitoba in the mid-1970s.
“He was, without any hyperbole, the best professor I ever had,” Rutkowski said. “I clearly recall the first-year astronomy classes when Martin showed up dressed as Galileo and (Danish astronomer) Tycho Brahe, and taught astronomy from the perspective of those historical figures, in character. He made the subject really come alive — literally. It was an amazing way to gain insight into how scientific principles were discovered.
“When we would occasionally run into one another, he always wanted me to tell him about my latest articles and books, and he was always receptive and encouraging of my own work. I had many conversations with him about astronomy and other fields of science. I read his published scientific papers and noted when his work was cited by other researchers, specifically cosmologists. In many ways, Martin made science interesting — a talent that I and others valued greatly. He will be missed.”
Clutton-Brock died July 31 at the age of 90.
Born in Bexhill, Sussex, United Kingdom, the only child revelled in playing in the garden and considered studying entomology. After attending a prestigious boarding school, he completed two years of military service in the British air force.
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Clutton-Brock portraying Newton
After studying math and physics at Cambridge, he continued his education on North America’s West Coast, where he earned a master’s in astronomy in Victoria and a PhD in Seattle. He went on to collect post-doctoral degrees at Bexhill College, Newcastle University and the University of Brighton in the U.K. and at the University of Toronto.
While in a café at Brighton, Clutton-Brock and his wife Elizabeth Nicol were invited to have lunch with world-renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking, considered to be the most brilliant theoretical physicist of all time.
Clutton-Brock was in awe of Hawking — who revolutionized the field of physics through his work on the origin of the universe and the black hole explosion theory — as they shared ideas during the lunch meeting, about the beginning of the universe. Like Hawking, Clutton-Brock had a soaring intellect, an intense curiosity about the world and a playful sense of humour.
Shauna Coons, Nicol’s cousin, remembers him as being passionate about his work.
“He had so many books. At least half of the thousands of books were about astronomy and the stars, the science of the universe, the big bang theory — all of those things really interested him,” Coons recalls. “He was so interesting to talk to. I found books on Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, religion, ancient peoples, humanity and young-adult books… cartoon books — at least 100 of them. He loved Calvin and Hobbes. Maybe there was some Calvin in himself that he recognized. He would tear out the cartoons; he had scrapbooks of cartoons that he liked.
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Clutton-Brock at the age of four or five with Emily, his nursemaid and dog, Martha.
“He wrote and performed one-man plays portraying the astronomers Newton, Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe and Galileo, describing their lives and theories while in character. He had such a mathematical-physics-science part of his brain, but he was also very creative. He sketched, he drew — he was multi-talented.”
Both the avid reader and his wife adored the philosophy of life depicted in Winnie the Pooh. Nicol had a copy of the original children’s story. The couple also shared a commitment to vegetarianism.
Nicol remembers meeting Clutton-Brock when they were both students at the University of Victoria. “We were sort of two lonely fish. There weren’t many people in graduate school. He invited me to dinner,” she said, adding they celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary before his death.
One favourite memory involves a historical time in her husband’s country of origin.
“In Britain they’re very fond of power cuts: they’d cut power for three hours at a time,” Nicol said. “There were no traffic lights. We were in the suburb of Brighton, and we’d go right by the sea. On these days we used to scoot down from university, get across the street and onto the sea front where we could walk for miles. It was just lovely. We’d walk along there until 9 o’clock, and when the lights would come back we could cross the street.”
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Clutton-Brock and his wife, Elizabeth Nicol, celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary.
Clutton-Brock never drove. He’d once witnessed a serious car accident, and decided he’d never put himself in a situation like that.
“He would be distracted,” said Coons. “When we would be going to appointments, Martin would say, ‘It’s a good thing that I’m not driving. The world is safer because I did not drive a car.’ And Elizabeth, who is legally blind would add, ‘But I don’t know why they didn’t give me one.’”
Kings Drive in Winnipeg became home for the couple for more than two decades when, in the mid-1970s, Clutton-Brock accepted the job at the U of M, where he taught until his mandatory retirement at age 65 in 1997.
In his later years he had been writing a graphic novel about astronomy.
“It’s one of those of children’s notebooks, written in a scribbler,” Coons said. “What he was trying to do was explain the universe in as many different functions in a simplistic format for anyone to understand. He was prepared to do rough drawings, get graphic artists to support him and he continued working on it until 2021.”
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Clutton-Brock gardening at his home on Kings Drive.
He and Nicol spent the last few years living in Regina, where they had relocated to be closer to family.
“He left a legacy that was rich and vibrant,” said Coons. “He supported learning in a creative and meaningful way about topics that maybe you took as one of your electives because you had to. But if you ended up in Martin’s class, what a gift that was. He wished that retirement hadn’t been mandatory. He hated the marking, but he loved the teaching and the students, and he also loved what they could teach him. He wasn’t just a spewer of information, he appreciated the give and take of an educational institution and topics that were worthy of the next generation.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
