Eddie Robertson
(1919–2022)
OBE CBE FRSNZ
Dr Eddie Robertson (1980s)
Dr E I Robertson (Robbie to his cohort and Eddie to us younger ones, (photo above), was very influential in New Zealand science from 1950 to 1980. He started his career in research in the geosciences and moved to work on national and international science policy and administration across all branches of science. He worked for the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) from 1940 until retirement in 1980.
Eddie was born in Petone on 21 January 1919. His parents were of Scottish origin, his father emigrated to New Zealand from Sydney, and his mother was born in Masterton, both in the late 1800s. He had an outstanding academic record. He attended Petone Central Primary School where he was awarded dux in 1930. He then attended Hutt Valley High School where he was also named dux, both in 1934 and 1935. He won a University National scholarship also in 1935. In 1936 he attended Victoria University of Wellington where he specialised in mathematics, graduating in 1939 with an MSc with first class honours. During his university years he was awarded the John P Good prize for mathematics, the Bruce Dall prize in physics, the Emily Gilead Johnston Prize for best stage 1 student, the Sir George Grey scholarship [best stage 3 student], and the Senior Scholarship [best stage 3 maths student], the Sir Robert Stout Scholarship, and the Cook Prize; and finally in 1940 a Shirtcliffe Fellowship for studies overseas.
War service intervened in his academic career, and he joined the DSIR on 5 Decenber 1940 and tells the story of receiving a phone call from Dr Ernest Marsden (Secretary for DSIR) at 4.30 pm, told to get a ticket by 5.30pm for the “Limited” to Auckland and was on the train at 7.15pm the same day. Things moved fast as he was seconded to the RNZ Navy for scientific work - degaussing ships, At Auckland he was met by Bill Jones of the DSIR who showed him the job and left him to it. He continued in Auckland until September 1945, working also on submarine detection and mining, and received the rank of Lieutenant on secondment to the Navy in December 1942. This was the start of a long involvement supporting science in the Navy.
Eddie married Star Chalk in early 1941. They met while studying mathematics at Victoria University of Wellington. Star graduated with a BSc and before her marriage she worked for the Dairy Research Institute in Palmerston North. They lived in Devonport where their first daughter Helen was born. After the war, in November 1945, he took his wife to London to take up his fellowship to study for a doctorate at the University of London. Helen, aged four at the time, stayed in New Zealand with her grandmother. The fellowship was insufficient to support the two so Star taught at schools in London until she and Eddie returned to New Zealand in early 1948. His second daughter, Carol, was born in Wellington in 1950. Star was a keen actress and both she and Eddie were involved in the Titahi Bay Little Theatre, Star acting in the shows and Eddie helping build and paint sets for the productions. They were both very keen on tennis, playing at the local Titahi Bay tennis club. He was devoted to his family, and his children had a happy carefree life in Titahi Bay, where they lived until 1960. During a holiday trip down the west coast of North Island in 2006 with his grandson and great-grandson, the trio abseiled into the Lost World at Waitomo. At that time, Eddie was the oldest person to have done this. He was a wonderful father, grandfather and great grandfather. After retiring he actively supported the local community centre at Tawa. He retained an avid interest in world history, travel and genealogy. From a young age he had enjoyed the outdoor life, being a keen boy scout, enjoying bush walks and cycling. He walked regularly through the bush near his home in Tawa well into his nineties. He liked to keep in touch with his old friends and colleagues, visiting them on a regular basis. He was also very active in the local Probus Club and U3A.
At London University he studied under Professor J Bruckshaw and was awarded a Diploma of Imperial College (DIC) in applied geophysics in 1947 and a PhD in Geophysics in 1948. His thesis topic was on the magnetic properties of rocks, work that helped lay the foundations for the study of palaeomagnetism, continental drift and plate tectonics. Although initially planning to enter the oil industry, probably influenced by Bruckshaw who had had an illustrious early career in exploration for oil in the middle east, he was recruited in January 1948 by Sir Ernest Marsden while in London to join DSIR (NZ Geological Survey) as a Senior Geophysicist with the enticement of funding for state-of-art geophysical field instruments. The following year he visited the USA to purchase electrical, gravity and seismic prospecting equipment including the first gravity meter in New Zealand. Prior to the latter, gravity had been measured at only a few places in NZ using time consuming pendulum apparatuses. The new gravity meter enabled the first regional and detailed gravity surveys in NZ which provided a new constraint for investigating regional and local structural and engineering problems. The North American AG 1-96 meter was a newly developed instrument with no manual, so the copious notes that Eddie wrote when he picked up the meter in the US, were adopted as the instrument manual by the company. With these new instruments, he developed a strong exploration geophysics team at NZ Geological Survey, focussing on studies of the central North Island for geothermal resources and continuing investigations for hydro schemes. In particular, he initiated gravity studies in NZ, both local and regional surveys, and set up the NZ wide gravity base network.
