Brian Warner (astronomer) explained

Brian Warner
Birth Date:	25 May 1939
Birth Place:	Crawley Down, Sussex, England
Death Place:	South Africa
Thesis Title:	Abundances in Late-Type Stars
Thesis Year:	1964
Doctoral Advisor:	Roy Henry Garstang

Brian Warner (25 May 1939 – 5 May 2023) was a British South African optical astronomer who was Emeritus Distinguished Professor of natural philosophy at the University of Cape Town. Warner's research included cataclysmic variable stars, pulsars, degenerate stars and binary stars. He also researched and published on the history of astronomy in South Africa.

Biography

Early life and education

Warner was born 25 May 1939 in Crawley Down, Sussex, England. His father was a gardener on a country estate and his mother was a charwoman.^[1] He didn't pass his eleven-plus exam, failing in mathematics, but was nonetheless admitted to the East Grinstead County Grammar School on the recommendation of his teacher. As a schoolboy he befriended the noted amateur astronomer Patrick Moore who lived nearby in East Grinstead where Warner and his friends would use Moore's telescope.^[2]

Warner went to University College London (UCL) in 1958 to study undergraduate astronomy. As a student, he was able to use the University of London Observatory. His first two papers were published in 1960, shortly before he graduated. The first in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association on rilles near the lunar crater Pluto, the second in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on the emission spectra of Venus.^{[3] [4]} Warner remained at UCL for postgraduate studies, completing a PhD in astronomical spectroscopy in 1964 titled Abundances in Late type Stars. His doctoral supervisor was Roy Henry Garstang.^[5] For his thesis research he travelled to the Radcliffe Observatory in Pretoria, South Africa, to use the observatory's 1.9m (06.2feet) telescope.

Career

Warner became a postdoctoral researcher at UCL, before being awarded a Radcliffe-Henry Skynner Fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford, though the university didn't have its own observatory. In 1967 he was recruited to the University of Texas at Austin for his experience in spectroscopy.^[6] He also worked with his colleagues Ed Nather and David Evans in developing the new field of high-speed photometry for studying variable stars and measuring stellar radii by observing lunar occultations.^{[7] [8]} In 1972 he was recruited as the first professor of astronomy at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and as head of the astronomy department. Nather also moved to UCT to undertake a PhD, with Warner as his doctoral supervisor. From 1981 to 1983, he served as president of the Royal Society of South Africa.^[9] Warner was head of the astronomy department until 1999, before formally retiring in 2004 though he continued to undertake research.^[10]

Warner died 5 May 2023 aged 83.^[11]

Awards and honours

• McIntyre Award (1983) of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa^[12]
• The John F.W. Herschel Medal (1988) of the Royal Society of South Africa^[13]
• South Africa Medal (1989) of the Southern African Association for the Advancement of Science^[14]
• Gill Medal (1992) of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
• Honorary fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (1994)^[15]
• Honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (1995)^[16]
• Science-for-Society Gold Medal (2004) of the Academy of Science of South Africa^{[17] [18]}
• Honorary fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (2008)^{[19] [20]}
• Honorary doctorate from the University of Cape Town (2009)^[21]
• Honorary fellow of University College London (2009)^[22]
• Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (2009)^[23]

Books

Authored

• Book: Warner, Brian . Astronomers at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope . . 1979 . 978-0-86961-109-8 . Cape Town.
• Book: Warner, Brian . Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Artist: His Cape Years 1835–1845 . A. A. Balkema . 1983 . 0-86961-133-X . Cape Town.
• Book: Warner . Brian . Warner . Nancy . A. A. Balkema . 1984 . 0-86961-145-3 . Cape Town .
• Book: Warner, Brian . High Speed Astronomical Photometry . . 1988 . 978-0-521-35150-8.
• Book: Warner, Brian . . 1995 . 0-7923-3527-9 . Dordrecht .
• Book: Warner, Brian . . 1996 . 0-511-58649-3 .
• Book: Warner, Brian . Firfield Pamphlet Press . 1996 . 1-875058-06-0 . Cape Town .
• Book: Warner . Brian . Rourke . John . 1998 . Brenthurst Press . 0-909079-55-2 . Houghton .
• Book: Warner, Brian . University of Cape Town Press . 2006 . 1-919713-75-1 .
• Book: Warner, Brian . Snailpress . Illustrated by Tony Grogan . 2007 . 978-0-620-38273-1 . Plumstead .

Edited

• Book: Franklin, Jane . Friends of the South African Library . 1985 . 0-620-08355-7 . Warner . Brian . Cape Town . Jane Franklin . Warner . Nancy.
• Book: Mann, William . 1989 . Friends of the South African Library . 0-86968-093-5 . Warner . Brian . Cape Town .
• Book: Herschel, Margaret Brodie Stewart . Friends of the South African Library . 1991 . 0-86968-098-6 . Warner . Brian . Cape Town .
• Book: . 1992 . 0-937707-49-X . Warner . Brian . San Francisco.
• Book: . 1992 . 0-9583958-1-0 . Warner . Brian .
• Book: Friends of the South African Library . 1993 . 0-86968-109-5 . Westra . Pieter E. . Cape Town . Warner . Brian.
• Book: . 1995 . 1-886733-06-6 . Buckley . D. A. H. . San Francisco . Warner . Brian.
• Book: Warner, Brian . Astronomy in South Africa . Kluwer Academic Publishers . 1995 . Dordrecht.

