Charles Kimberlin Brain
Encyclopedia
Charles Kimberlin Brain born in Southern Rhodesia
(modern Zimbabwe
) in 1931, is an eminent South Africa
n paleontologist who has studied and taught Africa
n cave
taphonomy
for more than fifty years.
, which became one of the most scientifically productive institutions of its kind in Africa
during his tenure.
During his years at the Museum, Bob Brain actively pursued his own research, which was A-rated by the Foundation for Research Development (now the National Research Foundation of South Africa
) from the inception of its evaluation system in 1984 until his retirement.
Brain planned and scripted the displays in the Museum's "Life’s Genesis I" and "Life's Genesis 2" halls, which have been seen by several million visitors.
Very early in Bob Brain's career, Robert Ardrey
wrote of him:
Although Dr. Brain retired in 1996, he is active as Curator
Emeritus at the Transvaal Museum, an Honorary Professor
of Zoology at the University of the Witswatersrand, an active Research
Associate at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust (PAST). He is an active researcher of fossils of the earliest animals and is co-ordinating a renewed excavation initiative at the Swartkrans
Cave. He is a consulting editor for the Annals of the Eastern Cape Museums.
In its 2006 Lifetime Achiever tribute to Bob Brain, the National Research Foundation of South Africa
said:
Bob Brain has been an invited participant at over thirty international conferences
and symposia
worldwide. He and his wife have four children.
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
(modern Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
) in 1931, is an eminent South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n paleontologist who has studied and taught Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n cave
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
taphonomy
Taphonomy
Taphonomy is the study of decaying organisms over time and how they become fossilized . The term taphonomy was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Russian scientist Ivan Efremov to describe the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms, from the biosphere, to the...
for more than fifty years.
Biography
From 1965 to 1991, Dr. Brain directed the Transvaal MuseumTransvaal Museum
""The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa....
, which became one of the most scientifically productive institutions of its kind in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
during his tenure.
During his years at the Museum, Bob Brain actively pursued his own research, which was A-rated by the Foundation for Research Development (now the National Research Foundation of South Africa
National Research Foundation of South Africa
South Africa’s National Research Foundation is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions....
) from the inception of its evaluation system in 1984 until his retirement.
Brain planned and scripted the displays in the Museum's "Life’s Genesis I" and "Life's Genesis 2" halls, which have been seen by several million visitors.
Very early in Bob Brain's career, Robert Ardrey
Robert Ardrey
Robert Ardrey was an American playwright and screenwriter who returned to his academic training in anthropology and the behavioral sciences in the 1950s....
wrote of him:
Although Dr. Brain retired in 1996, he is active as Curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
Emeritus at the Transvaal Museum, an Honorary Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Zoology at the University of the Witswatersrand, an active Research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
Associate at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
The Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research is part of the School of Geosciences in the Faculty of Science of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa...
, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust (PAST). He is an active researcher of fossils of the earliest animals and is co-ordinating a renewed excavation initiative at the Swartkrans
Swartkrans
Swartkrans is a location in South Africa, around from Johannesburg.Swartkrans is a farm near to Sterkfontein, notable for being extremely rich in archaeological material, particularly hominid remains. It was purchased by the University of the Witwatersrand in 1968...
Cave. He is a consulting editor for the Annals of the Eastern Cape Museums.
In its 2006 Lifetime Achiever tribute to Bob Brain, the National Research Foundation of South Africa
National Research Foundation of South Africa
South Africa’s National Research Foundation is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions....
said:
Bob Brain has been an invited participant at over thirty international conferences
Academic conference
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...
and symposia
Symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
worldwide. He and his wife have four children.
Education
- Pretoria Boys High SchoolPretoria Boys High SchoolPretoria Boys High School, also known as Boys High or PBHS, is a public, fee charging, English medium high school for boys located in Brooklyn, Pretoria, in the Gauteng province of South Africa....
- BSc.Bachelor of ScienceA Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in zoologyZoologyZoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and geologyGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
— University of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the WitwatersrandThe University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
, 1950. - Ph.D.Doctor of PhilosophyDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in geologyGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
— University of the Witwatersrand, 1957.
- D.Sc.Doctor of ScienceDoctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
— University of the Witwatersrand, 1981.
Honours and awards
- Four Honorary Doctorates:
- 1999: University of the WitwatersrandUniversity of the WitwatersrandThe University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
- 1999: University of PretoriaUniversity of PretoriaThe University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
- 1993: University of NatalUniversity of NatalThe University of Natal was a university in Natal, and later KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, that is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, and expanded to include a campus in Durban in 1931. In 1947, the university...
- 1991: University of Cape TownUniversity of Cape TownThe University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
- 2006: National Research Foundation of South AfricaNational Research Foundation of South AfricaSouth Africa’s National Research Foundation is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions....
(NRF) President’s Lifetime Achiever award. - 1997: South Africa Medal of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of ScienceSouthern Africa Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science is a learned society, originally known as the South African Association for the Advancement of Science...
- 1992: Achievement Award of the Claude Harris Leon Foundation
- 1991: John F. W. HerschelJohn HerschelSir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH, FRS ,was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, and experimental photographer/inventor, who in some years also did valuable botanical work...
Medal of the Royal Society of South Africa - 1987: Senior Captain Scott Memorial Medal of the South African Biological Society
Scholarly scientific societies
In addition to other active memberships, Bob Brain is a founding member of four societies:- Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa
- South African Archaeological Society
- South African Society for QuaternaryQuaternaryThe Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
Research - Zoological Society of Southern Africa
- 1974-75: President
- 1969-73: Vice President
Books
- "Swartkrans: A Cave’s Chronicle of Early Man." (ed.) 2nd Edition. Transvaal Museum Monograph No. 8, 1-295, 2005.
- “Fifty years of fun with fossils: some cave taphonomy-related ideas and concepts that emerged between 1953 and 2003." In African Taphonomy: A Tribute to the Career of C.K. “Bob” Brain. Edited by Travis Pickering, Katherine Schick, and Nicholas Toth, Center for Research into the Anthropological Foundations of Technology (CRAFT Center), Stone Age InstituteStone Age InstituteThe Stone Age Institute is an independent research center dedicated to the archaeological study of human origins and technological development. The institute conducts research and education in human origins studies, publishes books and articles, and mentors prospective scientists The institute is...
, Indiana University Bloomington, 2004. - Raymond Dart and our African origins. In A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World, Laura Garwin and Tim Lincoln, editors. Chicago: University of Chicago PressUniversity of Chicago PressThe University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
, 2003. Hardcover: ISBN 0-226-28413-1. Paperback: ISBN 0-226-28415-8. - The Hunters or the Hunted?: An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy. C.K. Brain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. Paperback: ISBN 0-226-07090-5, ISBN 978-0-226-07090-2. Press page.
Scientific Journals
(This list is very incomplete.)- The Transvaal Ape-Man-Bearing Cave Deposits: An overview of the sites at Sterkfontein, Kromdraai, Swartkrans and Makapan. Transvaal Museum Memoir No. 11, 1958. (Dr. Brain's Ph.D. thesis.)
- Reviewed by F. Clark Howell in ScienceScience (journal)Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, Volume 129, Issue 3354, p. 957. April 1959. - Republished in book form by "Netherlands Repro" (?)
- "The Narrative Concept in Museum Display." South African Museums Association Bulletin 1978.
- "Visitor Reaction to the Life's Genesis Display." South African Museums Association Bulletin 1979.