His abilities were recognised in 1951 when he was selected as the first Director of Geophysics Division, DSIR (1951-64). This Division was set up to amalgamate various smaller independent groups (Geophysical Survey (NZGS), Seismological Observatory, Geophysical Observatory Christchurch (Ionosphere), Magnetic Observatory Christchurch, the Underwater Research Laboratory (Auckland) and the Geophysical (Oceanographic) Observatory Wellington) all working in different, but complementary and sometimes overlapping, aspects of geophysics. It included the Apia Observatory in Samoa that carried out seismological and geomagnetic observatory measurements. This was a challenging task for someone just three years in DSIR, but his success led to the strong geophysical capability that we have in NZ today.
The International Geophysical Year (IGY,1957-58), a major programme for international science, was proposed in 1954, shortly after the new Division had been set up. Eddie was appointed to the Royal Society of New Zealand’s National IGY Committee and attended the preliminary IGY meeting in Rome in 1954. As most research covered by the proposed NZ IGY programme was being carried out by Geophysics Division and the NZ Meteorological Office, the detailed work plan for NZ’s contribution to the IGY and its implementation (1956-59) were developed by the two, through an Interdepartmental Committee chaired by Eddie. The IGY commitments took over a large part of Geophysics Division resources, both in New Zealand and in the South Pacific islands, from 1956 to the end of 1959. Within this role of organising the NZ IGY programme, that comprised a range of geophysical measurements at observatories from the Equator to Antarctica, he was responsible for the NZ IGY Antarctic Expedition, led by Dr Trevor Hatherton, at Scott Base and the joint IGY base with the US at Hallett Station. As Scott Base was shared with the NZ Support Party of the Commonwealth Transantarctic Expedition (NZTAE), Eddie was a member of the Ross Sea Committee tasked with organising that expedition. In 1957 he visited both Scott Base and Hallett Station to check on the progress of the IGY scientific programmes. Geophysics Division took over the operation of Scott Base with the departure of NZTAE early in 1958. Eddie, as Director, had this responsibility until DSIR set up a separate Antarctic Division in 1959. He chaired the Ross Dependency Research Committee that developed the New Zealand Antarctic Research programme and led the NZ National Committee for Antarctic Research from 1958 to 1970. He was the first NZ Correspondent to the ICSU SCAR (Special (later Scientific) Committee on Antarctic Research), continuing in this role until 1962, and represented NZ at the first seven meetings of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Member Countries (1961-72). He returned to Scott Base in 1982 for the 25th anniversary of the construction of the base. Mt Robertson just south of Hallett Bay is named for him.
The structure of his division changed with the transfer of the Underwater Research Laboratory (located within Auckland Industrial Development Division), to the Navy Department in 1955 as it was carrying out mostly classified work. However, he retained his connection to research within the Navy by being appointed Scientific Advisor to the Navy Board at the time and was involved with the Commonwealth military academic scholarship scheme for study at Cambridge University. David (Chris) Christoffel (later Professor at Victoria University of Wellington) and Robin Adams (Chief Seismologist DSIR and Chief Scientist at the International Seismological Centre in UK) were two New Zealanders who took up this opportunity. By 1958, the Oceanographic Observatory was undertaking an increasing amount of biological and physical oceanographic work, and so was split off to form a new DSIR Division, the NZ Oceanographic Institute. After the final analysis and submission of the results of IGY to World Data Centres and for publication in 1959, Eddie returned to working on the application of geophysical techniques to the study of geological structure, geothermal areas, civil engineering projects and mineral investigations in New Zealand and the South Pacific region. He also worked on the development of mathematical analysis techniques for these geophysical data.