Further reading

• Ellis . George . George F. R. Ellis . 2023-08-08 . Brian Warner (1939–2023): Astronomer, historian and academic leader . . en . 119 . 7/8 . 10.17159/sajs.2023/16307 . 260690773 . 1996-7489. free .

Notes and References

1. Book: Legends of South African Science . . 2017 . 978-0-9947076-7-3 . Pretoria . 220–223 . en . Brian Warner . 10.17159/assaf.2016/0012 . 20.500.11911/74 . https://research.assaf.org.za/bitstream/handle/20.500.11911/74/BRIAN%20WARNER.PDF?sequence=19&isAllowed=y . PDF . free . 26 February 2023 . 24 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221024081338/https://research.assaf.org.za/bitstream/handle/20.500.11911/74/BRIAN%20WARNER.PDF?sequence=19&isAllowed=y . live .
2. News: Barker . Dennis . Dennis Barker . 2012-12-09 . Sir Patrick Moore obituary . . London . 1756-3224 . 26 February 2023 . 29 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221229133418/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/dec/09/sir-patrick-moore . live .
3. Warner . B. . 1960 . Rilles near the Lunar Crater Plato . . 70 . 299–300.
4. Warner . B. . 3 September 1960 . The Emission Spectrum of the Night Side of Venus . . 121 . 3 . 279–283 . 10.1093/mnras/121.3.279 . free.
5. Warner . Brian . Abundances in Late-Type Stars . 1964 . PhD . University College London.
6. 1992-01-01 . Award of Gill Medal to Brian Warner . . 51 . 106 . 1992MNSSA..51..106. . 0024-8266 . . free . 26 February 2023 . 25 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230225200443/https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992MNSSA..51..106. . live .
7. Book: Warner, Brian . High Speed Astronomical Photometry . . . 1988 . 978-0-521-35150-8 . 45–46.
8. Winget . Don E. . Don Winget . Bash . Frank . Robinson . Edward L. . 2018-01-31 . R. Edward Nather (1926–2014) . live . . en . . 50 . 1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230225001004/https://baas.aas.org/pub/r-edward-nather-1926-2014/release/1 . February 25, 2023 . February 25, 2023.
9. Carruthers . Jane . 2008 . Scientists in society: The Royal Society of South Africa . . en . 63 . 1 . 24 . 10.1080/00359190809519207 . 2008TRSSA..63....1C . . 82514574 . 26 February 2023 . 17 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220617000808/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00359190809519207 . live .
10. Glass . I. S. . April 2020 . News Note : Brian Warner at 80 . . 79 . 1–4 . 5–7 . 2020MNSSA..80....5G . 10520/EJC-1dd2d2192b . 0024-8266 . Sabinet . 26 February 2023 . 29 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220129014544/https://www.mnassa.org.za/html/Apr2020/2020MNASSA..79..Apr.pdf . live .
11. Web site: In Remembrance: Brian Warner . 2023-06-15 . . en . 19 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230519063735/https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2023-05-10-in-remembrance-brian-warner . live .
12. August 1983 . McIntyre Award Winner 1983 (B Warner) . . 42 . 5–8 . 17 . 1983MNSSA..42...17. . 0024-8266 . free . 26 February 2023 . 25 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230225195356/https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1983MNSSA..42...17. . live .
13. Web site: Awardees . 2023-02-26 . . en . 26 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221226164401/https://www.royalsocietysa.org.za/index.php/awardees/ . live .
14. Web site: List of award winners: South Africa Medal (Gold) . 2023-02-26 . . 8 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220208232228/http://www.s2a3.org.za/joomla/index.php/awards/south-africa-medal-gold . live .
15. 1994-01-01 . Warner Honoured . . 53 . 42 . 1994MNSSA..53Q..42. . 0024-8266 . . free . 26 February 2023 . 26 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230226065613/https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994MNSSA..53Q..42. . live .
16. 1995 . RASNZ Honors Warner . . 54 . 11&12 . 106 . 1995MNSSA..54S.106. . 0024-8266 . . free . 26 February 2023 . 26 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230226065558/https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995MNSSA..54S.106./abstract . live .
17. Web site: ASSAf Science-for-Society Gold Medals – ASSAf . 2023-02-25 . en-US . 25 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230225191934/https://www.assaf.org.za/2014/06/05/special-gold-medals/ . live .
18. 2005-02-01 . In Brief . . 58 . 2 . 82 . 2005PhT....58b..81. . 10.1063/1.2405562 . 0031-9228 . 26 February 2023 . 26 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230226065554/https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.2405562 . live .
19. Web site: Current Fellows . 2023-02-26 . . en . 26 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221226164359/https://www.royalsocietysa.org.za/index.php/current-fellows/ . live .
20. News: 28 April 2008 . Honorary Fellowships for Ellis, Warner . 27 . 4 . Monday Paper . . 6 . 26 February 2023 . 26 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230226065557/https://www.news.uct.ac.za/images/archive/news.uct.ac.za/monpaper/mp28_20.pdf . live .
21. News: 14 December 2009 . Stellar academics Ellis and Warner receive high honours . 28 . 2 . Monday Paper . . 20 . 26 February 2023 . 26 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230226065557/https://www.news.uct.ac.za/images/archive/news.uct.ac.za/monpaper/mp28_20.pdf . live .
22. Web site: 2022-09-22 . List of Honorary Fellows . 2023-02-26 . . en . 1 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230101114235/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/governance-compliance/honorary-awards/list-honorary-fellows . live .
23. Web site: Warner, Brian . 2023-02-26 . . en . 26 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230226065554/https://twas.org/directory/warner-brian . live .