Igu international Geographical Union

Death of IGU stalwart Prof Christian Wichmann Matthiessen

The International Geographical Union regrets to announce the death of one of its most prominent colleagues, Professor Christian Wichmann Matthiessen, who passed away on Thursday 8 March 2018.  Professor Matthiessen was Danish delegate to the International Geographical Union (1998-2012), and member of the steering committee  – and subsequently Chair – of the IGU Commission on Urban Geography (2000-2012).

Christian Wichmann Matthiessen was born in Fredericia in 1945, where he spent his childhood. He matriculated from Fredericia Gymnasium in 1964, and after two years of military service, he started his studies of Geography at University of Copenhagen, where in 1972, he graduated as an Msc in Geography, with a dissertation on the distribution patterns for the population and housing structures of Copenhagen. In 1974, Christian Wichmann Matthiessen was appointed assistant professor at the Department of Geography, University of Copenhagen. He remained at the Department until his retirement in 2011, as an associate professor from 1976, and subsequently as a professor from 1988. He was proud of being employed in the Department as he attached great importance to being associated with the only Danish academic geographical environment with roots far back in Denmark’s university history.

Christian Wichmann Matthiessen’s interest was in the field of human geography and especially in the field of urban geography.  His research focused on urban and regional geographical issues and on themes relating to infrastructure, regional development, and the change of the urban system. He was interested in the Triple Helix model (binding regional interaction between the research community, businesses and public management), in cluster analysis, in cultural institutions and value creation, and in the impact of infrastructure on urban and regional growth. His research resulted in a doctoral dissertation in 1985, entitled “The growth of Danish cities”, where a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the composition and development of the Danish urban system was presented for the first time.

His great interest was urban competiveness, especially the potential of Copenhagen in a globalised world that changed after the fall of the Berlin wall and later after the construction of the Øresund Bridge, linking the Øresund region. Finally, he was also interested in the development of the Copenhagen metro and its localisation, and his research resulted in a number of important books, articles and reports on the Øresund region and the Fehmarn Belt region as well as on regional development, urban competitiveness and the global urban system. Internationally, he was the Danish representative and research director of the research project “Cost of urban growth”, and he participated in a large number of international projects.

Christian Wichmann Matthiessen was a member of a large number of professional groups and associations, often in a management function. For example: Member of the Danish National Committee for Geography from 1986-2013, Secretary General from 1992-1998 and President 1998-2012. Member of the council of The Royal Danish Geographical Society for 24 years, of the executive committee for 18 years, vice president from 2007-2013. Member of the executive committee of the European Institute of Comparative Urban Research, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam from 1993-2012.  Member of the executive committee of Management of the European Metropolitan Region between 1995-2012. Member of the executive committee of the Commission on Urban Geography of the International Geographical Union for a number of years and its president from 2008-2012. Member of the board of representatives of Wonderful Copenhagen and of its executive committee from 2003-2009. Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Oresund Institute 2002-2013. In addition, Christian Wichmann Matthiessen was Head of Department at Department of Geography University of Copenhagen for two periods, 1986-1990 and 1996-1999 when he headed the development of the department into a modern university department with close ties to Danish society.

Finally, Christian Wichmann Matthiessen was awarded a number of orders and prizes in appreciation of his service. He became a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog in 1998 as well as Knight 1st Class of the order of the Dannebrog in 2010. He was awarded C.N.M. Christiansen’s Grant in 1991 as a token of appreciation for his research into a possible stronger position for the Copenhagen area on the European scene. He received the Brobyggerprisen in 1994 and Helsinki University Medal in 1999.

Christian Wichmann Matthiessen will be remembered as a strong advocate of the role of geography research in development of society in Denmark. Through his research and his instruction of hundreds of geography students, he has played an important role in the development of urban geography in Denmark and internationally.
On behalf of the staff at Geography, University of Copenhagen.