Eddie moved from research to a science strategy/management role in 1964 when he was appointed Assistant Director-General of DSIR, responsible for seven Divisions. This entailed getting to know the science and people involved. He liked to meet staff informally, often visiting them in their offices or laboratories for an informal chat about their research. In addition to his work in DSIR he also contributed to a wide range of other activities, including membership of Mineral Resources Committee from its establishment in 1962 until 1967, and the University Scholarships Committee from 1968-80. His Navy advisory role was expanded in 1970 to include the whole Ministry of Defence until his retirement in 1980.
Eddie subsequently became Director-General (1971-1980), the fourth Secretary/Director-General of DSIR. He was responsible for the efficient running of all (23) of the various Divisions of DSIR and 12 associated Research Associations. He had 2181 staff including 946 scientists. As Director-General he was keen on the application of science to national problems. He strongly supported a “NZ Inc” approach to research – the close cooperation between DSIR and the Universities and industry on research for the benefit of NZ. He strongly encouraged industry groups to set up research associations, jointly funded by DSIR and industry, to undertake research and solve problems pertinent to that industry. He also strongly supported the joint funding of large research infrastructure that individually neither DSIR or the University community could afford or justify and would also encourage collaboration. He was strongly of the opinion that a research institute needed a scientist as director – “to lead and not push”. He was disappointed that the subsequent major reforms of the New Zealand government funded science structure in the early 1990s changed the environment from collaboration to competition. He served under four Ministers (Talboys, Gandar, Moyle and Birch and was acknowledged by Government ministers as a leading administrator. In addition to his work in DSIR he also contributed to a wide range of other activities, including the National Research Advisory Committee 1971-80, the University Research Committee 1971-80, the Medical Research Council of New Zealand 1971-80, the Commonwealth Science Council (including on the Executive) 1966-79, the Commission for the Future from its establishment in 1977 until 1982, the New Zealand Energy Research and Development Committee from its establishment in 1974 until 1977, and the Cawthron Institute (he gave the 44th Thomas Cawthron memorial lecture in 1972 on National Science Policy). His work with the Ministry of Defence included being Principal for NZ at NAMRAD (Non-Atomic Military R&D) from 1971 to 1980. The Robertson Building at the Physics and Engineering Laboratory DSIR in Gracefield, Wellington was opened in 1984 and named after him.
After retirement Eddie worked with the NZ Futures Trust (Foundation Trustee 1982) until 2011 and published 13 information papers on wide range of topics from “National Research and Development Priorities”, “Future of Agriculture in NZ” to “Unemployment” and “Wind Power Generation”. He was a member of VUW Council (1983-89), advised on energy policy and coordination in the South Pacific for the South Pacific Forum, and reported on management issues in Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Dairy industry, He served on two Commissions of Enquiry (Acclimatization in the Auckland region, chairman 1981, and Air traffic control services in NZ 1982). He was appointed NZ Science coordinator for the bilateral agreement with Singapore on industrial, technology and scientific development, and also advised on national science policy and priorities requested by Malaya, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Jordan (UNESCO, and NZ Overseas Aid projects). He was a member of several NZ scientific societies: NZ Geological Society, NZ Geophysical Society, NZ Antarctic Society, and the Wellington Branch of the RSNZ.
Eddie was awarded the OBE in 1963, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, and a CBE in 1981, all for services to science. He was elected a Fellow of the RSNZ in 1963, becoming a Councillor (1963-66) and the Foreign Secretary (1966-70). In 2019 he was guest of honour at the RSNZ Academy 100th Anniversary Dinner at Te Papa, being the oldest surviving Fellow and incidentally was 100 years in age at the same time. [Photo below] After retiring in 1980, after 40 years of service with DSIR, he briefly returned to research publishing in 1987 research papers on gravity surveys in the South Pacific islands. Then - a typical scientist “bottom drawer” job – all the observations made, all the models and interpretation finished – but never got round to final write up and publication. So, in 2017 he found support to complete the final manuscript and published his last scientific paper on a gravity interpretation of the basement structure underlying the Tongariro National Park in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, which was published in 2018 when he was 99. Eddie passed away at the age of 103.
Dr Eddie Robertson, RSNZ Academy 100th Anniversary (2019)
Fred Davey and Carol Mowbray