Professor Morten Pejrup, Associate Dean

Professor Ole Mertz, Section Head

Professor Henrik Breuning-Madsen, Vice President of The Royal Danish Geographical Society

6.2) Dario César Sanchez

GÆA - SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE ESTUDIOS GEOGRAFICOS

Fundada en 1922

Ciudad de Buenos Aires, 14 de abril de 2018

Estimados socios y amigos:

En mi carácter de Presidente de GÆA Sociedad Argentina de Estudios Geográficos debo comunicar la lamentable desaparición de la vida terrenal del eminente colega Prof. Dr. Darío César Sánchez. Sin duda los últimos días no han sido muy felices para la Geografía Argentina. La pérdida de este amigo de gran envergadura académica, así como de sus excepcionales condiciones humanas ha golpeado fuertemente en la comunidad geográfica. Darío se nos fue, pero la acción por él desarrollada a lo largo de muchos años en la Sociedad no ha sido vana, dedicó gran parte de su vida a enaltecer a nuestra querida Institución a la que amó con profundidad, y trabajó en ella con una dedicación incondicional y absolutamente desinteresada. Como investigador científico desarrolló una activa labor desde muy joven. Comenzó como Becario de Iniciación entre el 1º de abril de 1984 y el 31 de marzo de 1986, fue Becario de Perfeccionamiento entre 1986 y 1988, Becario de Formación Superior entre 1988 y 1991. Desde el 6 de septiembre de 1991 perteneció a la Carrera de Investigador Científico (CIC), desempeñándose en la categoría Asistente hasta el 31 de octubre de 2002, en la categoría Adjunto sin Director hasta fines de 2013, y en la categoría Independiente desde el 1º de enero de 2014. Fueron 34 años ininterrumpidos de su labor como investigador científico en el CONICET, con unas 300 publicaciones, 35 de ellas en el exterior, 35 años ininterrumpidos de docencia universitaria de grado y de posgrado, 133 conferencias en más de 50 universidades y centros de investigación de 11 países distintos, 38 de ellas en el exterior. Además fue Director de numerosos proyectos científicos y evaluador de 23 publicaciones científicas (11 en el exterior). Darío recibió 18 premios y distinciones (2 en el exterior).

Pero no reside solamente en estas facetas y en sus muchos merecimientos académicos lo singular de su personalidad, pues otras virtudes –quizá menos ostensibles- le particularizaban y moldeaban su carácter: su honorabilidad sin tachas y su acendrado culto de la amistad. Por todo ello siempre apreciaremos a Darío como un distinguido colega pero mucho más lo añoraremos por su calidez de amigo cabal. Ya se fue y no está entre nosotros. Afectados por la desazón y la pena que nos produce la desaparición de Darío, lo recordaremos con esa sonrisa que nos recibía siempre. Darío, consocio, colega y amigo, por nuestro intermedio, GÆA te rinde nuestro humilde y sincero homenaje y eleva al altísimo sus preces para que su alma descanse en paz y otorgue a su abnegada esposa y demás deudos cristiana resignación. Que así sea.

Adiós amigo

Cnel. Ing. Geog. Julio César Benedetti Prof. Dr. Daniel Oscar Lipp

Secretario Presidente
.
6.3) Stephen Hawking

A Tribute to Celebrity and Inspirational Scientist of this Generation

One of our VP sent me for publication this tribute to one of the most excellent scientists of the last decades. I am sure that all geographers will appreciate the inclusion of this memory. G.B.
A Tribute to Stephen William Hawking (January 8, 1942 to March 14, 2018)

Ever since our childhood we have been hearing and taught the names of great scientists notably Sir Galileo, Sir Newton, Albert Einstein who left the immortal contribution to the contemporary science and society. The great privilege of our generation is that we live our life in the time of great celebrity scientist Sir Stephen Hawking (the Scientist of our generation).

Inspirational for Youth

The man, whose body was so feeble and seemed to fail his genius, did not give up. It will not be wrong to say that technology saved him. In fact, this was only the beginning to what led him to become the greatest scientist of the age. The unique life of Prof. Hawking was full of achievements that often attracted filmmakers. Various documentaries, feature films were made on his inspirational life, scientific contributions and achievements.

Strong Willpower and Personality who saved the future COSMOS

At the age of 21, Hawking started to develop the first symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (a type of motor neurone disease) which would eventually cost him almost all neuromuscular control. He has been inspiration-incarnate as he survived a condition that may seem spine-breaking to many. Scientific achievements of Prof. Hawking got thicker and better and he quickly set a succession of scientific insights on his contribution towards theory of black holes.

Learning lessons for Disadvantageous Section of Society

The life of Prof. Hawking will always be an inspiration for the disadvantageous section of society particularly in developing nations (see him in the photo at left, young and smiling). Hawking had to aggressively face his own adversity every single day; instead, he continued his approach of living every moment of life by creating something. While remembering Swami Vivekananda Ji, I appeal to our fellow Indians to enhance the approach of explore, evolve and excel without frustrations and without degrading our will power.

Educational Administrators should not forget Prof. Hawking while revising Curriculum

Today, when the life has turned into a rat race, it’s a high time to make our younger generation aware with Prof. Stephen William Hawking: An Immortal Legend. Stephen Hawking, a name that resonates with the power of the beautiful mind, an illustrious victory of intellect over adversity. It is a pressing need for the Government of India to incorporate the life-sketch of Prof. Stephen William Hawking in NCERT, CBSE and CBCS curriculum.

Illustrious Personality and Cosmologist Par Excellence

The legendary British scientist Prof. Stephen William Hawking, famed for his work on black holes, died quietly at his home in Cambridge aged 76. He was widely known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology, general relativity and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes. The death of Prof. Hawking has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. During the decades of 1960s and 1970s, he extensively worked on ground-breaking theorems regarding singularities within the framework of general relativity, and made the theoretical prediction that black holes should emit radiation (known today as Hawking radiation). He was also credited with several publications of popular science in which he discussed his own theories and cosmology in general, including the runaway bestseller “A Brief History of Time”, and he was came to be thought of as one of the greatest minds in physics since Albert Einstein. In his own words: “My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all”. The University of Cambridge, where Prof Hawking completed his PhD and went on to become Lucasian Professor of Mathematics- a role once played by Sir Isaac Newton- described him as "an inspiration to millions of differently abled people across the world".

Early Life (Honhaar Veervaan Ke Hot Cheekney Pat)

Prof. Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England, in the middle of World War II. In 1950, Hawking moved with his family to St. Albans, where he attended St. Albans High School for Girls from 1950 to 1953, and from the age of 11, he attended St. Albans School, where he was a good, but not an exceptional student. In 1959, he earned a scholarship to University College, Oxford, his father's old college, where he studied physics under Prof. Robert Berman, who ignited Hawking’s particular interests in thermodynamics, relativity, and quantum mechanics. In the year 1962 he graduated with a First Class BA degree. After graduating from Oxford, he spent a short time studying sunspots at Oxford University’s observatory. However, he soon realized that he was more interested in theory than in observation, and left Oxford for Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he studied for a time under Prof. Fred Hoyle, the most distinguished English astronomer of the time.

Prof. Hawking, Turning Points and ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)

Soon after arriving at Cambridge, at the age of 21, Hawking started to develop the first symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or “Lou Gehrig's disease”), a type of motor neurone disease which would eventually cost him almost all neuromuscular control. Although doctors predicted (incorrectly, as it turned out) that Hawking would not survive more than two or three years, he did gradually lose the use of his arms, legs and voice, until he was almost completely paralysed and quadriplegic.

In the year 1965, an important turn came in his life when he attended a lecture by the English mathematician Roger Penrose, who had recently produced a ground-breaking paper on space-time singularities (events in which the laws of physics seem to break down). It re-energized Hawking and he got engaged with renewed vigour in the study of theoretical astronomy and cosmology, particularly in the area of black holes and singularities. He would later collaborate with Penrose on several important papers on these subjects. Another turning point in his life also occurred in 1965, with his marriage to a language student, Jane Wilde. With her help, and that of his doctoral tutor, Dennis Sciama, Hawking went on to complete his PhD and to become a Research Fellow and, later, a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

Scientific Contributions of Prof. Hawking and his Evolution as Pole Star of Science

Stephen started his research work on cosmology at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge in the year 1962, there being no-one was working in that area in Oxford at that time. After gaining his PhD (1965) with his thesis titled 'Properties of Expanding Universes', he became, first, a research fellow (1965) then Fellow for Distinction in Science (1969) at Gonville and Caius College. In 1966 he won the Adams Prize for his essay 'Singularities and the Geometry of Space-time'. Stephen moved to the Institute of Astronomy (1968), later moving back to DAMTP (1973), employed as a research assistant, and published his first academic book, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, with George Ellis. During the next few years, Stephen was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (1974) and Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at the California Institute of Technology (1974). He became a Reader in Gravitational Physics at DAMTP (1975), progressing to Professor of Gravitational Physics (1977). He then held the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics (Professor Stephen Hawking had worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With the active contribution of Roger Penrose he attempted to show that Einstein's general theory of relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes (1970). These results indicated that it was necessary to unify general relativity with quantum theory, the other great scientific development of the first half of the 20th century (1979-2009).

In 2007, in the Kennedy Space Center, NASA satisfied a long time Hawkink’s desire: experiencing the zero-gravity

One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but rather should emit 'Hawking' radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear (1974). Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws

of science. Recently Stephen has been working with colleagues on a possible resolution to the black hole information paradox, where debate centres around the conservation of information. Publications of Prof. Hawking include, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with G F R Ellis, General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey, with W Israel, and 300 Years of Gravitation, with W Israel. The popular books of Stephen Hawking include his best seller A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Grand Design and My Brief History.

Professor Stephen Hawking had thirteen honorary degrees. He was awarded CBE (1982), Companion of Honour (1989) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009). He was the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes, most notably the Fundamental Physics prize (2013), Copley Medal (2006) and the Wolf Foundation prize (1988). He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Hawking’s visit to India

It was January 2001 when British physicist Stephen Hawking came to India for the first time, later describing the 16-day long tour as "magnificent". Hawking addressed an international physics seminar at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai. He was felicitated with the first "Sarojini Damodaran Fellowship" during the "Strings 2001" conference. He inspired many Indian Physicists and Mathematicians, particularly paradox using String Theory such as by showing the consistency of Hawking Radiation with quantum mechanics. Hawking delivered several lectures during the five-day seminar, including one titled "The Universe in a Nutshell" and he also praised the Indian efforts towards the development and advancement of Physics and Mathematics.

A Tribute

On behalf of the World Geographic Communities, I pay my humble tribute to Prof. Stephen William Hawking and thanks God for blessing the Universe with such a beautiful, creative and productive star scientist.

Prof. R.B. Singh (Vice-President: International Geographical Union, [e-mail])




7) nEWS FROM icsu

21st World Conference of Soil Science (WCSS). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 12-17 August 2018.

30th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union. Vienna, Austria. 20-31 August 2018.

19th International Microscopy Congress. Sydney, Australia. 9-14 September 2018.

World Social Science Forum 2018. Fukuoka, Japan. 25-28 September 2018.

8) From Future Earth

International Science Council Founding General Assembly. Paris, France. 3-5 July 2018.

International Science Day. Paris, France. 5 July 2018.

EuroScience Open Forum 2018, Toulouse, France. 9-14 July 2018.
42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly and Associated Events. California, USA. 14-22 July 2018.
http://futureearth.org/news/PREPdata International partnership launches new portal for climate data




9) FORTHCOMING EVENTS
(more information in the Home of Geography website, Events 2018)

9.1) Landscapes: Perception, Knowledge, Awareness and Action, Bucharest-Maneciu, Romania; 11-13 May

9.2) Understanding Problems of Inland Waters, Baku, 12-14 May
9.3) Rencontres Franco-Italien de Géographie Sociale, Perpignan, 14-15 May
9.4) Working Group of Peace and Development Conference, London, 26-30 March 2018

9.5) International Conference on Earth Systems Sciences, Chengdu, 1-3 (2nd call)
9.6) Political Geography and XXI Century Challenges, Moscow, 4-6 June 2018
9.7) Moscow 150 Years, Sessions list.
9.8) Summer Seminar on Nationalism, Religion and Violence, Prague, 18-29 June 
9.9) HEA'd International Conference on Higher Education Advances, Valencia, June 20-22 2018
9.10) Productive Mountains, Venice, 21-23 June 2018
9.11) Seesox, Greece in Crisis, Greeks abroad, Oxford, 22.23 June 2018, CFP
9.12) European International Studies Association, Conference Groningen, June 2018 
9.13) Utrecht, Global Criminology, 27-29 June 2018 
9.14) AESOP, "Sustainable Food Planning", Turin, 28-30 June 2018

9.15) Association for Borderland Studies, 2nd Conference, Vienna 10-14 July 2018
9.16) Global Histories of Geography 1930-1990; Warsaw, 16-20 July 2018 
9.17) 2018 Singapore Regions and organizations infrastructures Sept-Oct